Vans was analyzing the reports from the magical terminal, he was confused, the spell had ended much later than he had programmed. They had slept for two hundred and fifty years.
"You used to be better, Vans," Niko said.
"Did you identify any error in the system?"
"No, no error that I could notice, it just went wrong. But I do not see this as something very bad."
"In fact, it was only fifty extra years, but what I am curious about is your mistake, Niko."
She changed her expression.
"I did not make any mistake, the golems were not made to last that long, that is why they broke and the monster stampede happened."
Victor accepted it.
"What will we do now?"
"We need to plan. My idea is that we first explore the surface, little by little we will integrate, but we need to take some precautions, like setting days when each person can go out and not raise suspicion. Besides that, we need to encourage couples to have children, we need to increase our numbers."
"And how will we do that?"
"Simple, we will go out in a small group, we will pretend to be mercenaries from another country and you will be a merchant, you radiate nobility," Vans said to Victor.
"Alright, but who else will come?"
"The most trustworthy ones, Lysandra, Eris, Niko, and me."
Victor did not disagree. In fact, they were the most trustworthy ones, since they had known each other since they were children. Except for Niko, she had already been very old for as long as they could remember.
"But we cannot say that Niko is a mercenary, will she be my daughter?"
"I do not like that idea," Niko said.
"Maybe if you stayed in your true form we would not have this problem."
Niko seemed to hesitate, but she removed a ring from the ring finger of her right hand. Her body began to grow, the butler outfit she wore adjusted to her body. She became an adult woman, full breasts and long blonde hair. She was very different from the childlike version she had before.
"Is this better?"
"Yes," Vans was hypnotized by her true form.
"In more than three hundred years I have never seen what you really look like, this is new to me."
"My child form made me stronger, the ring is a magical artifact that helps me with some spells."
"What spells?"
"The ones involving water, I was never very good with water magic. I bought this ring and it helped me, but it made me look younger, that was nice. But I accept staying like this, for a while."
Vans asked for the ring, Niko handed it over. He put it on his finger and became an elderly man.
"It does not work the same for everyone, I end up with a childlike appearance, I have seen some people turn into babies. But you are an old man," she said, laughing.
Victor wanted to test it, he became taller, more muscular, and much more handsome.
"Here we see how life is unfair," Niko said.
Victor removed the ring and handed it back to Niko.
"Back to the main subject, we will be mercenaries and Victor will be a merchant, but we need some products to pretend that we are selling. I thought about some crops and spices, as well as potions and scrolls."
"You and Niko will be responsible for that, I will ask the tailor to make some clothes. The ones we use are very flashy. What else will we need?"
"For now, that is all. Niko will send some golems outside the dungeon, they will carry recording artifacts, so we can have a broader view of where we are and how the world around us is."
"I will remove the barrier as soon as possible, but I think I do not have enough mana, so I need to call Eris."
"I will break the barrier, that is very easy. Your magic is not stronger than mine, so do not worry."
Her words came out a bit arrogant, even more so with the new form. Before she looked like just a bratty child, now she looked like an annoying woman.
Victor said nothing, he did not want to cause any trouble.
"Alright, do that and finish all the preparations."
Vans was fully focused on producing all the resources and items to be sold, even if in a fake way. Besides the items, he stocked a lot of meat and vegetables for consumption, as well as bread and milk. He knew they could be traveling for many days, even weeks, so they would need a lot of food stored. Water could be generated with water magic.
Victor was training with Valorie, she used a weapon that fired mana bullets. He could stop the bullets with his sword, and he could also move very fast. His young body moved with much more fluidity. Valorie kept firing, but none of the shots managed to hit Victor.
"You are much faster and much more skilled with the sword, that is interesting."
"Just interesting?"
"Yes, there is not much fun when you fight someone who is much stronger than you. That is why I found the way you changed interesting. Besides that, I felt that you are stronger, physically speaking. Even with your younger body and with less defined muscles, it feels like you are holding the sword more lightly."
"I could not notice that, thanks for the information."
"Now let us fight," Pallas said, he looked excited.
The fight would be more balanced, since both were using swords. Victor used a heavy sword and Pallas used a lighter and thinner sword, but it was just as durable as Victor's. The sword Pallas used was a treasure his father had received from the Dead King, the sword became more durable with each kill and never lost its edge.
Victor had the advantage, but Pallas was much faster than him. Because of that, he managed to gain the upper hand, but Victor did not get tired and he could keep a faster pace. Pallas gradually became slower and Victor won.
"That was interesting," Pallas said, laughing.
"You are also stronger, but I feel like you have not gotten used to your armor, which is strange," Valorie said to Pallas.
"What do you mean?"
"It is heavy and your body is not strong enough to use the armor. Your legs need more work, your muscles are weak," she said, showing her own leg.
Her thighs and legs were well trained, the muscles were full, and that somehow attracted Pallas. He had always admired her and had always desired her body, but in secret. The clothes she wore highlighted her body and made it clear how strong she was.
But the ability Victor liked most about her was her eyes, she had perfect vision and could see what no one else could. That was why Victor always called her to check the progress he was making.
Niko entered the training room and said:
"The barrier was already broken."