SS - Chapter 12 - Heart of Stone

I reached out and gently patted Camille on the shoulder. “Calm down, I’ll explain what I can.”

She looked at me suspicion, but didn’t say anything, so I turned and threw my arms wide in front of the massive crystal orb.

“This magnificent thing is what called us here, and set up the trials,” I said.

“It doesn’t look like a regular dungeon core,” Camille sniffed. “Most dungeon cores look like a cluster of raw crystals the size of my head. They don’t look like a polished sphere.”

“That’s because it’s not a dungeon core. It’s a Sovereign Stone,” I replied revenantly.

“Bullshit! There hasn’t been a new Sovereign Stone discovered in generations,” Camille spat. “And it’s not like people haven’t looked, there are a lot of people that would love to have the power to establish their own kingdom in the palm of their hand! You’re saying we just randomly found one sitting out in the middle of the frontier? Why did it act like a dungeon?”

“Well, both Cores and Stones collect and channel ambient mana, so most people suspect the two are somehow related, but no one has ever been able to fully prove it,” I explained. “Dungeons channel all that mana into creating monsters, while Stones process it in a much more varied, and controlled way. I guess it was just emulating a dungeon to hide its presence.”

“And the fact that we just found it sitting out here?” Camille pushed.

“We didn’t find it, it found us!” I exclaimed. “You didn’t see it, but the entrance was completely indistinguishable from the surrounding canyon, despite the elf-bloods standing right on top of it. The stones must use magic to conceal their presence, only revealing themselves when their requirements are met.”

“Do you honestly think you’re the first one in generations to fulfil these mythical requirements?” Camille snorted. 

“I don’t know. Now that I’ve claimed the stone, and we have full access to our systems again, I can find out,” I said, turning back towards the window I’d left hanging in front of the Stone.

Flicking through the menu I found that my system had several new tabs. I still had the basic Status, Inspect, Map, Information,  Messages, and Settings tabs, but now I also had Domain, Vassals, Constructs, Citadel, Sovereign Relations, Laws, and Reference. Most of the tabs were flashing, indicating they had either been updated, or required my attention.  

Before I could truly start digging into the new menus Camille cleared her throat. “Actually… I seem to have lost access to my System and Magic again. I don’t know exactly when it happened, but if I had to guess it was when you bound yourself to the stone and magic surged into the surrounding area.”

“Oh,” I paused for a moment then tapped the ‘Vassals’ tab. The main body of my system window was immediately replaced by a blank list, and a second silver grey information box popped up in front.

Vassals are people that have pledged allegiance to you, in exchange for the ability to draw magic from the stone. 

To grant someone vassalage, have them touch the Sovereign Stone to create a connection, then accept within your system.

Vassals have rights within your Kingdom, and cannot be killed or imprisoned without violating the laws of the kingdom.

Killing a Vassal in an unlawful manner will result in penalties, and reduced Stone functionality for up to five years. 

Vassals may be voluntarily removed from their positions, but they will retain many of the same protections as before.

There are no limits to the number of Vassals you can have at one time.

For more information see: Reference - Vassals

“You want them back? All you need to do is touch the stone,” I said, closing the information window and turning back towards Camille. “I could understand if you’d rather not, considering how things were back in Iskel…”

“There’s a difference between trusting you, and trusting an incompetent old king, and lecherous frist prince,” Camille snorted, immediately slamming her hand onto the crystal.

A pop-up appeared on my system window:

New Vassal Request:

Camille Meadow-Walker Everly

Age: 19, Race: Human

[Inspect]

[Accept] / [Accept Immediate Bloodline] / [Reject]

I raised an eye and tapped the accept button. “Done, you want to test it?”

“System!” Camille shouted in excitement. When her dusty pink window popped up she leaned forward and hugged it tight, letting out a high pitched ‘squee’ sound. 

“It’s back! Backity back back!” she sang, dancing back and forth.

“You weren't this happy when it showed up earlier,” I remarked.

“Because I thought it’d go away once we found the elves and left the dungeon anyways, I didn’t want to get attached. I didn’t know how much I relied upon it until it was gone,” Camille pouted.

“Oh shit, the Elf-bloods,” I hissed. “They’re probably wondering what happened to us. We should get back there.”

“And leave one of the most powerful artifacts in the world undefended? You’re crazy,” Camille muttered. “They’ll be fine for a couple days.”

I slowly turned towards Camille, then shook my head in disappointment. 

“What? They will!” she exclaimed. “What about finding out why you were chosen, and setting up your kingdom, and all that stuff.”

“We can do that after. The people out there need food and medical attention. Besides, I think I can do most of that stuff through my system. I don’t need to be standing here,” I explained.

“Fine…” Camille muttered as she shuffled towards the door. Her supposed ‘dejected’ mood had already faded by the time I caught up with her at the chamber’s entrance. Leaving her as upbeat as usual. “How are we going to get them out anyways? Back through the maze?”

“I think I can open an alternative exit, based upon the messages from before,” I replied before whispering ‘System’ under my breath.

I quickly skimmed through the tabs, looking for the option to open an exit. I saw a lot of stuff that I really wanted to dig into, but I held back. Instead I stopped on the ‘Citadel’ tab which had the following:

Assemble Citadel

Citadel Structures (disabled)

Lock Sanctum

Open Secondary Access

“You can lock the door? Convenient!” Camille remarked as she looked over my shoulder. 

“I knew there’d be an option somewhere,” I muttered. “Almost all the kingdoms keep their stones hidden away, that’s why most people don’t know what they look like.”

Camille cocked her head to the side. “Speaking of which, how did you recognize that as a stone? You mentioned seeing something similar in Iskel Castle?”

I nodded. “Archibald, my worthless former fiance, escorted me to the Iskel stone and asked me to voluntarily renounce my title, which I did without a second thought. I don’t think he realized that’s what I wanted right until the end.”

“There’s one of these chambers in Iskel Castle? Where?” Camille asked eagerly.

“Right behind the thrones.” Camille turned, and looked at me suspiciously so I held up my hands. “I know what you’re thinking, there’s not enough room back there, and I agree. The only thing I could think of is that the Stone must compress space somehow. It can’t be completely impossible, considering all its other powers.”

“Why didn’t I have to go to the stone chamber and renounce my title?” Camille asked.

“Dunno. Maybe it’s because you were the third child, and weren’t going to inherit the county? Or maybe it’s because it’s because you came from a vassal family,” I replied with a shrug. 

“Don’t tell me you’d rather be back in Iskel, then out here with me,” I said, turning towards her and feigning disappointment.

“Hell no! Being out of Iskel beats having a system and magic anyday. I just wish I knew why you needed to be taken to the stone, and the rest of us didn’t.”

I just shrugged again. “We’ll have to go through the rules, later.”

As soon as we emerged from the corridor I quickly touched the ‘Lock Sanctum’ button, and the wall slid shut again. When I finally looked up, and glanced around the room, I noticed that most of the refugees were cowering together at the far side of the room.

Selena, who had been moving from person to person, checking on everyone stood up and stormed over. 

“What happened back there?” she growled. “There was a massive burst of magic which shook the entire complex! It felt like the room was going to collapse. What did you do?”

“I took care of the problem, and figured out how to get everyone out of this dungeon,” I replied casually as I hit ‘Open Secondary Access’.

A section of the far wall slid away, revealing a short hallway ending in another barrier. “See, a way out.” 

“That’s it? You’re not going to explain that burst of magic at all?” Selena asked suspiciously.

“Not at this time, and not to you,” I replied coldly. “We worked together to finish off the Skylians, and find your people. That doesn’t mean I’m willing to share all my secrets with you. Maybe you’ll earn my trust, one day, but it’ll take more than a single excursion to do that.”

Selena bristled at my attitude, but didn’t reply.

“Now, does anyone need help moving? It’ll take about an hour to reach the village at a slow walk, so we need to leave soon if we want to make it before nightfall.”

Selena shook her, and eyes downcast. “Everyone here can move. Anyone that fell behind got overrun earlier.”

“Then get everyone up on their feet,” I replied quietly. “It’s time to move.”