To Rebuild a Mageocracy

Thirteen

^^ Champion Rogue ^^

— Arcata, Thieves' Guild Headquarters —

There was a somber, simmering tension to the Guild tonight. Usually, there was a celebratory air to the underground tavern and brothel, as the Rogues celebrated another day they survived in the most dangerous profession, but today, their survival had come from their opponent's lack of interest in killing them, not their own wits and luck. The addition of the feeling of having been beaten to a pulp by a child with a hammer, of course, only deepened the melancholy.

"My understanding of your report is that the Dungeon Merchant Guild is our direct competitor, and yet they want to absorb our Fences and Merchants into their Fold? And if we refuse, they will burn down our guild and kill us all?" A tall man in noble, flashy attire questioned a pale woman with black braids and skull decorations on her leather armor, alongside four other Executives of the Arcata Branch of the Thieves Guild.

"To be clear, the threat was that she would be beginning a campaign to eradicate the Guild as recompense for our destruction of the Order of Mana, within 24 hours, and then all the others if they failed to cooperate with her; according to her, the only way our Guild escapes destruction is if we decide to Ally ourselves with her. She also made some very good points in her favor for us to Ally ourselves with her, including the fact that the less mages there are in the world, the closer it is to falling apart at the dimensional seams."

"And you believed this ridiculous claim?" Another jewel-clad merchant scoffed, addressing the kneeling rogues dismissively.

"I have a passive skill that determines truth, and I'm a higher tier than her, so yes. She lied about a few things, but about that she was telling the truth. I'd like to advise that the Guild rethink its policy towards the Order of Mana, and mages in general." Zaya nodded firmly.

The tall merchant in noble clothing scoffed at the statement, but was interrupted by another Rogue, sitting calmly in front of them all and silent until now. "I have the same skill, and the Death Knight is not lying. The Guild will investigate these claims, and, if necessary, make changes to its policies. What is your analysis of the strength of the Champion of Muradin?"

Zaya shook her head slowly. "Immortal and unkillable."

The rogue blinked slowly, verifying the truth of her opinion, at least to her, and then narrowed their eyes at her, activating a few other skills to analyze her body language. "How so? Not even Demigods are Unkillable."

"Let me clarify: I saw her casually restrain five Tier Six Rogues with magic, after she beat us near to death with a mace. Meaning she can do both, and do them well. Before that, I saw her craft an entire Mage's Tower, in the shape of Muradin themself, in around five seconds. If you'd seen the interior, you'd understand... there's this... thing in the entry hall, a flying ball of molten crystal that looks like a star, two hundred meters wide. She called it a 'Mythallar', a 'Planar Engine', and she said the entire Tower was actually a Dungeon she'd made for her own use, and the 'Monsters' inside the Gate were these golems that looked like Muradin, faceless and pale, made of Luxos... each one was only a Tier Two Shield Warrior in stats, I think, but there were hundreds of them, and only in the areas she showed us. She carried us around with magic, gave us a tour, then sat us down in a professional board room and gave us an Ultimatum. If that's not enough, she teleported, in front of my very eyes. That's Tier Seven Magic, and she said she could cast it forever, because of the Dungeon. She has Infinite Mana, near the Dungeon, and that was also a Truth my Skill caught. Infinite Teleportation? How do you kill that? Destroy the Dungeon? Oh, by the way, the Mythallar is the Dungeon Core, and touching it instantly kills a Tier Seven Mage or Cleric Champion due to the immense amount of mana pouring into their body, according to her; according to my skills? Yet another Truth! So we can't steal it, we can't break it, -it's made of a flying ball of liquid crystal,- we can't do anything to it, so maybe we just kill all the golems and look for the Boss? Oh wait, SHE'S THE BOSS MONSTER!!! That means she regenerates as long as the Dungeon Exists, even if you kill her she just comes back as soon as the dungeon resets; she didn't say as much, she tried to hide it, but I noticed! How do you kill a dungeon boss when you can't destroy the Dungeon?!? You don't. You can't. You run far away or you surrender, that's all you can do, but she said she was coming for every Guild, in every City, on every Continent, to either co-opt us or crush us! So yes, I think we should reconsider our position: we're thieves, not world-enders, not shadow governments! If she wants us to continue our current life while increasing our profits and our chances of continued survival, what is there to debate?!?"