Chapter Two Hundred and Forty-Four. Dinner and metaphysics.

Chapter Two Hundred and Forty-Four. Dinner and metaphysics.

Elania forced herself to smile politely at the King of Greenwold. Honestly, she'd shared meals with despots and dictators, and he was none of those things, at least not the negative connotations. He was, however, overbearing, condescending, and incredibly entitled. He'd told her what they were having for dinner.

She struggled to reign in her temper. She was normally an even-keeled person, but she had to admit that the King of Greenwold just irritated her. If she were perfectly honest with herself, she knew that most of that irritation stemmed from his apparent disregard for her office. She was the President of the United States of America, and she was used to being regarded as the most powerful person in the world.

Granted, the people who called her that had either no idea or only the barest of hints at how the government actually worked. While she influenced policy and was regarded as the front runner of her party, the truth was that the system of checks and balances worked so well that government policy shifted with glacial slowness. Her voice was simply the one heard most often.

Still, there was a degree of respect directed to her and the office, and while there were people in the world who hated her and her position, the hatred itself was a form of recognition.

The King of Greenwold simply didn't care. His personal power was so vast that he commanded respect as the biggest baddest being on his continent.

That particular distinction had not gone unnoticed by the analysts who pored over every report from Thayland. It suggested that the other continent played host to beings even more powerful. She wasn't sure if the religious dogma and propaganda were true, but the general belief that the civilization there worshipped the so-called 'dark' gods, ones that played into the darker nature of humanity.

She would have it paid it no heed were it not for the fact that the seven gods of light rather closely matched the seven cardinal virtues, and from what her agents had been able to discover, the seven gods of darkness, the seven deadly sins. Greenwold's society, despite its corruption, was amiable, in no small part because they embraced the gods of light. They'd offered shelter and aid without reservation. She feared that a society that embraced the gods of darkness might have welcomed them in an entirely less friendly manner.

"Deep thoughts, Elania?" The King asked, startling her out of her introspection.

"My mind often worries at the coming tribulations my citizens will face," Elania replied, trying very hard not to object to the King's use of her name. He'd given her permission to use his own, a gesture he'd clearly considered gracious.

"Your concern does you credit," he replied with a smile. "It might please you to know that I've begun building storage warehouses for the people of Earth. Bob's idea of placing people into stasis was quite clever and remains the ideal solution for housing refugees who lack the drive and desire to delve into a Dungeon." Here the King's smile turned into a frown. "I'd rather hoped that all the people of Earth would be as industrious and brave as those who have journeyed to Thayland already, but from what I gather, thus far, I've only seen the tip of the crystal."

Elania hesitated a moment, then decided to forge ahead with an idea she'd had earlier in the week. "As you've seen, my country, and many others, are civilized to a degree that allows the vast majority of our citizenry to never have to face violence," she began. "Ironically, the people of our world who are most accustomed to violence are those who are the least developed. Those are the people who would likely thrive in a Dungeon environment, but they are also the most difficult to reach, as they lack the infrastructure that, if present, would reduce the violence."

"Are you suggesting that I seek refugees from the more violent, war-torn environments?" The King's voice held a hint of mirth. "You wouldn't be trying to steer me away from your own citizens, would you?"

"Of course I am," she replied evenly. "The people you'd most like to poach are those my country will need the most badly," she shook her head, "I have a limited supply of men and women who are trained to accept violence. I'm going to rely on perhaps two percent of my population to protect the other ninety-eight percent, at least initially."

Elania forced herself to unclench her jaw, took a deep breath, and released it. "I'm going to have enough problems getting all of my citizens to Thayland as it is."

"Can you not just order them to leave?" The King asked curiously.

"Technically, I can," she stressed the word, "but I'll need the support of the federal and the state governments, which I have no doubt I'll receive." She shook her head again. "That being said, there is a subsection of our population who will not believe us, regardless of any evidence demonstrated, and who will refuse to leave, to the point of resisting with force."

The King shrugged casually. "They are level zero. Forcing them to capitulate should be simple. There are several schools of magic that have spells that create restraints if you don't simply wish to beat them into submission. You have thousands of soldiers sitting at the tier cap, and from what I understand," here he delivered a smile that, despite his human form, was utterly draconic, "they are effectively immune to your own weapons if there is no skill supporting them."

Elania hated feeling like she was on her back foot. The King of Greenwold knew entirely too much. She blamed the Old Guard for performing the experiments in the first place and then spreading the word.

Jonothan looked startled to have been called out by name, but he nodded thoughtfully. "So I can turn monsters in the Dungeon into zombies to help me fight, which will help level the school, but I shouldn't take them out of the Dungeon or ritually create them."

"Exactly," Harv nodded, pleased that he'd gotten the message. "Greenwold exists becausewe fled from a place where powerful Necromancers were amongst the ruling elite," he frowned. "The fragments of history we have suggests that it was not a nice place. Everyone grew up hearing the tales, and as a result, Necromancy has had a bad reputation."

"It can't be bad if the big over-lord god of the church of the light lets you use it though." This time it was a young woman named Jennifer.

"That's an argument my family has been trying, quietly, to make for millennia," Harv shook his head with a rueful smile.

"I'm guessing that thing where you rip people's souls out of their bodies hasn't gone over very well," Jennifer offered.

Harv winced. His family's curse had been a closely held secret, in no small part because it tended to arise in situations where it didn't leave any witnesses. "You're not wrong," he agreed, "although up until I had my episode on Earth, only a few trusted friends outside the family were aware."

"Sorry," Jennifer blushed, "everyone has seen the video," she lowered her voice, "is it still a secret over here?"

"No, not anymore," Harv grunted sourly, "the entire population of Holmstead has adapted to your technology, and the video was uploaded the next day and sent out to everyone. Someone downloaded it onto a tablet and sent it to the Church, so the crystal is out of the bag, as it were."

"Not that I want to rip out people's souls," Jonothan began, "but how does that work?"

"I'm still shifting my world view to accept that souls are real," Jennifer muttered.

"That is an application of Invoke Netherworld, which is a 'Dark,' 'Evil,' school of magic," Harv replied seriously. "There is a reason it's called a curse. Beyond that, I both can't and won't say, except that if you have Invoke Netherworld, you'll be required to either reincarnate and lose the school, at which point you'll have to take a Divine Blessing that will preclude you from taking it again, or you'll be ritually marked, and banished."

The class was silent as they digested that information. Carol-Ann broke the silence. "Well, I'm not particularly interested in ripping out anyone's soul, so why don't you tell us how to 'refine' our spell?"

"Who here as Mana Sight?" Harv asked.

Carol-Ann was the only one who raised her hand.

"You're going to want to level up and get the Shadowmancy school and the Mana Sight as soon as possible," Harv advised. "You're going to need to be able to see the way mana flows into the pattern for the Necros Blast spell, which is, unsurprisingly, the same shape as the Anima Blast spell. Both of them are oblong web shapes. Now," he explained, "if you're just looking to infuse a being with Anima or Necros energy, that's just fine. In fact, most of the time, especially for Animancy, that's the best solution because you're looking to heal something quickly, and you're not able to take the time to identify exactly what's wrong. So you're just shoving Anima into it and letting it fix whatever is wrong."

Harv took a sip of water before continuing. "Necros works the same way, but if you're using it offensively, you'll often find yourself wanting to cause specific harm. Blinding a monster can be very effective, as can ossifying the cartilage in its joints. To that end, you'll need to reshape the pattern for the spell, which is where being able to actually see the pattern becomes important. In the meantime, I'd recommend focusing on using Necros Blast to kill monsters, as that will increase the level of the skill, and thus its power."

He looked over his students, noting a few curious expressions. "Any questions?"

Several hands shot up, and Harv nodded. It was all part of the learning process.