Blood Shaper

Book 3: Chapter 1

Kay, Blood Mayor of the Town of Avalon, glanced up from the form he was filling out and resisted slamming his head into his desk. "How is there this much paperwork to do?" He picked up the stack of papers and dropped it down to hear it thump.

His secretary sighed, "Sir, there isn't that much. There are only two forms to sign and then two plans to confirm before we start implementing them."

Kay looked from the young human woman to the thick stack of papers and back again. "Why are there so many damn papers then, Mandy?"

"It's Amanda, even to you, sir, and…" She stepped over to the desk, took the top two papers off, and then took away almost all of the remaining papers, leaving only three of them. "These," She held up the stack in her hands, "are those diagrams from Mr. David again. He said you needed to see all the changes drawn out to make your decision."

Kay sighed in a different way and rubbed at his forehead. "David is great at planning out buildings, but he is so neurotic about making decisions. I saw those plans three days ago, and he's only supposed to have made minor changes, right?"

Amanda glanced through the documents and nodded, "Yes, it looks like it's just the planned changes. The first idea had the placement of a stairwell modified slightly, and the changes to the other two ideas were mostly cosmetic.'

Kay grabbed his official pen and wrote "Approved" on the last pages of David's planning document. "Done, he can start construction whenever he's ready." Kay glanced out one of the windows in his office. "It's nice that we're finally using all the space on the cliff." He looked at the area they'd decided to start building onto and into and then glanced down at the streets of Avalon that surrounded his office building.

Avalon had grown significantly in the last year and a bit, at least compared to where they'd been, and the village was on the cusp of being able to call itself a town. Hell, in terms of pure infrastructure and buildings, they probably already could be considered one. After defeating the Eldritch Being and ensuring the safety of Avalon, Kay had settled down into growing the new village and leading it as best he could. They'd expanded out a little bit to contain the new citizens that had come back with Meten, but that had only put them at around fifty or sixty people at most; they hadn't taken up much space. With enough people to hold down the fort when certain tier five fighters had left, he'd sent Meten off on a shopping trip to Tumbling Rapids, since it was the closest large city, to acquire things they could use or just wanted. Someone that had gone with him hadn't kept their lips sealed because a traveling merchant showed up in Avalon a few months later, having heard about the village founded in the wilderness from somewhere.

They didn't need to keep themselves super-secret, and there were other people that had heard about them at that point, so Kay decided that killing the trader to keep themselves hidden was a bad idea. He was pretty sure it had been brought up only for the sake of exploring all options anyway. So the trader sold some things and bought some things, and left. That was when the people wanting to come live in Avalon started trickling in, to Kay's surprise. Apparently, there were people that wanted a new start, even as precarious as the situation was when starting a new community in the middle of the wilderness.

Poor people wanting a new start, people running away from their problems, criminals wanting to exploit people or escape bounties, and more all showed up asking, or even demanding, to be allowed to stay. The people asking nicely that didn't have any harmful intentions were allowed to stay, because why not? They signed Agreements of loyalty that kept them from being spies or saboteurs, and more workers could always find something useful to do in a growing village. All of the criminals were found out, as far as anyone could tell, and sent away, or in a few cases killed during fights when they were told to leave. The people who demanded that they be allowed to stay were usually of some kind of status from wherever they had come from, and they somehow assumed that meant they'd be important in a new place. They were given a chance to correct their attitudes, and those that didn't were told to leave.

All in all, Avalon had grown from less than one hundred citizens to almost five hundred in basically a year, which had required a sudden boost to their infrastructure and housing. David had gained a bunch of subordinates in the new Office of Planning. Darten had fallen in love with using his Earth Magic and Earth Manipulation skills for construction and led all of the Stone and Earth Mages or Manipulators in their Office of Building. Leya had kept with the combat aspects of Earth Magic, but she still pitched in with building when she had time. With David and Darten at the head, Avalon had grown into a town worth being proud of. Even Kay had gotten an upgraded office building that had two stories and multiple rooms. For some System reason, it couldn't be a Town Hall until they reached actual System status as a Town instead of a Village, but that's what it was in function, if not in fact.

There was a knock on the door, and Kay turned away from the window to respond. "Come in!"

Meten stuck his head through the door and grinned at Kay and Amanda. "Mr. Mayor, Mandy, how is this day treating you?"

"Hey Meten, what's up?" Kay greeted him and gestured for him to come in.

Amanda sighed. "Father, I have asked you so many times to stop calling me that. I'm not a child anymore."

With a smile, Meten stepped over to her and slung an arm off her shoulders, "You'll always be my little girl."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Wonderful. Is there something you need, father? The Mayor still does have more work to do today."

"I have a report from some of the scouts, but it can wait a little bit, its interesting and probably good news, but it's not urgent."

"I only have three more things, so-"

"Mr. Mayor, the last planning item is for you to decide on who is going to be the Commander of the Guard for Avalon, and the remaining candidates are waiting to see you." Amanda interrupted. She turned to Meten and gently pushed him towards the door, "You can wait, you said, so come back later, father."

"Why didn't you say that earlier?" Kay asked.

"Because there is an order for things to happen! That was the last thing for you to do today because the meeting is probably going to take the longest! Stop resisting me, father!" She scowled at Meten, who was holding onto the door frame with one hand and chuckling.

Kay shook his head at their antics and asked a question he'd been sitting on for a while. "Why do you call him 'father'?"

"Because my birth parents are my mom and dad, and he's my father." She answered immediately as she strained against Meten's higher tier strength.

"Sometimes, when she's in a good mood, she calls me 'Da'." Meten grinned and kissed Amanda on the forehead. "I'll talk to you both later."

Amanda staggered when he suddenly moved and took a moment to straighten her clothes as she resumed her professional demeanor.

Kay chuckled at the shift in her personality when she was around her loved ones and grabbed another piece of paperwork. "So the people that are left to be Head Guard are-"

Amanda gently but firmly took the paper from him. "That is last. The other two forms come first."

"Who is in charge around here?"

She ignored him.

"Alright, whatever. Let's see here." He read the proposal submitted by a citizen over and nodded. "Sure, this is fine. Searching for more resources for Avalon to use or sell is always good. I approve their expedition." He signed the paper and handed it to Amanda. "I wish them luck beating Cindy's people out though, they've brought in a huge majority of our findings for resources."

"They do have a person capable of using skills to find what they want, form what I've heard, specialized to locating certain specific resources," Amanda informed him.

"Oh, that's good." He grabbed the last remaining submission and started reading. Almost immediately, he groaned and tossed it aside. "Rejected, again! For the same damn reason as last time and the time before that. I don't have a high enough Noble Title to start appointing lower Nobles! Tell," He grabbed the paper to read the name so he could remember it, "This Aprasen person that they are not required to spend a few hours at the school getting lectured on what different Noble Titles can and can't do. Maybe that'll get it through their head that I am literally incapable of doing what they want me to do."

Amanda nodded once. "Noted. I'll have it scheduled with Ms. Eleniah."

"I'd say that's mean, but she's a fantastic teacher, so maybe that will get it through to them. It's not like he's getting combat training from her."

Eleniah still went on adventures and helped with other combat-related tasks, but she wasn't that good of an administrator compared to some of the people they'd picked up in the last year, so Kay had half let and half ordered her to spend her open time with her other true love besides fighting, teaching. She helped with lots of tasks at the school they'd built, but she especially loved teaching the younger children and helping the older ones get ready for having a Class.

"Ms. Aprasen is a tier two Merchant Class from a somewhat powerful mercantile family to the west. My reports say that she moved into the area of Tumbling Rapids in order to make a name for herself and came to Avalon for the same reason, hoping for less competition. She apparently wants Avalon to succeed so she can grow alongside, and thinks becoming a Low Noble can help push her past others of her generation from her family."

Kay slowly looked up at her from the paper. "Do we have spies?"

"No. Not yet. But like you've said before, planning ahead of time saves effort later. You have… potential spies."

"… Right…" Kay stared at her poker face for a moment, then turned to the last paper. "There are only two candidates for Head Guard?"

"The Commander of the Guard position is prestigious but also demanding. Most of the original candidates were removed as possibilities."

"I'm only a Mayor, so it's Head Guard. Once I get a higher Noble Title, it'll be Commander of the Guard. And I should unlock some other Position Titles to appoint."

"Commander of the Guard sounds better."

Kay snorted a laugh and read the paper describing the two candidates and their Classes and Skills. "This is informative, but I should really meet them first. You said they're waiting here?"

"Yes, sir. I'll go get them."

Kay waited a few minutes, and then Amanda led two women into the room. One was a Human woman with long brown hair tied into a braided ponytail and ghostly gray eyes. She was shorter but lithe and muscular, and she quickly glanced around the room, taking in everything there. Kay noticed a series of sharp, mostly hidden spikes braided into her hair.

The other woman was more than a foot taller than the first woman and a few inches taller than Kay. She was an Orc, with dark green skin the color of leaves from an old forest giant and small tusks pointing up from her lower lips. The Orc woman was ripped, and she walked with a confident stride. Mentally comparing the two, Kay figured that they both walked confidently but in different ways.

"Hello. We've reached the number of people in Avalon that I can't for sure say that I've met everyone now. I'm Mayor Kay." He nodded in greeting from behind his desk. He would have stood up and shaken their hands, but apparently, that wasn't the right move in professional settings as a Noble.

"Hello, sir." The Human woman made a tiny bow in his direction. "I'm Sarah Hunteo."

"I'm Grace Sharmon. Greetings, Mayor Kay." Grace, the Orc woman, did the same tiny bow but with a clenched fist held up in front of her sternum.

"Nice to meet you both. I assume you've been told why you're here?"

Kay actually did assume that, which is why he was surprised when they glanced at each other, then both shook their heads.

"No, sir, we haven't," Sarah answered him.

Kay shot Amanda a look, and she furrowed her brow and shrugged from behind the two women. "They were supposed to know!" She mouthed at him.

Kay restrained a sigh. "My apologies then; someone was supposed to tell you that you were brought here as the last two remaining candidates to become Head Guard for Avalon."

They looked at each other in surprise. "Seriously, sir?" Grace asked.

"Yes, I'm being serious."

"Then, I withdraw. Sarah would make a way better Head Guard than I would."

"Grace!"

"Don't snap at me, especially when I'm right! I'm no good at ordering people around, and you are. I forget to pay attention to people."

Sarah sighed. "You do just assume that people will do what you tell them. Which is a weird trait for a guard."

"I trust other guards to do their jobs! It's everyone else I watch."

Sarah gave her friend, because, with the bickering, you could tell they were friends, a look and turned back to Kay. "Mr. Mayor, since Grace doesn't want to, I can be Head Guard for Avalon. I'd be proud to do it too."

"Wonderful, that makes my life easier." Kay focused on her and his Noble Title. "I name you Head Guard of the Village of Avalon." He felt a bit of energy go from him to her, and his notifications icon lit up as he appointed the one and only Position Title he had to give out as a lowly Mayor.

"Thank you, sir."

"Thank you for taking the job. Now, based on that little conversation the two of you had, you've been guards before?"

"Yes, sir." She replied, "Grace and I were Tumbling Rapids guards before we moved here."

"Oh! Do you know Captain Armis? He helped me quite a bit while I was there."

They glanced at each other. "Yes, sir, we worked under him, and we heard about some of the things you were involved with. Grace was actually there when you were recovered from the Nelamian building."

She waved. "I didn't see you then, sir; I was on the other side hitting a back door."

"Captain Armis is actually why we left, sir." Sarah continued, "He's been encouraging the good guards to get out of the city if they can since the political situation is devolving there. He's trying his best to protect everyone from corruption and fallout, and it's easier if those of us without many attachments find other work." She shrugged, "We heard about Avalon and decided to see what's up."

"And now you're Head Guard!" Grace cheered.

"As much as I'd love to hear more about the politics in Tumbling Rapids, and I really mean that, let's focus on your job for now."

"Yes, sir. Once you upgrade your Title, I can become a Guard Captain, and that lets me have two Guard Lieutenants-"

"I thought it was Commander of the Guard next?" Kay interrupted her, then internally winced. Even if she was her boss, being rude was being rude.

She shook her head, "No sir, that's the one after Guard Captain."

"Oh, sorry, please continue."

"I'd like to start forming a guard structure with the assumption that you'll upgrade your Title sooner rather than later. Even if it takes you some more time, we'll have a good structure in place that will work either way."

Kay nodded in agreement, "I don't have a problem with that."

"Very good. That being said, I'd like to nominate my two picks to eventually be Guard Lieutenants."

"Go ahead, who are they."

Sarah pointed at the Orc next to her. "Grace and a woman named Julia Gallows. She's a former bounty hunter from the Tumbling Rapids area that got one of the City Councilmembers angry at her for not doing what he wanted."

Kay glanced at Amanda, who flipped through a list. "Julia Gallows, Bugbear. Known for her distinctive rare white fur and being very efficient when it comes to hunting down bounties. Removed from consideration because she's known to beat criminals to death on occasion."

"That was only once, and everyone agreed that they had it coming," Grace replied loudly.

Kay shot her a look with one eyebrow raised.

"He was accepting money like he was taking hits on people, but to rape them instead like some kind of completely fucked assassin." Grace explained. "He was going to pay off his bounty and get away with it, and Julia lost it."

"Normally, she's tough but pretty fair in general."

"You trust her?" Kay asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Then she's in. If she does something like that again, we'll talk about it. But I'm not inclined to let rapists get off the hook, and I'm in charge, so I think we'll be fine."

"Yes, sir."

They continued talking about making an effective guard force for Avalon for a few more hours.

"Great, I think we've got a working plan going. We'll talk more about this later, but I think we're at a good stopping point, and I've got another meeting after this." Kay thanked them for coming and dismissed them. "Alright, fetch Meten for me, please, will you?"

Amanda went and got her father, who sat down in one of the chairs across from Kay's desk.

"So, what did you find?" Kay asked him. Meten was leading what was effectively Avalon's military, even though it wasn't really a military at all, just a collection of Combat Class holders willing to help out for pay. Once they didn't have a working military, Kay was sure Meten wouldn't be part of it. He was too free form for that, but that made him good at leading what was basically a group of adventurers on scouting expeditions into the tunnels and surrounding areas.

"Well, first of all, regular reports. Still, no finds in the tunnels, and we still can't get that door you found open. Besides the door and the markings everywhere, they're still empty rooms and tunnels."

"Alright, still weird, but that's what I've been hearing for ages now. What's the new thing?"

Meten grinned widely and leaned in close. "We think we've found a Dungeon nearby."

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