48***Ureth

Meanwhile, in the midst of all of these happenings, a being sat in a tower. This being was fit into a small room, windows and curtains locked, the lights off, an AC blasting at full power. A sleeping bag and a pile of bento lunch boxes the only indication that the person living there was actually human.

The remaining space was occupied by entire walls of processors the size of a hand, interconnected and all running at full capacity. All were neatly stacked and organized, with large tanks filled of a green-blue fluid that was constantly being emptied out of and refilling them. Each and every machine working there was connected to a 30' projected monitor with at least 50 000 pps resolution.

As for the figure at the head of it all, it was a small body, having the built of a child. Only to be expected, as it was a child who stood at the helm! Garbed in a lab coat and a grey Mercury Archer hoody, this tiny looking soul's fingers flew over a holographic keyboard with a speed and grace that rivalled most modern super computers! Calm and serene could have been best used to describe this being, like a humming bird's beat through the air as it flits from flower to flower!

However, unbeknownst to the trained eye, this humming bird currently wasn't flitting from flower to flower, but was rather trying to get to the flowers as they were being picked up and whirled in a tornado.

In other words, the figure was frantic!

'Oh no! Ohnohnohnohnohnohnohnohnohno!!!!! I'm losing him again!!!' The figure fretted on as its fingers flew over the holographic letters and numbers at near sound speeds! The air around them picked up and a stirring occurred as they moved faster and faster, a pillow underneath the board being the only thing muffling the sound.

'Geeze! Stop it already!!! Why are you doing this?!! Why are you so damn persistent you brat!!!' The figure raged on in its head, algorithms and binary codes flying across the screen in a mad dash to see who will reach the end of the screen faster!

'Damn it!!! If only he wasn't in that place....!!!!' The figure moan in agony as it tried to keep a grip on its sanity.

'It's okay. I had to do this. If I didn't, they'd be onto me by know.' The figure consoled itself, then continued the long and hard fight.

'Still though, of all the people I could get to walk the Way of The Shield, did it have to be this overthinking dolt!!!' The figure mentally screamed in frustration, a hand lifting off of the assault long enough to run through its jet-black hair in frustration.

"Young Master Ureth. Your breakfast has been prepared." A voice sounded behind Ureth. It had an experienced cut to it, with all the gentle sternness you'd expect to hear in a butler.

"Okay Mister Tors. Just leave it at the door like always." Ureth replied, not even the slightest bit distracted from his task. Tors placed down the food like asked, but instead of leaving immediately after, he went into the room and closed back the door as silently as possible, then proceeded to stand beside the food tray.

A few minutes later, a relieved sigh escaped Ureth's lips as he slumped over his pillow.

"Finally he stopped laughing!!!" Ureth screamed into his pillow as his frustrations to his new project flowed out of him!

"I take it your chosen hero is still as difficult as always?" Tors started with a concerned look, his brown moustache with flicks of grey wriggling with worry. The sight was like a silver and brown caterpillar wiggling across his moth, and the thought of that had Ureth stifling a giggle.

"*ahem* What could it be now Mr. Tors?" Ureth asked, slightly worried, but mostly curious. However, Tors didn't put up with the sudden topic switch and instead continued.

"You know, it would be easier if you connected the dungeon to the BMO server right." He stated more than asked.

"*sigh*, for the last time Mr. Tors, you know why I can't do that." Tors is a butler who has been at Ureth's side since birth, and there is no other opinion he would trust more that his. But sometimes their views... clash at the best of times.

"As of now, you have at least 50 lore hunters on your side that you can use to see your goals out, and hundreds of thousands of followers behind them. I don't see why you must invest so much on this... child!" Tors rebutted. He soon regretted that however as a vein, barely visible in the room's lighting, popped up on the lad's temple!

"Oi, why did you say it like that?" Ureth asked in a simmering tone!

"Y-young master! Now let's be reasonable!" Tors said to the enraging boy, trying to quele his impending temper tantrum!

"He's not some child, as you put it. He's my greatest creat... ack!!!" Before the pissed, irrational words could leave his mouth, a blinding flash invaded the youth's retinas, causing him to rell with the recoil!!!

"Tors you bastard!!!! Turn the damned light off!!!!" He screamed out in agony as the foreign rays violated his eyeballs!

"Calm down young master. I only opened a curtain!" Tors said in a tired attempt to console the boy.

"WHAT?!!! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!!! CLOSE THEM!!!! CLOSE THEM AAAAAAAALLLLL!!!!!!" He screamed in histeria! The light revealed that along with a sleeping bag and pillow, the floor and shelves in front of Ureth were littered with neatly organised BMO action figures! From the more recognised Thunder Beast Knight to the even super low rankers like the Slime Knitter (498th on the rankings, a tailor that can make monster parts into enchanted clothing. Slimes are her specialty.) and far out there ones like Tree Rex (127th in the rankings, uses his plant style essence to summon giant carnivorous plants.)!!!

"Sir remember, you are still a human, you need your sunlight." Tors plowed on.

"No!!!! I am the Vampire Viking! I have no intention of... *oof* *mumble* *mumble* *mumble*!" Tors withheld a sigh of relief as his master finally quieted down after getting a bread roll stuffed into his mouth.

"Come young master, let us go to the greenhouse layer and get some air." Tors proposed, already dragging Ureth out of the room.

"*mumble**mumble**mumble**mumble**mumble*...."

***

"..."

"..."

"So why are you doing this?" Tors asked, breaking the silence. Ureth clicked his tongue at him in annoyance.

"You know exactly why." he replied.

They were now currently sitting on a simple, wooden bench in a secluded area in his family's private greenhouse. It was put there at his request. No one ould disturb him in this spot. It was his zone.

Yet this was going on!

"*sigh* but sir, you have..."

"The COMPANY, has 50 lore hunters! You think they'll give any of them to us?!!" Ureth shouted in anger. They've hade this talk before. And he doesn't like it any more than he did when he started.

"*sigh* Listen Mr. Tors," Ureth started after calming down a bit. "I can't allow for the company to get their hands on.... it. Me asking them for help is a favor they won't hesitate to cash out on. And if the law ends up on their side, then I'm screwed. It is considered official property of whoever finds it after all."

"But are you willing to do that to a boy that has nothing to do with this?" Tors asked in a firm, yet desperate tone.

"You know the situation. The lore hunters are getting close to the answer, the older models are almost out of the reach of the software, and it took me ages to find such a worthy candidate. I don't have time to get hi! s approval!!!" Ureth stated, firm in his belief.

"And once he finds out? What then? All you've worked for will got to naught! You need to ask your brothers for... "

"I will do no such thing!!!!" Ureth screamed, cutting off Tors.

"This conversation is over." He stated firmly then got up. He then turned and started walking away, but stopped a few feet from his bench.

"I'll tell him when he gets the third piece of the lore. Until then, not another word of this." Ureth then ran off, leaving a solem Tors behind.

'Oh Master... why do you feel you must do this?'