Eternal Dominion Book 10: Lorafir Read online

  Eternal Dominion Book 10

  Lorafir

  Bern Dean

  Bern's Books LLC

  Copyright © 2022 Bern's Books LLC

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Cover design by: ebooklaunch.com

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  In Review

  Morning February 1, 2267.

  ED year 2 day 234.

  Evening February 1, 2267 & ED year 2 days 235-236.

  Morning February 2, 2267 & ED year 2 day 237.

  Evening February 2, to Morning February 4, 2267 & ED year 2 days 238-243.

  Evening February 4, 2267.

  ED year 2 days 244-245.

  Morning February 5, 2267 & ED year 2 day 246.

  Evening February 5, 2267 & ED year 2 days 247-248.

  Morning February 6, to Morning February 10, 2267 & ED year 2 days 249-261.

  Evening February 10, 2267 & ED year 2 days 262-263.

  Morning February 11, 2267 & ED year 2 day 264.

  February 11, 2267 & ED year 2 days 265-266.

  February 12, 2267 & ED year 2 days 267-269.

  February 13, 2267 & ED year 2 days 270-272.

  Morning February 14, to Evening February 25, 2267 & ED year 2 days 273-308.

  February 26, 2267 & ED year 2 days 309-311.

  Morning February 27, 2267 & ED year 2 day 312.

  Thanks!

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  Afterword

  In Review

  The following is simply meant to help refresh readers on some of the key points from the previous books in the series. Many important details will be left out and to get them you should read the full story. I like to do this every time three books can be added, so 4, 7, 10 and so on.

  Book 1: Restart

  Alex/Xeal finds himself waking up 20 years in the past after logging into Eternal Dominion (ED) to delete his character. As he looks at his 18-year-old self just hours from the launch of Eternal Dominion in his new life, he decided to make sure things are different this time around.

  He is joined by his friends in Eternal Dominion as they fight to earn their place in a world that will represent much of the world’s economy in the near future. His friends are as follows:

  Dan, Ignis in Eternal Dominion, a mage who wants nothing more than to enjoy throwing fireballs;

  Fred, Amet in Eternal Dominion, a warrior that wants to be in the thick of things;

  Amanda, Clara in Eternal Dominion, a holy champion who refuses to just sit back and heal;

  Samantha, Gale in Eternal Dominion, a cleric who is just looking to have fun;

  Nicole, Aalin in Eternal Dominion, an arcane caster who prefers a good mix of offense and defense and is just happy to be with her friends.

  The six of them work together as Alex/Xeal uses his knowledge from his last life to ensure that they have the best start possible. This included acquiring the “first guild” bonus for his guild Free Art Expo (FAE) that is coveted by many as it gives his guild 1.5 times the normal member cap at each level.

  Book 2: Traction

  After reaching tier 3, Alex/Xeal continues to build up the foundations that will ensure his guild’s long-term success as complications come into play. Through the meddling of his younger sister, Alex ends up in a complicated relationship with Sam and Nicole, who have been best friends since early childhood, as they attempt to share him rather than fight over him, or wait for him to decide between them.

  In Eternal Dominion, the Abysses End guild, who were the top dogs from Alex’s/Xeal’s last life, have decided to take action to seize the first guild bonus from FAE by force. FAE is faced with a battle on four fronts at once and must resolve each at the same time, or risk a prolonged engagement that could see his guild’s growth stagnate. Outnumbered but with the level advantage, FAE weathers the storm as they remove the roots of the issue while sending a message to Abysses End and every other major workshop that FAE will not go down without a fight.

  Book 3: Concessions:

  With the storm caused by Abysses End weathered, a quiet few weeks in ED has passed and Alex/Xeal is ready to challenge his tier 4 challenge and reach the capital of Nium. There he has a meeting with Prince Victor. However, somehow along the way Xeal found himself unofficially courting two noble ladies, Lady Dyllis, the daughter of the local viscount of the city Xeal took his tier 4 challenge in, and Prince Victor’s younger sister, Princess Enye. Sam/Gale and Nicole/Aalin are accepting of it due to the political nature of the situation so long as they are not pushed to the side and a budding friendship is formed between the four of them.

  In reality, Alex finds himself dealing with a surprise visit from Abysses End (Nantan) and decided to play up the philanderer angle that having two girlfriends naturally causes. His hope is to manipulate how Abysses End targets him assuming that Sam and Nicole will keep the worst at bay while he buys time with the act. This of course leads to the plan almost completely backfiring when one of his sister’s best friends, Jessica, ambushes him at Nantan’s encouragement. Alex finds himself torn on how to handle the situation and in the end decides to have her seek out help from a psychologist. The catch is he has to promise her a date if she still wants one after she completes her last year of school in June. Alex hopes that with help she can move past him as he tries to flip her to help him work against Abysses End. Even so, Alex knows his plan has failed as neither Nicole or Sam could play the hypocrite he needed for it and with a visit from Abysses End’s junior members upcoming, he knows he needs a new plan yesterday.

  Book 4: Assertions:

  Book 4 opens with Alex and Sam on a date in a nice car that ends with him accepting his feelings for her and fully embracing the fact that there is no turning back. This is followed by Alex officially moving in with Sam and Nicole as Amanda moves out to avoid another Jessica (who is now in therapy) from happening. Alex’s father officially retires from his job to pursue a life in ED as a crafter. Meanwhile in ED, Xeal completes the first quest that Prince Victor had given him and with it officially becomes a noble as his courtship of Dyllis becomes official at a party held by Prince Victor. At the same time it seems that his unofficial courtship of Princess Enye has been deduced by the single house that she wishes to avoid, the Mercer House. Xeal dances with one lady after another as he works to avoid adding any more ladies to his arm. Xeal finds himself having to turn one rather pushy lady away and another gives him a quest.

  After dealing with the nobles at the party, it is time to deal with the guild leaders of the other guilds in Nium as he hosts a gathering for them as they reach tier-4. There friendships and rivalries begin to form as various lines are drawn. Once the party is done, it is time for a major guild expedition to unlock the city of Autumndale to be undertaken. Along the way it is time to face off with a few boss-level monsters while Abysses End comes knocking for a supposedly friendly visit. With them come Ava and Mia Quinn, with their red hair and forward approach as they work to add themselves to his love life. Alex calls Nantan out over it as Sam and Nicole make a deal with them. As things close, the city is unlocked and a pair of flirtatious identical twins decides to stay behind.

  Book 5: Interference:

  After an awkward run where Alex had to explain why Ava and Mia are still there, he gets them settled in a hotel for
the time being. However, when he goes to pick them up from said hotel, he finds them being harassed by four men. Things happen and Alex restrains one of the four men when they attack him as police arrive. Meanwhile in ED, Xeal is focused on completing the second task that Prince Victor has set for him, but is called away when his guild’s weaker members find themselves being targeted. Seeing these attacks for what they are, Xeal decides to turn an assault into a chance to do some recruitment. After cleaning up that mess, Xeal completes the second task, picking up a dark elf follower along the way before returning to dealing with the other guilds who wish to cause his to stagnate. They hoped to cause FAE to end up isolated and alone. To do this they are targeting any guild that is on friendly terms with them. This includes Rising Oblivion and their guild leader, Friva Doomcutter, who knows that she has no path forward and decides to deal Red Crushers and Templar Fall a major blow on her way out.

  Meanwhile, FAE completes their guild’s headquarters in ED and Xeal is made a viscount while Aalin and Gale become baronesses and their relations with Xeal are allowed to be public once more. While in reality an attack on the group while exercising prompts Alex to shift their morning routine to indoor activities. They take up kendo, aikido and swing dancing while the police move forward with their investigation. Back in ED, Xeal toys with his opponents as he leads them by the nose and they find themselves trapped. All of them but Hugo Mercer see the writing on the wall as he forces them to proceed. In the end, a deal is struck and Hugo Mercer takes the fall as Red Crushers and Templar Fall swallow a bitter lesson. Sam and Nicole learn that they are indeed pregnant.

  Book 6: Resolve:

  After Hugo Mercer’s fate is sealed at a trial where his own father refused to defend him, it is time to handle the rest of the aftermath of the plan Xeal and Friva came up with as she joins FAE. With that taken care of, it is time for Xeal to return to completing the tasks that Prince Victor has for him as he continues to focus on increasing his leveling pace as he races for tier-5. Along the way, his courtship with Princess Enye becomes official and it is announced that Prince Victor will assume the throne in a year’s time.

  In reality, the trial for the four idiots who tried to assault Alex takes place and he attempts to end things with the twins, but only partially succeeds as they agree to take a step back upon learning that Sam and Nicole are pregnant.

  Back in ED, Xeal travels to an orc village where he finds himself forced to prove himself before having to confront his own past in its entirety, stirring up feelings he had been suppressing. After meeting with the orc seer and the chief, he finds himself with another follower, Bula who is both the chief’s daughter, and the apprentice to the seer. After mediating a summit between Chief Xuk and Prince Victor successfully, Xeal undertook and completed his tier-5 trial.

  Closing on Alex, Sam and Nicole informing their families that both girls are pregnant, only for Alex’s mom to have a bit of news of her own.

  Book 7: Ententes

  After sorting out the drama surrounding announcing both Sam’s and Nicole’s pregnancies to all of their family and coming to terms with his mom being pregnant as well, Alex returns to ED. With Xeal having reached tier-5, it is time to expand his range of operation and make his first trip outside of Nium’s borders to acquire a few things he is in need of. First is to obtain phoenix blood to protect the lives of the NPC ladies he holds dear and the second is the funds to ensure stable operations through a deal with the failing super guild, Jingong. Xeal is successful in his quest to secure funding and granted access to the caves where the ice phoenix Bīng resides. However, he also picks up two princesses along the way.

  With Princess Lingxin of the Huáng empire and Princess Mari of the Muthia empire safely in Nium and getting acquainted with his other ladies, Xeal heads off to the beast-man lands. His goal is simple, secure the border for the coming war by gaining the aid of some of the beast-man tribes. Eventually he finds some tiger-men who may be willing to help, but he needs to save one of their own before they will agree to anything. After completing the rescue and meeting Eira for the first time, it is time to make sure that the politics of Nium don’t interfere with what Xeal has in mind. To accomplish this, a trap is set and possibly problematic nobles are drawn in and once it is all done, Xeal is set to return Eira to her people, as well as the fox-girl teenage sisters Daisy and Violet, who found themselves rescued as a byproduct of the trap that was sprung.

  Book 8: Crossroads

  Having restarted after accepting Alex’s offer, Ava’s and Mia’s new characters, Selene and Luna have reached tier-3 and are ready to start adventuring with Princess Enye and Lady Dyllis at Xeal’s request. After taking the time to gather the others who were set to join them in the task of ensuring that both women safely reach tier-4 and tier-5, it is time for Xeal to set off to return Eira and both fox-girls to their tribes. This, however, ends up leading to Xeal agreeing to watch over all three, after meeting with their parents and discovering the truths of the situations. Still, Eira’s mother, Noriko, is more than grateful and offers to help Xeal reach out to all of the tribes of the beast-man lands. As they travel together, Xeal is able to meet representatives from each major tribe and extend an invitation to the talks to them. After that, Xeal returned to make preparations as Noriko went off to deliver invitations to the minor powers of the beast-man lands.

  Meanwhile in reality, Nantan has returned for what will be Abysses End’s last visit with Alex and his friends, as he introduces four models in an attempt to lure Alex into a trap, only to fall in one himself. With that taken care of, it is time to focus back on Christmas and it is a full schedule in the buildup. On Christmas, Alex surprises Ava and Mia with a visit from their grandmother who raised the pair, in hopes that they will listen to her and stop chasing him. Only they refuse and renew their vow to look for an opening, as Sam and Nicole admit that they expect them to succeed. The following day is Christmas and besides the rings that he gives Sam and Nicole, it is a rather relaxed day as they spend it with their families, to include Nicole’s who are making an attempt to come to terms with the situation.

  Back in ED, the summit of the beast-man tribes has been going well and a tentative deal is reached, as the representatives head back to get it approved and Xeal starts the real construction on his own city. With that taken care of, Gale and Aalin encourage him to go after another of the phoenixes, where they meet Holly Ciderplum of Festive Spirit. Her guild is currently occupying the location where the phoenix is hidden and after some negotiations Xeal is able to gain entry, so long as she is allowed to come along. This, however, leads to the phoenix selecting her to mark, creating a major wrinkle in Xeal’s plans. Still, he is quick to adapt and is able to bring Holly into his sphere of influence and returns to Nium to handle other matters, including the merging of Geitir’s branch of Eternal Valhalla into FAE.

  Book 9: Acceptance.

  The time has come for Alex and his friends to leave California and fly to Colorado, where they meet up with Tara (Taya) and Henry (Casmir), before visiting FAE’s headquarters in reality for the first time. After a quick lunch, it is time to move on to their new home and Alex has not skimped on their accommodations in the mansion he has acquired. Nor has he forgotten to staff it, as they meet the two couples who will be taking care of the background work while acting as live-in staff. After a tour of the house, Alex is surprised by a visit from Kate Astor in the flesh, as she offers to purchase a five percent stake in FAE and leave Fire Oath to take up a leadership role in FAE, which would deal with interfacing with other guilds in ED. After a discussion, it is decided with approval from most of the other leaders in FAE to allow her to join, despite the possibility of her trying to become Alex’s legal wife. With that settled, Kate, Xeal and the others decide for the time being to allow her to stay in the mansion with her three bodyguards. With that taken care of, all but Alex, Sam, Nicole, Ava, Mia and now Kate, leave to visit the satellite locations around the world, leaving Alex alone in a house of women. r />
  Meanwhile, things have been moving along like normal in ED, as Eira reaches Tier-5 and Luna, Selene, Enye and Dyllis all reach tier-4 with the rest of their party. This leads to Mari and Lingxin joining them in their leveling to reach tier-5 before the weddings. Xeal continues to court all four noble ladies while also celebrating all four of their birthdays over the span of 81 days, moving his relationship with each forward while doing so. He is also working to secure two more phoenix marks for FAE, with several women being considered for them.

  Back in reality, Alex has been dealing with constant temptation as Sam and Nicole give Ava and Mia the green light to wear what they feel like, so long as they aren’t naked. This finally comes to a head on the twins’ birthday, when Alex takes them for a walk in the snow near their house to get them to put on something more modest. The walk turns into a snowball fight and an honest conversation follows, as the three learn more about one another and Alex decides to just stop fighting them while still making it clear that he needed to know them better before getting physical.

  This is followed by a few visits from Kate’s family. First is her elderly father, Jasper, who seems to want to make sure everything is fine, and second is from her much older sister, who seems bent on ruining Kate’s plans. Alex handles both in a way that earns Kate’s gratitude and lowers her own walls slightly.

  Finally, in ED, Kate has reached tier-5 and they venture off to secure the fourth phoenix mark with Lily Iglis having already secured Belladonna’s (the poison phoenix) mark already. This time, however, Watcher tries to warn Xeal off, but Xeal ignores it, knowing that he will eventually have to come back regardless. When they reach the phoenix and find it to be the electrical phoenix, Levina, she makes some demands that Xeal refuses, before Kate finds herself captured and held hostage. Xeal sighs as he accepts his fate and trades places with Kate, after Levina marks her. This is followed by Xeal being killed while resisting Levina’s advances and his fruit of life activating, granting him a power boost while reviving him, and allowing him to escape from Levina’s grasp as the situation is resolved.