Felix: I told you not to call me that! I am not anyone master! You make me look bad in front of my guests!

Lizard guy: It seems like you brought another fine lady, master! And a princess nonetheless!

*Felix stop himself from punching the lizard shoulder in annoyance*

Eleonore, weirded out: What is that creatures sir knight?

Felix: That guy's name is Simon, he is…

Simon?: My name is Sebastian, sir. Simon is the name of my father.

Felix: Yes Sebastian. Sorry. With all of you in the colony, combined with the fact that I know your ancestors, makes me really bad at remembering all of your names. Anyway, Sebastian here is one of the kobolds living in my lair.

Eleonore: Kobolds? I thought that they were creatures of darkness!

Felix: They usually do, but one day I got a quest requiring me to kill a red dragon. I survived their numerous traps, their specialty, before facing the giant beast. Bird vs reptile, it was an epic battle version of two giant fire spitters. When I was finally victorious, they were crying vengeance. I thought about cleaning the dungeon from their presence when I realized that those guys actually have a family. I couldn't do it. One of the elders then suggests that they should make me their new ruler, as I shared similar properties with their former master and proved that I was superior in strength. I was surprised when they agreed, as kobolds are known for their loyalty.

Sebastian, not Simon: I heard rumors that the dragon was particularly ruthless toward my ancestors, and that your pity had shown us the path of good!

Felix: Anyway, they need someone superior to give them a reason for living, as I understood from their culture, and I could use the staff. They built this impressive and well-protected fortress for me without even being asked. We live in a symbiotic relationship where I sometimes help them with resources and give them someone to worship. I organize festivities, where they can even use some of my treasures for it! It is pretty fun to see them wear some of my artifacts. They need to make their own drinks though as I quickly ran out of hundred years old wine.

Drake: Maybe we should go Felix, we’ve been standing here for a while now.

Felix: Oh yes… sorry, I was caught up in my explanation again. Drake, would you scout the areas? The usual scouts could use a break. In exchange, they will probably let you stay with them again. Can you also take care of this task for me?

*Felix gives a scroll with instructions to Drake, who rolled his eyes, before taking the tired kobolds place. Eleonore was still a bit confused by the situation they head toward the entrance, Sebastian welcoming them inside*

Eleonore: So those were your spies?

Felix: Yup. By the way, Seb, I told you guys that you could call me “Lord” or     “prince” if you really wanted to, but that's it. I'm not owning you guys, capiche?

Sebastian: I know milord, I just wanted to tease you a bit in front of your friends.

*Eleonore was amused by the fact that Felix is ruling a kingdom of kobolds. He is like some sort of unofficial king. He is also surprisingly familiar with his subject, they must really like him.*

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*Inside the cave was walls made of cut stone bricks. The path was filled with different intersections and even paths that only kobolds were small enough to fit in, but they kept going straight forward. On their path, many complicated-looking doors were opening in front of them.*

Felix: Normally, you would need to go down all those other paths to activate switches and solve riddles, but since the kobolds recognize me they are opening the doors for us. You are also supposed to do all that while avoiding traps

Eleonore: Then why have all those weird mechanisms to enter? Won’t that let anyone be able to enter without permission?

Felix: Imagine you have an impenetrable fortress that only you can access thanks to your key, what would happen if you lost said key? You need a backup plan to still be able to enter your home.

Eleonore: Ohh...

*They arrive in a small square room. The floor is filled with arcanic writings, and it is glowing in purple. Words seem to be written on it.They look like runes, and they spell the word “Caeli”. on its side, a mysterious black square seems to have a weird inscription on it, and a small line keeps flashing at the end of the text*

“ Welcome to ElevaDOS Version 1.03

To go up, Type Dir Up.exe

To go down, Type Dir Down.exe

C:ElevaDOS>_                                ”

Eleonore: I don't understand what is written on this glass mirror-thing, it's not written in common.

Felix: I'm not sure myself, I think it's written in Dwarvish. I asked my engineer to fix the elevator using the money I gave him and I think he went to the dwarves to acquire some new technology.

Eleonore: Elevator?

Felix: Yes, some sort of room that lifts you up for long climbs or something.

Sebastian: Allow me to explain milord. You must use those buttons that you can see below the screen to type what is written on the screen. This will tell the machine what direction to go.

Felix: What about the air runes?

Sebastian: They needed the directives and the mana of many kobold mages to function milord, now you simply need to press the corresponding buttons.

*Felix types “Down” on the screen, a message appears saying “ The corresponding command was not recognized”, Sebastian intervenes and types “Dir Up.exe”. After shaking a little bit, they could feel the room going up.*

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The weird female voice coming from a box: ”Doors will open from the other side”

Felix: What?

*Ding! The sound took everyone by surprise, everyone except Sebastien. The lizardman reassures them by explaining that the sound means they have arrived. The two sliding doors separate themselves to reveal the floor they arrived in. The room was a narrow and short corridor with two lines of shining armor. They looked like they were each built for a different purpose*

Eleonore: Is this your storage area?

Felix: No, this is the entrance to my home, where I place the various equipment I could need before going outside.

Eleonore: Oh... So like some kind of entrance wardrobe then hmm... *She eyes one of the mannequin containing a really nice suit*

*Felix proceed to remove his metal armor and store it on the only mannequin that was still naked, and put his gloves in the wardrobe situated on the far right*

Eleonore: You are not gonna follow us, mister Sebastian?

Sebastian: I would not dare to follow Master Felix *Felix looks at him with an annoyed look* inside his private quarters. Sir Felix prefer to be alone than to be to be served.

Felix: I told you guys that you are not my servants. And I know how to cook and dress by myself!

*Their exchange sounded more friendly than reprehensive. like two friends who are reciting their comedic routine. The kobolds most really like to tease Felix by treating him like their master. The metallic doors close and Eleonore is left alone with the phoenix*

Eleonore: Wait, those are your private quarter!?*The princess's tone changes to a flirty one* Are you not moving a bit too fast here?

Felix:*Trying to again ignore the princess's insinuation by being coldly formal* I simply thought that this place would be the safest for step 2 of your training milady. Nobody should be able to reach us here.

Eleonore: My training?

Felix: Yes, I'm gonna teach you how to not depend on me to assure your protection. The plan is to take back your kingdom, but we also need to make sure that you can keep it.

Eleonore: Does that mean you plan on leaving me after you're done?

Felix:...

*Felix avoids the princess's gaze has she removes her glove and store them in the wardrobe. there’s an awkward silence between the two.*

Eleonore: Wait, step 2? What was step 1?

Felix: Step 1 was to figure out what type of affinity you possess, to see if you could learn some spells. But while we were chased by those Manhunter elves, you cast a spell that made it clear what type of affinity you have. I was gonna make a maneuver to dodge the arrow, or at least get hit by it myself, but I sensed an energy buildup coming from your body so I decided to let you take the honors.

Eleonore: So what type of affinity do I have?

Felix: You have an affinity for holy magic.

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*The princess followed phoenix into the main room. The first thing that stood out was the firepit in the middle of the room. Neverending flames were lit by what looked like stones engraved with the “ignis” symbol. Two couch were placed diagonally, which gave the room a bit of a “camping by the fire” vibe. At the end of the room, a giant mirror surrounded by two bookshelves on each side. At the bottom of the mirror, A big dresser made of wood prevented the mirror from going all the way to the floor. On top of the dresser, a picture was surrounded by orchids. Felix froze and was making an “I forgot about that” face.*

Eleonore, getting closer to the framed picture: Who is that?

*The picture was of a young lady. Her skin was a beautiful milk-chocolate brown and had long ebony hair. She looked like she was smiling to whoever was taking the picture. Felix grabs the frame and stores it in the drawer*

Felix: Her name is… was Sarah.

*Eleonore could feel the pain coming from Felix’s words and decided to not press on the matter. On her right, she could see two closed door*

Felix: The left room is my bedroom, while the right one is for invites. I'm sure you will be glad to sleep in a comfortable bed once again. They should be the latest models in term of comfortability.

*On the opposite side, there was two more room. One room had a scroll symbol on top of the door, the scroll was glowing*

Felix: That must be the scouts' report.

*The little room was filled with scrolls. An entire bookshelf was dedicated to sorting the parchments. Felix sat in front of his writing desk*

Felix: I had my scouts go see Sir Bertrand as I wanted to know more about his intention. He said in his letter that when the news about your father arrived to him, he decided to send some orc mercenaries to defend your castle and prevent any neighboring kingdom attacks. He also said he would have sent his troops instead if it wasn’t for the fact that he is currently in a war.

Eleonore: Does that mean we can go back to my castle?

Felix: He is also inviting you next week to his castle as he wants to talk to you personally. But first, we must be sure that you can defend yourself.

Eleonore: Are you really planning on leaving me alone?

Felix:... I won't be able to be constantly by your side princess, you must be able to protect yourself even when I can’t

*The princess could detect a bit of sadness in his voice. Something horrible must have happened in the past. The next room was small and filled with various plants. At the end of the room, a white toilet seemed to be the main use of this room*

Eleonore: Why are there so many flowers?

Felix: Drake helped me find them. They are slightly magical and most common found in the elven kingdom. They are loved for their ability to filter odors and replaced them with a sweet fragrance. I can’t let odors be stuck all over the cave.

Eleonore: They must be hard to take care of, how do you find the time to water all those plants?

Felix: earth and water runes that filter what is… Deposited in the toilet and serves as fertilizer. Also, the water runes keep them hydrated.

Eleonore: I'm sorry I asked…

*Lastly, two corridors on each side of the door that leads to the elevator*

Felix: This is where we need to go to reach the training room. Both corridors lead to the same room by the way.