"That sounds ominous, Senior Ahmed. Please elaborate."

I was concerned, but panicking, or even the closest to panicking I could now, would not help anyone.

"It has been a long time since we last spoke, and much has happened." He used this to collect his thoughts. "First, I must tell you of a small matter. We have created an oil company that is now exploring Texas. The elders saw the wisdom in your words and have named it the United American Oil Company."

"That is good to hear."

Honestly, I didn't care, but they do need to know that.

"Next, and the beginning of the disturbing words." He took an almost dramatic pause before carrying on. "Rumours are spreading through the media via stories and print of the hidden fortune hidden within a large graveyard in Idaho or somewhere in the north-west, depending on the story."

That would explain the change in the fame rating. But what was causing it?

"We have done our best to suppress such stories, but they continue to spread. Upon investigation, we have discovered that they are coming from those who are touched with arcane abilities. It seems that those who dream of this place either dream of it as a place to be challenged or seek to claim the wealth within." Senior Ahmed continued to speak and sing the question I was pondering.

"Interesting."

That was all I said, but it explained so much, and it was something I needed to investigate more. I knew it meant that my beacon had changed in some way, drawing in treasure seekers more as well as Challengers. Or it was always this way, thinking back to the number of grave robbers and treasure seekers I've had over the years since gaining the fortune I now hide.

"Indeed. But that is not the most shocking thing." He continued. "Members of our order have discovered that our access to the arcane mysteries of the universe has become easier and their effects more potent."

Now I know what caused that. Should I tell him?

"Yes, I notice something similar."

"My elders seek your wisdom in this to help explain the cause, if possible." He looked at me pointedly, wondering I suspect, if I was somehow responsible for it.

Truth or lie. What an interesting conundrum. I chose truth(ish).

"Recently, I achieved an unforeseen breakthrough that had unintended consequences. The flows of magical energy through the world have been increased and made stronger."

"Incredible!" He exclaimed with true wonder on his face. "What can you tell me so I may inform my elders?"

"That's it."

My words caught him by surprise as he was expecting something more elaborate or draped in arcane terminology.

"Surely there's more that you can tell me?" He became more guarded, trying to probe for more information.

"Not really. However, I believe that other events and breakthroughs may lead to further changes in the future. Unfortunately, only tomorrow will reveal this."

I decided to add that final part to at least offer him something to take back to his elders.

"Ask me no more of the forces involved that I may not speak of."

I added that final piece to end any further probing. I think I had given him enough.

"I understand, Keeper. I thank you for your words." He bowed slightly as he said it, trying to present an image of genuine thankfulness for one that I had shared.

"Tell me more of the dreams of those who seek wealth."

"We have catalogued many of those who are sensitive to the arcane dreaming of New Midian. Most dream of the trials that you offer. A few dreamt of wealth in gold and silver. Then, nearly ten months ago, things changed. The number of people who dreamt of the city's wealth increased dramatically to the point it was almost split between them." His words seem more rehearsed and expected. This was some part of the information they had decided to reveal if asked.

The locals knew of me. State-wise, I was a bit of an urban legend or its equivalent. It seems now that I have become one for the nation as well. Hopefully, a vague story of a large graveyard with a hidden fortune within it somewhere in the north-west of the country.

I could live with that. Hopefully, in time, these stories would fade from whispers to vague hearsay and then ultimately forgotten.

There was a little more conversation, but nothing important between us, and I sent him on his way. I dismissed my avatar and watched them as they left. But this time, they didn't go back down the path; instead, they cut through the trees, leading their horses along the road away from Crossway. At first, I was a bit confused, but then I realised they were hiding their visit from the workmen still on the bridge.

Now that we were in late spring, I expected to see more visitors sometime soon.

I didn't think it would be the next day.

The construction workers had finished and were leaving. Several wagons were hauling away the last of the materials and construction equipment remaining. A wagon didn't head toward Crossway but travelled along the road away from the town. It was moving slowly and was the last to leave the bridge. As soon as the other wagons had crossed the ridge and were out of sight, they sped up a bit and turned up towards New Midian.

I figured out the last part when they rolled into view before the gates.

A single horse is pulling four men in an open wagon. All were Caucasian and were dressed in rugged and sturdy clothing. They pulled up to the open area for the gates, and watching their approach, I knew I had to get the hunters out there to clear back the vegetation that was growing again.

The four men dismounted and were walking towards the gates. I looked them over, noting the shovels and pickaxes they all carried. I had only seen one firearm displayed by the group. A pistol strapped to one man's hip.

It was about midday and there was only light cloud in the sky.

After the last intruder, I mixed up the Hunters again, assigning them new hunting grounds. I had listed their names on pieces of paper and placed them into a jar. Then, after a good shake of the jar, I randomly picked out the names, deciding where they would go into the assigned hunting grounds. This was the fairest method I could come up with, aside from rotating them on a schedule.

The four men huddled and had a conversation before entering the courtyard to the gates. They were surprised to find a graveyard here. One of them had peaked in before the huddle and was disturbed by what he saw. He had become an advocate for them to leave this place, as he had quite rightly deduced that the graveyard's size was far too large for something that should be located in this area of the country.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Greed, however, was a force all of its own. The others overruled him as they wanted to seek out the supposed treasure hidden here. They pointed out that the graveyard they had discovered met the criteria of the rumours they had heard.

The unhedged horse from the wagon was tied to a tree, but with a lot of rope left, allowing the horse to move around. They also pulled a small barrel off the wagon and opened up next to the tree that the horse was tied to. It contains a liquid, which was expected to be water.

They returned to the gates and huddled again. A small flask was passed between them, and they all took a swig from it. So, with this, they built up the courage and entered.

They didn't spend long in the courtyard, choosing the southern path and completely ignoring the plinth.

Ironically, they were going to meet Blackstone because he had been shifted from the northern route to the southern one due to my recent changes.

[Alert! Intruders are not recognised as Challengers.]

I sense my Hunters stirring at the notification. I reached out and told them what was happening, including the four men. I told Rigger that he could stay out of this one.

"Fight." Came from Blackstone. I was surprised that he didn't speak often. But his meaning was clear; he wanted to take all four of them.

"Are you sure?"

I received a grunt that meant an affirmative from him.

"Okay, then yours."

I was a bit concerned, as Blackstone is one of my more levelheaded hunters who didn't mess around and moved quickly to make his kills. Shirley had sadistically liked the others, but he was far more practical, only indulging in it when he knew he dominated the fight, which was already one.

So why now change?

Of course, I could lay the blame at the feet of what happened last year, but it could also be that he was becoming more akin to his true nature as time passed and changed.

I was interested to see what he would do here. View my hunters were willing to take on multiple opponents at the same time. Some had in the past, but they had always come away wounded even in victory.

I watched the men walk down the pathway. They were making slow progress, still somewhat arguing with the fourth man, who was calling for them to leave the place. In the end, they lost their temper with him and told him to leave if he needed to, but he chose to stay.

Each man carried a large pack on his back. I saw several lanterns along with the shovels and pickaxes they carried. They had come supplied and prepared for an extended stay, it seems. That would explain what they did with the horse outside.

The three more committed men were discussing the various mausoleums they were spotting as they walked. The men started taking wrong turns while trying to navigate through the maze. They cut through a few sections, making it through to the next ring. This would become more difficult the further they travelled into the maze, but for now, it allowed them to make decent progress.

They were near the edge of Blackstone's hunting ground, and I wondered where he was. I found out from Rodriguez that he had positioned himself further away from the church, expecting the last Challenger to double back. What he had not expected was the Hunter to head directly towards the gates, cutting through the graveyard directly. When he realised this, it was too far for him to catch up. Was something similar happening here?

I moved ahead of the men, looking for my wayward Hunter. It wasn't far when I found him standing behind a wall of a mausoleum that hid him from the intruder's view. I said nothing and returned to the men. Knowing where he was now, I spotted him now and again glancing out from his hiding place. They were heading directly towards him.

It was a couple of minutes before they reached the point where he was hiding.

The three men who were eager to explore New Midian will continue to talk about what they could gain.

"Come now, Jonathan will start at the church." One said.

"Using it as a base camp is wise, Richard, but wouldn't it have already been explored?" One called Jonathan replied.

"I suspect you're right, but you are also correct, it will make an excellent base camp. This place is far larger than I ever imagined. Look at the number of mausoleums and tombs alone." Richard waved his arm, indicating towards the buildings they were yet to pass. "The odds of us gaining something at least from this little side trip are decent."

"Agreed. Though I do find the notion of grave robbing a bit unpleasant." Jonathan said.

"Gold is gold." Came from the third of the men; he was the one with the visible firearm. To this, the other two men nodded. The fourth at the back was now frowning and looking around quite fearfully.

Out of the four of them, he seemed to be the smartest or the most fearful. Quite often, they were the same thing. They had reached Blackstone's hiding place.

"We've got enough supplies to…" Jonathan was speaking when he was interrupted by a hammer impacting his face. The front of his face collapsed under the impact, with blood and teeth flying off in different directions.

Jonathan's body impacted the ground back-first. If he were still conscious, I would be amazed. The reactions of the others were more in line with what I expected. All three of them cried out in fear, shock and surprise. Richard fell over tripping on a stone that he did not see as he backed up away from Jonathan. The fourth man turned and ran while the third was stumbling back, trying to pull a gun.

"McGregor, we got a runner for the gates, stop him."

Blackstone calmly walked forward, revealing himself as I sent the message to McGregor. I didn't get a reply, but I knew that he would be obeying as I watched Blackstone continue the assault.

Richard let out a scream of pain as one of his kneecaps was shattered by a hammer strike. The third man managed to pull his gun from his holster and fired a wild shot, missing Blackstone. Given the size of the Hunter and the range between them, this was very impressive.

Blackstone turns his attention to this man, who was the threat with a firearm. Another shot was fired off, but the man was shaking badly from fear, and this time he clipped Blackstone's left arm. Blackstone moved with the impact and let out a loud grunt, but quickly straightened himself and crossed the distance between them. The third man was backing up and fired off a third shot, hitting Blackstone, staggering him briefly.

The man shooting thought he had the advantage, but unfortunately, the hammer struck his head, ending that. His jaw shattered, and his teeth and blood flew away from him as he spun and collapsed to the ground.

Still no death notifications.

Blackstone turns to Richard, lying on the floor, crying in pain and begging for his life. With my Hunter's attention back on him, he quickly began alternating between begging and praying. Blackstone walked towards him more slowly this time, and I noticed that he was holding something inside. I could see blood oozing from where he was covering between his fingers.

He was shot but seems to be still able to function for now.

He held the hammer still with one hand and quickly set to work on the prone man. Richard screamed for a short time after that. The impacts caused blood to splatter across the area.

[A Hunter has made a Kill.]

With the first death, he turned his attention to the other two and finished them off.

[A Hunter has made a Kill.]

[A Hunter has made a Kill.]

With the third kill, I noticed that he was swaying slightly on his feet, the bullet wound now coming into play, adding to the grazing shot already taken.

"Blackstone, head back to your lair. The others will deal with the bodies."

I received another grunt of understanding, and he began moving away. I reached out to the remaining hunters not involved in this and had them come up to take care of the dead.

I went off to find out what I'm supposed to do for the fourth man.

I lost sight of him as he was running for the gates quite quickly. Unfortunately, McGregor was faster as he was already in his hunting grounds in the north. He was able to shift towards the gates and catch the fourth man before he fled.

The fourth man was in sight of the courtyard when McGregor caught up with him. I found him being tortured by my Hunter. He was screaming in pain as he was being sliced up slowly.

I left the scene.

"Remove the bodies and gather the loot. Take the horse down to Herbert, and we will decide what to do with the wagon later."

I knew I was going to have to use [Hide the Crime!] Into places over the next few days to take care of all the bloodstains. Eventually, I got another notification.

[A Hunter has made a Kill.]

The fourth man was dead.

The cleanup netted us little. The horse was sent down to Herbert as usual, but the wagon was of too low quality to be resold. There was a small amount of money gained from the dead bodies. There was, however, quite a bit of alcohol and tobacco, which was split, with the majority going to Blackstone. He turned down the tobacco but took the alcohol. Once he was fully healed, he went out and dismantled the wagon.

Things became quiet again for the rest of April.

I got the Hunters out to clear the vegetation from the pathway and out front of the gates. This will allow easier access for those coming to New Midian. Herbert and Joshua were now regularly visiting, dropping off supplies and newspapers to the dungeon. Herbert had told me that the funds I was giving him were barely able to cover the expenses I was accruing. I thanked him for that and began to think about what options I had.

I wasn't going to give up my gold or silver, but I still had about $300 in loose change available to give him. I've used up all the notes I had, bought the land around me, and purchased one costly book.

May was the height of spring, which promised summer's arrival soon.

The weather was primarily sunny now, with some rain. On the 10th day of the month, my next group of visitors arrived.

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