Tom staggered forward and placed himself between the see-through person and the group.

The figure held up both hands above its head. "Whoa! Here to help!" Its voice was low-pitched and female.

"Who are you?" Bo asked.

"I am Caretaker Transparency."

"Another one? How many of you guys are there?" Bo asked.

The figure shrugged her faint shoulders. "It takes many hands to run a universe."

The Caretaker's golden irises seemed to scan the room. "Anyway, sorry for popping in like this. I don't have regulations or statutes built into the universe yet for the transaction you are discussing here."

Bo paused. "What?"

"In regard to your friend Brad trading the Dungeon boon for ownership of a territory? You're not the first group to clear a Dungeon, but you're the first to discuss a deal like this. I just thought I'd be present to facilitate."

Bo frowned, and scratched his beard. "So . . . Caretaker Job gave us jobs. You are here to do . . . what?"

"When the Caretakers built this universe, we tried to take into account everything we could do to make it better compared to your old universe."

"How the fuck are Headless monsters an improvement?" snapped Kate.

Tom stared at Kate. Her jaw was locked and her eyes were narrow; he knew that expression. He half-expected the Bear to reappear.

Caretaker Transparency somehow succeeded in giving Kate a cool look. "The Caretakers did not create the monsters." Her outline changed, as though she had adjusted position. "There was a need for clarity, if you pardon the pun, and so I was born. Around the world, laws were twisted, abused, and warped. Corruption and dirty money were rampant. Contracts were broken through manipulation and loopholes. Humans were choking to death on their own economic and legal systems. It was decided by the Caretakers that society would be a better place if all deals were honored and the rules were 'clear'. Brad here has indicated that he would like to give up his territory claim, in return for you all turning down the Dungeon's boon. If this is something you all agree to, then I will manage the transfer."

Bo turned to the rest of the group. "Personally, I think Brad should have it, since he came into this Dungeon and helped us. Does anyone have any objections?"

Chloe's nose wrinkled. "I'll pass."

Tom imagined himself stamping around like a Marauder.

"Fuck no," he said.

Tom's sentiment was reflected in most of their faces.

"Yeah, we'll give it to Brad," Bo confirmed.

"I love it when the solution is 'clear'," said Transparency. "The territory will be split between the remaining party members."

A prompt appeared, asking Tom if he would like to change the territory division from ten people to nine, and award Brad the boon. Tom mentally selected 'yes', and the decision was made.

A flashing announcement appeared.

[Selecting governmental system based on party composition…]

A visual appeared, rotating like a slot machine reel. Terms such as democracy, theocracy, authoritarianism, oligarchy, and many others flashed by, before the reel slowed and landed on [Feudalism].

[The ruling class consists of two noble families, comprising four adults and five descendants. Feudalism applied.]

Another prompt appeared.

[Would you like to assign all nine Dungeon participants as rulers of this land?] Beside the 'nine', 'ten' had been crossed out. The initials 'CT' were written next to the correction.

[The Dungeon territory will be divided into nine equal-sized property zones. Your zone will be assigned based on hidden criteria. All resources within your zone will belong to you. In addition, as a reward for being the first to defeat this Dungeon, a special ability will be given to party member Brad.] Once again, the original prompt had been edited to specify Brad..

"I'll select 'yes' if we're all good with it?" Bo said.

No one objected.

"Here goes."

The overhead map shifted, and new boundary lines appeared. They divided the territory into nine even sub-territories; three columns of three, like a tic-tac-toe board.

Brad doubled over and groaned. His hand scratched at his stomach, as if he was trying to dig something out from under his skin. He grimaced, and let out a string of curses and moans. He lifted his shirt.

Tom cringed away; however, Brad's stomach was bare.

Brad straightened up. "Huh. I guess . . . hold on!"

It was possibly the strangest thing Tom had ever witnessed, even after everything they'd been through.

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The skin on Brad's stomach and chest twisted and contorted as it pulled itself apart. Four new mouths grew out of his torso, with full lips and teeth. Each one started beatboxing. Brad gaped down at them.

Hana covered her look of horror, and turned away.

"Wicked!" Amber yelled.

The beat continued. Brad added an impromptu rap song of his own invention.

Tom checked his buffs; the XS.02 buff that Brad had provided earlier had grown to XS.20. The mouths were creepy but effective.

On the map portrait pictures of Chloe and Bo appeared over their assigned territories within the Headless Dungeon Block. Bo had the sub-territory in the bottom right corner of the tic-tac-toe grid, which encompassed the campsite and the Dungeon. Chloe received the stone quarry and Copper mine in the bottom middle.

The rest of the areas remained grayed out and undiscovered.

The prompt on the screen changed; this time it asked for the name of their newly established Kingdom.

"Anyone got a good name?" Tom said.

"Winterfell!" Finn said.

"We are not ripping off Game of Thrones," said Bo. "What about something like New St. Louis, since it was the closest major city?"

"The Kingdom of New St. Louis? Yuck!" said Loo. "What about something magical like . . . Dragon Might, or Mythoria?"

"Too weird," said Amber, though she didn't offer any suggestions.

"Everyone here is from the subdivision of Raintree," said Hana. "Let's be simple and use that?"

Everyone looked at each other.

"Sounds good to me," Bo said.

Tom looked at Transparency.

"I'm just going to wait till the end to verify the ennoblement process works correctly," said Transparency. "Just act like I'm invisible."

Amber snorted.

A new message displayed in the center of the room.

[Congratulations, your Kingdom has been established! You are now the equal rulers of the Kingdom of Raintree. Soon, your personal interface will be updated with information in regard to titles, buildings, taxation rates, community morale, crime rates, research and advancement, population, and other important metrics. Lord is of the same rank as Lady and is interchangeable in further prompts if interested. ]

Tom's shoulders slumped as he took in the enormity of the task ahead.

Conversely, Bo had a childlike grin. "There's a lot to do. I can't wait!"

Tom had been standing too long. His legs were twitching, and his back had tightened up so much he could barely bend. He did his best to smile.

"A roof over our heads . . . sounds nice." Tom grimaced. "Let's grab the rest of the loot and head back to camp."

I need to get back while I still can!

Tom took two shaky steps forward, and another prompt appeared in his vision.

[Initiating ennoblement process. Would you like to proceed?]

He quickly dismissed the prompt, only to realize that everyone else had unfocused eyes.

Tom groaned. He recalled the prompt, and prepared to mentally click 'next'.

A loud popping sound echoed through the room once again.

"Wait just a second!" A voice cut through the air, and an older Black woman appeared. Her golden eyes flashed. She was draped in ancient ceremonial robes, woven with rich golds and greens, and she wore a large domed hat on her halo of tight gray curls.

Tom closed his prompt, and swallowed his frustrated growl.

Bo tilted his head back and gazed up at the ceiling. "Holy shit. Another one."

Either the woman didn't hear Bo, or she didn't care—Tom suspected the latter. She drifted toward Transparency.

"What happened to you?" she asked. "What's with the 'invisible woman' thing?"

Caretaker Transparency gave a dark chuckle. "It was either this," she gestured at her invisible body, "or Caretaker Meme was going to make me, in the name of full transparency, display everyone's sexual body count on their nametags."

"Agh!" Loo shoved her fists into her ears.

"Ewww," Tess said.

"Meme? Like, joke internet picture Meme?" Chloe asked.

"Caretaker Meme is a trickster born of your social media and internet," Transparency said. "He, like the rest of us, is here to help humankind through this, but . . . just trust me. Stay away from Meme."

"What does our social media have to do with—" Chloe began.

The older woman chuckled and said "quick one", then turned toward Tom. "Sorry for the intrusion, young man. I am Caretaker History. It is my mission to bring an accurate representation of your human past into this world, and to preserve it for all time."

"No intrusion," Tom said through clenched teeth as his muscles spasmed. "Can I help you with something, Caretaker?"

"Yes indeed, you can. There have been new Kingdoms established all over the world during the past few days, and I have been assigning as many different architectural themes to them as I can."

"If this is for construction stuff, you should probably talk to Mr. Robinson over there." Tom pointed at Bo.

"Well, no actually. I'm here because of you, Mr. Damascus. As I establish different forms of architecture within these new budding Kingdoms, I try to do so with some type of reasoning; a link between the chosen theme and the new territory owners. I have found a synergy to share with you, Mr. Damascus."

"Uh, I'm not exactly sure what you mean, Caretaker History. I'm in a rush . . . "

Tom stopped himself.

Don't make the same mistake you made with Job.

"Actually, yes. Please do share, Caretaker History. I would be happy to hear any advice you might have, even if I'm not exactly sure what it means."

"If you don't mind, let me give you a quick history lesson."

Bo raised a hand. "Ma'am, I'm not sure now is the best—"

"Patience, please. I am trying to give you a gift, and it is important you understand why."

"Of course." Tom readjusted his weight in a vain attempt to ease the pain. "I'm all ears."

"Damascus is a pretty unique last name, don't you think?" Caretaker History said.

Tom shrugged. "I guess. My grandfather came from Romania, and I have some extended family there. Or I had."

"Right! Your family came to the United States from Romania. But, where were they before that?"

Tom shrugged again. "I don't know."

"I do! Rome! I have yet to establish a Romanesque architecture, and I propose we apply it to the buildings of the Kingdom of Raintree. It may be a little flimsy, but I just needed an excuse."

"Does this affect materials used?" Bo stepped forward. "Or time building the structures?"

"A little . . . all buildings of Standard level or higher are required to embody one theme or another, and all will require certain resources per the architectural theme assigned to it. For example, let us compare, say, a [Basic Inn] built in the Kingdom of Raintree with one built in the Empire of Power—ruled by Czar Darrell—which has an Adobe theme."

"Empire of Power?" Amber snickered.

"Yes, the Empire of Power," History confirmed, with eternal patience. "Darrell and his teenage 'mates' established it earlier today in what used to be northern Australia, which is why I use it now in my example. Anyway, a [Basic Inn] costs the same amount of lumber, glass, brick, and furniture no matter where you build it. However, the Inn built here in Raintree would require Travertine stone as well, while the one built in the Empire of Power would require large amounts of Clay. Both buildings offer the same city benefits. However, the Inn in Raintree would be supported by stone pillars and arches, and would be decorated in whites and mosaics. The Inn in the Empire of Power would be dome-shaped and molded from Clay bricks. It would be painted in shades of brown, and decorated with bright flowing cloths."

"What if we can't find Travertine?" Bo asked.

"If you choose to accept the Roman architecture, I will establish Travertine and Marble mines on Mr. Damascus's land."

"Besides preserving history and 'looks', does an architectural theme offer any real advantages?" Bo asked. "I don't mean to be rude, but would we be going through all the trouble of running a mine, and the logistics of moving tons of stone, just for appearances?"

"Preserving history, and learning from it, is already beneficial and worth the trouble." For the first time, the Caretaker's tone was icy. She stared long and hard at Bo. "To answer your question; no. The buildings are not there to 'look pretty'. Roman architecture was known for its strength and durability. Your buildings will also benefit from these qualities. As Settlements and Kingdoms level-up, themed cities will offer greater boons."

"Caretaker History?" said Hana. "I mean no offense, but is there such a thing as designing our own architecture? I'm just interested in hearing all the options."

"Of course, dear. Yes, you could opt out of my suggested theme. In fact, the very first Kingdom that was established in the New World was in the former Saharan desert of Africa, and they opted out. If they progress far enough to develop their own architectural theme, they will have to find their own resources and it may or may not provide bonuses similar to the ones I offer. I do not know, and I am excited to find out."

Hana nodded. "Thank you."

Tom looked at Bo.

Bo shrugged. "I think we take the guaranteed resources and the extra durability doesn't sound bad to me."

"All right," Tom said. "Let's go with the Roman architecture."

"Great!" Caretaker History waved her hands in the air. Architectural images flickered in front of Tom: Mayan; Imperial Chinese; Lothlórien . . .

The stream stopped on a picture of the Roman Colosseum.

[Theme applied.]

Two new icons appeared on the giant territory map. The top middle square was still grayed out, but the sub-territory now had Tom's profile assigned to it. One icon was for Marble, and the other was for Travertine.

Caretaker History smiled, and closed her golden eyes. "Please kneel to complete the ennoblement process."

Grimacing, Tom eventually levered down onto one knee.

A nameplate appeared above Tom's head.

[Lord Thomas Damascus]

"Please rise as the new rulers of Raintree!" announced History. "Through your ennoblement, you will each provide unique buffs to the citizens and vassals in your fiefdoms."

Tom tried to stand, but his body wouldn't cooperate; even small movements sent excruciating pain through him.

"Help," Tom muttered. He fought not to topple over in the heavy armor.

Not quite the knighting ceremony I dreamed about as a kid.

Bo and Kate rushed forward and helped Tom stand.

"Hey, look at this," Hana said.

A message floated above the central crystal.

[This Dungeon has been defeated.

Time until respawn: 6 days; 18 hours; 16 minutes.

Current Dungeon level: 0.]

"Looks like it respawns once a week," Chloe said. "In six days and eighteen hours we'll probably have an earthquake and a new wave of monsters."

"We'll be ready." Tess said.

"You mean we have to do this shit again?!" Kate said.

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