The Monster Mage

18

^^ Galatea (non-Combat) ^^

It took a lot to silence my Mom.

Usually, I'd be overjoyed, celebrating my achievement and happy she was so shocked by my various creations.

Instead, it was incredibly unsettling, as she stared into her teacup in silence for several minutes.

Luna Sr. was the first to speak, in the awkward silence. "So, you'll need merchants for this place, yes? And our clan is going to be the main one with something to Gain? How so?" She asked.

"Yes, I need merchants, as a Permanent posting, and no one is being given precedence. I was serious when I said I wasn't trying to take over all the money from dungeon hunting, I only want to make it safer, and thus more profitable for everyone. The Dungeon Guild will handle paperwork on the merchants, the Cartographers Guild will hire escorts to map the various floors, (which will change once per year, to keep them guessing and keep them working,) and the various Adventuring Guilds will build connections with the Dungeon Guild to get better benefits. My best feature, however, is that no one needs to die at all, in this dungeon. I can easily temporarily connect the souls of adventurers to a Crystal in my Graveyard, which you just saw, and when their bodies are destroyed, I can build another one in about a week, placing them within and sending them on their way." I nodded seriously.

She blinked slowly, and tilted her head. "Did you just... casually create immortality?"

"More like Controlled Reincarnation... but yes." I nodded. "Now, we need Food Merchants, and merchants for traveling supplies; the floors stretch to 500 miles across, so it's not a quick walk. They'll need to rent wagons, and horses, and canoes, -which I'll happily provide for a price, of course,- and they'll need rations, Guides, and a variety of goods that I'm sure our people can provide. The only advantage our clan has is that you know first, and I can teleport a few merchants from our clan and their entire stock, if necessary, to make sure we're the first ones with a fully-stocked Store. That and the fact that you're the only ones who've seen the extent of the floors is the only advantage, really. Oh, and this Realm is next to the Half-Mountain, on the mountain I found my Cave on, and that's where the entrance is for our clan, because we don't have a Dungeon." I explained.

She frowned at my nonchalance, but nodded. "I understand, it would be wrong to give us too much of an advantage; the Collective is just that: a Group. If one person gets greedy, we all suffer. I'll have my merchants here by morning, and I'll have them on shifts of one month at a time, because you said there were Slots? Each month?"

"Yes, I want to make sure every Clan has an opportunity to place a merchant here, so with a simple tax, just like the capital, every merchant pays a fee each month, and if they decide to keep one spot for more than a month that fee doubles every month, to keep one merchant caravan or Clan from hogging one spot forever. There's only so much space, and only so many Hunter/Adventurers who'll buy from a clan other than their own." I explained, and made the table suddenly show a model of this floor, with numbered slots in the ring of 24 buildings around the observatory, with a 300ft wide open market in the center.

She hummed, examining the map. "I see, and with these 24 Shops, the benefit is?"

"More space, a more presented aspect, and an attached crafting station of your choice. Hunters need weapons, too, after all, and they need to tan any Hides they bring back, though that'll be rare for now." I answered, and suddenly they all changed into blacksmiths, tanners, fletchers, and armorers, while the center market became perishables and basic supplies.

"Oooh, I like your style... and you're not wrong, my dear, if these hunters are going on several-day-long hunts, and even maybe Weeks-long hunts, they'll need everything they can get." She nodded seriously.