“It will soon be a portal to the dungeon north of Deepwell,” Ruwen said, leaving out a hundred details he didn’t want to explain.
Bliz frowned. “How can that be? Something destroyed the dungeon the day you all disappeared.” He shook his head. “Big D is still suffering from that camping disaster. The dungeon is empty, a Councilor’s daughter disappeared, one of the wealthiest families lost a son, but I think she took your disappearance the hardest.”
Tremine looked down, pain evident on his face. Ruwen could see the librarian still felt guilty for all the pain his actions had caused. And Ruwen felt guilty as well. The disappearance he had no control over, but the state of the dungeon was entirely his fault.
Bliz continued. “When Tremine talked me into coming here, I thought about telling Big D you were still alive, but,” Bliz glanced at Tremine, “I didn’t really believe it. Now I wish I had.”
Tremine and Bliz must have left Deepwell before Slib and Juva reappeared. Otherwise, they would have known everyone had returned.
Ruwen patted Bliz on the shoulder. “Big D will know we’re safe by now. The goddess returned some of our group to Deepwell. And the dungeon is going to recover soon, too.”
“That’s great news,” Bliz said. “Councilor Blakrock has been hysterical. Having her daughter back will ease the pressure on Big D.”
Ruwen winced.
“Is he talking about Hamma?” Sift asked.
Tremine looked miserable, and Ruwen didn’t feel much better.
“Hamma had a message delivered to her mom,” Ruwen said. “You two must have just missed everyone returning.”
Tremine pointed at the crystals and brought the subject back to the dungeon. “How can the Deepwell dungeon form a portal here?”
“It made a deal with a more powerful dungeon, and this was one benefit,” Ruwen said.
Tremine’s eyes grew large, and he placed a hand on a crystal to steady himself. “Did this other dungeon actually manifest here?”
Ruwen nodded, knowing Tremine would immediately know who the dungeon must be.
“Why is the area for the portal so large?” Bliz asked.
“I agreed to give the dungeon inhabitants an area of their own,” Ruwen said.
Bliz’s eyes grew large. “I request to build my bar as close as possible to their area.”
Ruwen thought a moment before speaking. He knew how Blapy felt about equal rights for her followers. Just like Big D, Blapy wanted equity and fairness for her people. He decided it would be a requirement for anyone who wanted to do business here.
Ruwen waved at all the crystals. “Eventually, this entire area will be full of creatures people usually only see in dungeons. I haven’t worked out all the details yet, so this might change, but I think a good start is every business must agree to the following. One, they can’t deny service to anyone without a good reason, and two, every business must employ someone with the ability to translate fluently. That can be a Worker with a level three Hey You, or some equivalent. You have temporary permission to build, and when you show me your plan to serve everyone, I’ll make it permanent.”
Bliz’s eyes glazed over for a second. “You just triggered a quest for me. I go decades without a quest, and then Tremine prompts one followed a few days later by you. I feel like I’m a hundred again. I like your philosophy, young man, and I accept.”
Ruwen smiled. “Then build wherever you want.”
Bliz grinned. “This is going to be epic. Does the dungeon have a focus yet?”
“It’s called the Shattered Sun, and it has a Resource focus,” Ruwen said.
Now Bliz used a crystal to steady himself. “Uru help me. I must be dreaming. This is fantastic news for the Lodge. Workers will be in high demand.”
“You know an awful lot about this dungeon,” Tremine said casually.
Ruwen rubbed his forehead. “It’s mostly because of the temple thing.”
“The temple thing,” Tremine repeated.
“Yeah, we got the temple working again, and I learned some stuff,” Ruwen said, the biggest understatement of his life.
“We noticed Uru’s Blessing had doubled in size,” Bliz said. “That was you?”
“It was a team effort,” Ruwen said. He really didn’t want to talk about his Architect Role and restoring the temple because he didn’t want to lie to Bliz, so he tried changing the subject again. “Why are you two here?”
“To help you,” Tremine said.
“We could have used your help yesterday,” Sift said.
“It appears you didn’t need it,” Tremine said.
Sift pointed at Ruwen. “Barely. Genius here almost killed Lylan by shooting her from his bag.”
Tremine and Bliz both stared at Ruwen, their eyes wide.
Ruwen groaned. “I didn’t kill her, and that idea saved us.”
Bliz stepped up to Ruwen and grabbed his shoulders. “It worked? You guessed the countdown would keep her alive, right?”
Ruwen nodded. “It was a last resort. But the Bone Sculptor was on top of a tower, and we didn’t have any other way of getting up there.”
“I’ve tested it on plants, but always wondered if it worked on people,” Bliz said. “I could never talk anyone into trying.”
Ruwen looked at Sift. “Well, Lylan has a habit of making bad choices.”
“Hey!” Sift said.
Ruwen laughed and then looked at Bliz again. “You told me when I got my band that anything living wouldn’t survive inside it if I died. But I had some plants that lived.”
“You died?” Tremine asked.
Ruwen winced. His entire life had become something he didn’t want to talk about. “It was by choice, a necessary sacrifice for restoring the temple.”
Tremine shook his head. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Bliz still looked thoughtful. “I’ve never heard of anything surviving a revival.”
Ruwen nodded. It probably related to how fast he’d revived or possibly something to do with his Spirit. “Just one more thing to investigate.”
Bliz patted Ruwen on the shoulder. “You’ve had your Void Band for two months and already answered two questions I’ve spent
