The next several hours saw the Mentor running Ranma absolutely ragged as he directed the excavation, claiming, and construction of the lair and hatchery. It was not until he was completed that Ranma was able to rest.
Ranma tiredly entered his Lair and plopped down upon the soft carpeted floor. In an explosion of magic, a futon with pillow and cover appeared. He considered asking the advisor where it came from, but in all honesty, he was too tired to care, and not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he curled up and fell asleep as soon as he was under the covers. The next morning though, he would discover that part of his mind always was active and observing his Dungeon. He'd wake up knowing that Horny had talked to the Mentor before enjoying his first meal and rest in a lair in generations. He didn't have any idea what the Reaper had spoken to the Mentor about. If he did, he would have been concerned...
The Horned Reaper grinned savagely as he brought a hoofed foot down upon a chicken, crunching it with a shrill, pained squawk. Though it was only poultry, it was his first kill in so long... the feel of blood under hoof just felt to good after so long.
"So, Horny" the Mentor purred as he floated in through the open doorway that lead to heart and the lairs beyond. "What do you think of our apprentice Keeper?"
"Honestly?" he snorted as he lifted chicken and bit its head and most of its shoulders off, "Knows how to fight, but right now doesn't have the stomach or backbone to make it as a Keeper. Right now he's just a surface kid, abet on with some potential and skill."
"I know," the Mentor sighed, "Isn't it wonderful?"
The Reaper's visage twisted with disbelief. His jaw hanging slack, he shot the spirit an incredulous glance. "Have you lost what little remained of your undead mind?"
The Mentor chuckled. "I know my dear Reaper, and that is what makes this truly a pleasure and a challenge. The vast majority of Keepers are either individuals who take a Dungeon Heart at the pinnacle of their power, or are the offspring of Keepers who are given Hearts by their overly sentimental parents. Very rarely do you see an entirely fresh Keeper, one who is only beginning their rise. This boy stumbled into here knowing nothing except the rather basic fact that disembowelment is a most unpleasant activity, especially if you're the one being disemboweled. He is ignorant, naive, very goodie-goodie, but I too sense great potential in him."
"So you think we can actually make this boy into a proper Keeper," the Reaper thought out loud. "This sounds interesting..."
"My, my, my... a Horned Reaper showing interest in some besides violence..."
The Reaper chucked darkly. "I may be born to k-k-kill but its not my only interest, only my primary one."
"Yes, I am sure your needlepoint is outstanding," the Advisor deadpanned. "Now, what we need to do next is to stockpile gold and visit one of the major under-cities..."
Horny rolled his eyes. "Of course. We are going to have to acquire the templates for more advanced rooms, for traps, and for doors... and we lack the numbers to do so by force. So, where to? "
The ghost snorted. "Skid Row is our best option."
"That hole?" the demon replied incredulously. "Its nothing more than an over glorified goblin warren."
"Its grown quite a bit since your imprisonment began," replied the Advisor. "It is still a pitiful slum when compared to the great under-cities, such as Dis, but it's large enough for our purposes and will prevent his true nature from being surmised before we are ready to face enemies of any substance..." The spirit paused, collecting its thoughts before carrying on. "Now, were was I... oh yes. We are going to be required to make a consorted effort to corrupt this youth. It is my recommendation that we listen to his life story and tailor our objectives around his experiences.
Horny scratched his great chin with a claw, thinking "One thing I did notice when he was bounding the Dungeon Heart was that he reacted strongly to the power. He seemed to revel in it..."
"Power, the ultimate corruptor!" the Mentor laughed. "That will be one too we can use. I can think of other plans as well. A servant would be good. After all, no Keeper worth his Heart does his own menial labor. I'm thinking a slave, young, female, and trained in the arts of pleasure. Good Underworlder lass too, none of these half-broken surface girls who still hold onto the secret, futile hope that some great hero will come down, butcher their masters, and carry them back into the light. That could very well feed into his obnoxious heroics..."
"We also need something to kill." Horny grinned.
"Don't worry, my one dimensional friend, you'll have your slaughter soon enough..."
He glanced over at the unfinished tunnel that the imps were digging out gold. The Dungeon Heart seemed to be almost full of coins.
"Looks like we will need a Treasury before long if we are to keep a proper count..."
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Psyckosama
(Posted Sun, 17 Dec 2006 08:49)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.