“Ignis iram plures hodie!”

A spark of white-hot fury, a surge of his will, and Eric happily embraced the drain to his Mana and Qi both as the central hall’s sigils seemed to warp reality itself as they spasmed like a convict riding old sparky before whispered words and a white-hot blade flickering with spiritual fire shredded and consumed them, one by one.

Soul Sight check made.

You understand the vile nature of these sigils far better than you really want to!

You have successfully ruptured 26 Dark Runes!

Runic Lore is now Rank 5!

Windfire Strike is now Rank 4!

You have successfully intimidated 12 captives.

Eric blinked and quickly took in his surroundings, wincing at the last of the messages he only paid attention to as he glared down at the last twisted matrix of glyphs and sigils he had cleaved his now furiously blazing dachi through, scoring tiles and arcane connections both, and feeling the slightest bit dizzy as his Qi Pool slipped under 100, quickly extinguishing the fires of his blade.

For long moments, the girls just stared at him, most quietly sobbing, a few begging him with their eyes to spare them, even if they didn’t dare say word.

“Is there anyone else?” Eric solemnly asked the girls, but only after gently touching the ugly collars of blackened iron around each of their necks, and popping them free. Ugly, brutal, and thankfully, far cruder in design even compared to what the CSA used, a little surge and twist of blood magic like a bolt gun forcing open a lock, and each of them popped right off, Eric hardly feeling a drain to his resources at all.

“No, no one,” whispered the most vibrant of the girls. A natural redhead with a pert little nose, freckles, and soft brown eyes. Someone Eric instantly recognized as an actual Classer, radiating more potency even than the Sylvan captives.

“My name is June, by the way. If you need a rogue adventurer and you’re not a fucking treacherous little slimy weasel of a goblin, I’m your girl. And even if most of us are too exhausted to say anything and just want to curl up in a ball and die… thank you for saving our lives.” She flashed a wry, bittersweet smile. “Seriously, you’re the dreamy-looking blood-spattered hero every girl prays will be there for her in her final hour. And if I hadn’t been...” Her devil-may-care adventuring persona abruptly cracked, revealing the terrified girl underneath, snarky voice breaking into a sob as she looked away.

Eric felt a painful ache in his chest, having absolutely no idea what to say.

So he gave her clothes instead.

She nodded gratefully as Eric solemnly handed her the tarp bag he had been wordlessly handed by Lizzy right before he had left, because somehow, she had known.

Just like Eric knew better than to ask June how she had gone from active adventurer to becoming the abused playthings of orcs.

A girl with high cheekbones, narrow chin and strikingly beautiful eyes, her graceful, willowy features marred only by the savage bloody stumps some monster had made of her ears, broke down in sobs while June softly hushed her and helped her dress, Eric immediately faced the other direction as they all robed themselves, all his attention on the two corridors leading away from the central hall, no matter that his interface made it clear where all the reds now were.

“We have to flee! The young sylvan sobbed. “Those monsters will be back. The Berserkers who fled are just waiting for him to leave! They’ll come back with everyone else! Oh by the Winter Queen’s grace, I wish I had never come here! They took away everything! They—“

“They’re dead,” Eric softly said as two crimson lights making a beeline north were abruptly extinguished when a full half dozen of his greens intercepted. Because the one thing he sure as hell wasn’t doing was letting any fleeing orc share any intelligence with his enemies or otherwise ruin all the wonderful surprises his enemies most definitely had coming to them.

His words stopped the sylvan girl’s cries cold. “They’re dead?”

Eric solemnly nodded, still looking away. “They’re lights just blinked out on my interface map.”

He winced at the gasp he heard behind him. “You… you’re a Contender!”

Eric shrugged. “Could be.”

The silence dragged on awkwardly behind him.

“It’s okay,” June said. “We’re um… we’re dressed now.”

Eric turned and winced at the way half the girls flinched away from his gaze. Save for the trio of girls whose ears had been viciously mutilated. Those three were all, for some reason, kowtowing before him.

“Seriously? We’re genuflecting to our new master now?” Said a girl radiating definite goth vibes. “I mean, I know he’s cute, going for the blood-spattered berserker look, like half of Aurelia Silver’s heroes in movies that were a shit-ton too fucking accurate, now that I think about it. And did you catch those pirated Self-Tube clips from the premier of her latest movie? It hadn’t even released yet!”

Her eyes widened with horrified wonder. “Fuck! That bitch totally knew what was coming!”

June’s eyes widened as well, her gaze going back and forth from the prostrating elves to an increasingly red-faced Eric. She flashed a bemused smile. “Well fuck. It’s you.”

Eric blinked. “I totally don’t know what to do with that statement.”

“Okay, so who the hell is he, exacty?” Whispered another of the girls frowning his way, though her hands were busy holding tight another girl sobbing inconsolably.

The goth girl was definitely gazing at him a bit too intently for Eric’s comfort, a curious grin lighting up features that hadn’t seen a smile in weeks. “Wait… fuck it! I recognize you! Don’t you recognize him, June? He’s the kid always hiding his face whenever the paparazzi zoom in on his family!”

The elf that had been in such a terrified panic glared goth girl’s way. “That’s Eric Silver you’re speaking to, child! Brother to Elonia Silver. Scion of the Winter Queen herself!”

“Strictly Free Agent!” Eric clarified with a cough. “I claim no allegiance or affiliation with any other party.”

This earned him a number of odd looks.

“Seriously?” said goth girl.

Eric shrugged. “It’s complicated.”

The elven trio lowered their heads, as if genuinely ashamed of his life choices.

“So what now?” June asked, and Eric pretend he didn’t see the desperate hope in her gaze.

Sadly, there was very little he could do for her or anyone else at that moment, save solemnly hand them fresh food, and the shred of hope that he could, pointing north. “That way lies Ashland territory.”

“We know,” said June, with a bitter smile. “That’s where the goblins who… claimed our debt, dropped us off, saying we were now property of the goddamned orcs.”

“They had no right!” Sobbed another girl, crumpled in a heap. “I had no job, no way to make money, I needed to eat! They… they promised me training, a place to work. Instead, I ended up in chains. We ended up their… oh god, I can’t even say it!”

Eric swallowed the bitter lump in his throat. “It doesn’t end here. I promise you that.” He whispered with fierce intensity. “They will pay for what they did. All of them! They will pay with their fucking lives, if it’s the last thing I ever do.”

“I believe you,” said a wide-eyed June, holding tight one of the girls now looking at Eric as if he were the monster. A look that utterly confused him. “We all believe you. Just… please...”

Eric winced under the weight of her pleading gaze. He wasn’t a complete idiot.

He could tell that they were more than a little bit afraid of him. Even if he had just saved their lives. Everyone except the elves, whose eyes blazed in fierce agreement, nodding despite their injuries to every word he said.

Eric sighed and turned away, only to flinch at a well-polished copper serving plate discarded just a few feet away, that just happened to serve as the perfect mirror.

Revealing a wild-eyed monster covered in blood and gore.

He winced.

His reflection did the same.

“If you head south to the orc keep, you’ll find Billy, Lana, and several other freed captives. They… they might be able to help you. Ashland’s now a protectorate of Blue Faction,” he said, heading out the keep door. “If you head there… you’ll be able to find work, safety, shelter... healing. I promise you that,” he said, sending a quick interface note to his newest Blue faction contact as succinctly as he could.

June’s eyes widened. “Lana’s okay?” She swallowed, biting her lip. “Is Lizzy...”

Eric nodded, forcing a smile. “Well, not okay, exactly, but she’s alive. Helped me train, and actually had the courage to smile and crack jokes.” He swallowed. “You’re friend’s going to be okay, I think.”

June laughed softly, tears in her eyes. “She’s not my friend.”

Eric blinked. “Oh.”

“She’s my wife.” June grinned at his expression. “Yeah, I know. We were college freshmen with our whole lives ahead of us, our families both expecting us to marry prince charming, and we said to hell with all of them.” She swallowed and sobbed, tears in her eyes. “Even if I was older by four years after my time in the service, it didn’t matter. We clicked perfectly, and we both knew what we wanted. It was each other, and it was the happiest year of my life. Then the world fucking ended.”

Eric nodded. “I know exactly what you mean. But hey, she’s alive, and you’re a Classer.”

This earned a snort and bitter shake of her head. “Yeah. A Classer who had one golden chance to be something other than a Conscript even at level one, and you’re damn right I took it. I actually got an option for the Rogue class after my years as an army scout. Then the rumors started sprouting up everywhere that I was an ex con so corrupt that no adventurer dared trust me, and nothing I said or did could convince anyone to even party up with me. Never mind that half the actual Classers in Freetown had served time themselves!”

She gave a bitter laugh, before angrily shaking her head. “It got so bad that I had to accept goblin contracts, just to put food on the table. And I was actually robbed by punk ass low level Conscripts who said I had it coming, that unlike them, I was clearly too dirty to ever come clean. God, I came so close to killing them. Anyway, things went downhill from there fast and, well, here I fucking am.”

Eric furrowed his brow. “Okay, first off, I think some assholes need to get their faces smacked pretty fucking hard. Secondly, I thought one of the guild heads in Freetown was actually a Rogue?”

June’s cheeks blazed. “He and I, we… served together. And we have a history. It wasn’t pretty.”

Eric’s gaze hardened. “If that asshole deliberately made things hard for you...”

June sighed and shook her head. “He said he wanted me and my wife out of Freetown, and he’d make it happen. But… shit. He was my husband, once. We did love each other. Once. I don’t think he wanted this to happen. He just wanted us to hop a caravan and get the fuck out of town. And I was such a stupid hot-headed idiot that I stayed just to spite him.” She shook her head, bitter tears streaming down her face. “And look where the fuck that got me.”

Eric smiled when she flinched and looked away. “Good news,” he said, crouching down to meet her gaze. “Ashland is now home to a full dozen dungeon portals. All of them radiate the promise of storybook adventures with fair challenges and generous rewards. And all of them have at least a chance for a truly epic haul. And not one of them has the peril or bitter fortune banes. Best of all, each Delve also has multiple levels. Maybe infinite levels. So long as you’re leveled enough to take out the boss or guardian between levels. Not only that, they’re fully mappable. Maybe not the rare epic loot hauls, but for solid grinding and payouts, you can learn the layout and the habits of the denizens within. And you won’t have to worry about overcrowding. At least not for a while. Because each level of each dungeon is exactly the size of Ashland itself. Do you know what that means?”

June looked up at him in awed disbelief. The trio of elves as well. “It means… there’s no limit to how much we can delve, how far we can go in any delve. And if the map is really that big… each level could host thousands? Thousands of adventurers who can master their one little nook and maybe make a safe living, or at least with better odds than the fucking delves around Freetown!”

Eric winked. “Exactly.”

The three elves fell to their knees once more. “Prince Eric, please, we beg of you! Allow us to make use of these delves as well. So that we can one day return to Princess Elonia’s side with our heads held high. Whole and pure and worthy of fighting under her banner once more!”

The tallest immediately paled and flinched when she caught Eric’s considering gaze. But all he said was, “The delves are open to all, so long as you don’t mind my claiming a 20% cut of whatever you claim, and will take an oath that basically amounts to not robbing or stealing from any other mortal or adventurer in or out of the dungeon while in Ashland territory, and regardless of whatever else happens, never stabbing me or my sister in the back… metaphorically or otherwise.”

All three elves prostrated themselves once more. “We swear it!” said one with a sob.

Eric shared a smile with a bemused looking June. “Fair enough. And if you’re smart, you’ll make use of a skilled scout her brain-dead contemporaries in Freetown were too stupid to appreciate.”

The smallest of the trio immediately clasped June’s hand. “We will treat her like a sister in all things.”

June snorted, but Eric could tell by the look in her eyes that she was both flattered and relieved, even if she knew it was only thanks to wild chance and circumstance that she was now being declared the sworn sister of three badly ravaged but soon to healed and fully rejuvenated elves.

A thought which filled Eric with sudden horror. “Please don’t tell me those fuckers were clipping your ears every day?”

This earned teary red eyes and desperate sobs. “They did. With relish,” sobbed a girl with silvery hair and absolutely beautiful amethyst eyes.

Eric glared down at the utterly desiccated remains of the shaman, at that very moment blown to ash but deathly winds he could just barely sense, along with the faint desperate howls of a soul that would never taste the sweet air of this precious Earth again.

Eric flashed a hard smile. “I think our dear shaman tallied up quite the bill. One I doubt his soul will be paying off anytime soon.”

June gazed at him for long moments as he slowly stepped back into the keep courtyard, spreading his arms wide and lifting his head, smiling as he allowed the rain to wash his sins and blood away.

“God you’re beautiful.”

He grinned, pretending he hadn’t heard a thing.

“How?”

Eric opened his eyes once more and smiled. “How what?”

She opened her mouth, as if looking for the words she wanted to say, before giving a tired shake of her head. “Never mind.”

Eric grinned. “How did Ashland evolve from having several low tier orc rat dungeons to twelve stable high-resource delves?”

June smirked. “yeah, that.”

Eric winked. “Let me show you.”

Congratulations! You have successfully Conquered Picksonville!

You have elected NOT to embrace Necromantic Consumption! The heavens themselves laud your forbearance! The winds of destiny will shape this realm to your will in the form of 1 Major and 3 Minor Perks!

You have chosen the Minor Perk: Pristine Spiritual Energy! Requirements met! (Picksonville adjoins a territory possessing Pristine Spiritual Energy (Fire aligned, Wind aligned, Wood aligned).

Rejoice! For another cultivation sanctuary has been discovered on Subjugated World 6783Y! The path is now open for various cultivation factions to consider your world fit for colonization!

Eric smiled with some amount of relief, ignoring the soft curses and gasps of awe, as if the girls could actually feel the warm spiritual energies now flowing through them all. Eric was just glad that the first part of his plan had worked. Even better was the System acknowledgment that it was in close enough proximity to Ashland to allow at least some carryover of otherwise unique territory traits, as if it was all one conjoined territory, instead of two distinct regions. If things continued as he hoped…

You have chosen the Minor Perk: Promise of Adventurer! Multiple non-invasive, stable delves free of beast surges and death traps have manifested in your realm! Go forth, adventurer, and explore the mysteries and wonders locked within! - Synergism detected! Neighboring territory contains 12 harmonious delves. Picksonville’s base 6 has been boosted to 12! Delve placement mirrors your meridian gate pattern!

You have chosen the Minor Perk: Adventurer’s Paradise! Not only are the delves in Picksonville free of all traps, pitfalls, and the bitter cards of fate that end the lives of so many and that make dungeon construction so cheap for goblins, your delves are incredibly rich in natural resources with the rare chance of Epic loot drops! It’s almost as if adventurers and explorers were meant to succeed and prosper here! For all that death forever remains a possibility for all those who dare the deeps, fate itself favors those with the courage to accept the challenges that your delves offer!

Eric couldn’t help grinning at that, sensing that, if anything, the perk was a tiny bit stronger here than in Ashville. Almost as if his increasing skill at shaping the realms that fell under his dominion were intensifying the values of all his boons. Yet he sensed as well that there was a balance of sorts. If encounters were 10% less risky, the experience gained would be 10% less. But the boon in wealth to be found would still be that of a slightly more perilous encounter, meaning that the rewards would roughly be 10% greater.

Which was, to Eric’s mind, a fantastic evolution, making him incredibly grateful he had chosen do defer claiming this territory’s potential for himself, for the second time in a row.

Heart racing with excitement, he played his final card, eager to smash through the limits of what even he had thought possible.

Warning! You are UNABLE to evoke the Greater Boon: Infinite Potential. No stable gate to an alternate world exists in this territory.

Eric chuckled softly under his breath, shaking his head, refusing to feel too disappointed.

He knew it had been a long shot at best. But if it had worked… the opportunities would have been beyond incredible. And that’s when he sensed it. A flicker of possibility, the sliver of wildest potential as he turned South and caught a glimpse of what could have been the northern lights flashing across the heavens… or perhaps something else.

Because he might not be in a territory connected to an immortal realm… but he was right next door. In a territory close enough not only to full saturate with spiritual energy, but the waves of potential that had allowed him to flood this land with a full dozen pocket realms leading to wealth and wonder, without a single deliberate death trap between them.

Waves of potential that might, saturated with his major perk, allow for so much more.

But the cost…

Eric took a deep, trembling breath, ignoring the oddly intent stares of the women he had rescued as trembling hands deliberately pulled out not one or two, but every single last one of his priceless spirit fruit… before tossing them all to the heavens.

Sacrificing a priceless fortune to the whims of fate and a contender’s mantel.

Before his eyes opened wide with the sudden surge of spiritual energy flooding his soul as each and every peach glowed with transcendant spiritual energy before disappearing entirely. Eric cried out as his soul blazed with inner fire, sensing more than seeing the rift between realms flood this humble territory with a fecundity beyond all he had ever seen or experienced before.

Transcendent Sacrifice (worth in excess of 1 billion credits on the open market) has elevated your perk selections from Major to Epic!

Congratulations! You have successfully unlocked the epic perk: Spiritual Fecundity! This territory has been infused with the ideal infusion of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energies needed to grow the most succulent mystical fruit to be found anywhere on Earth!

All Bronze Tier or lesser spiritual fruit, in addition to all mundane herbs or crops grown within this territory, will grow at a quality and rate 7-fold beyond the norm! All Silver Tier Spiritual Fruit grown within this territory will reach ideal maturity and potency at a standard rate of growth!

Picksonville presently contains 1 immature grove of Fire Peaches!

You have gained the title: Transcendent Farmer.

Spiritual Energy has been permanently increased by 15 points!

Wood Qi synergism detected!

All agricultural Professions are now open to you!

You receive DOUBLE standard benefit to all Agricultural Profession skill boons, perks, and modifiers!

All crops you tend to for 20 or more hours per week will grow at twice the rate and quality that they otherwise would have! You may now safely tend to and harvest all Spiritual plants of up to Silver Tier Potency, even without any agricultural profession!

A shuddering Eric crashed to his knees, awed and humbled by his brush with transcendence, an echo of the divine resonating through his unworthy soul as he dared clasp the brush of eternity and paint a few delicate strokes upon the land that could so easily become his own.

A choice he once more forced himself to decline, even as the elves a wide-eyed June raced over to him. The other girls just stared at him with looks that ranged from awe, to disbelief, to unmistakable fear.

“He forged a wonder, in the Winter Queen’s name!” sobbed one of the elves.

The tallest of the trio was still gazing at him with too bright eyes. “To have actually witnessed the miracle of this realm’s reforging, by our beloved queen’s own flesh and blood! Truly it almost makes everything...” She shuddered and looked away. “Almost.”

“Elonia will be so proud or her champion!” Squealed the shortest of the Sylvan girls, the others nodding in unreserved agreement.

June’s expression was one of concern. “Eric, Eric! Are… are you alright? What happened?”

But Eric paid none of their comments any mind, having to swallow an actual sob, as if forced to give up a piece of himself as he made his offer, which was accepted so fast he couldn’t quite hold back a tired chuckle.

Blue Faction accepts Dominion over Picksonville Province in accordance to pre-established agreement between Lord Caliban and Contender: Eric Silver.

All sovereign rights to Picksonville Province have been surrendered to Blue Faction.

Eric Silver accepts standard 20% share of all profits generated within Picksonville Province or from the auction or sale of first-hand goods manufactured with resources derived from Picksonville Province. This includes a 20% share of all resources (mining rights) recovered by any and all adventurers, delvers, or explorers within any and all portals, rifts, and interdimensional anomalies (hereto referred to as dungeons) proven to contain crystals, coin, herbs, ores, or any other resource above standard dungeon profitability charts.

Transcendent Peach Grove remains the property of Eric Silver. Eric Silver reserves the rights to delegate who may or may not claim said peaches, grow said peaches, or harvest said peaches. (Heretofore referred to as Mystic Fire Peaches). A 60% share of all profits from the sale of any and all Mystic Fire Peaches are the property of Eric Silver. A 20% Share of all said profits will be reserved for Blue Faction. The final share of all said profits will be reserved in a separate account for the future sovereign ruler of Subjugated World 6783Y in return for chartered sovereignty as per pre-established galactic protocols.

Identical profit protocols will be in effect for any additional businesses or properties developed and/or funded by Eric Silver within Picksonville Province.

Blue Faction reserves the right to develop said territory as seen fit to maximize profitability.

Blue Faction agrees to adhere to the principles of Feng Shui and the guidance of properly trained cultivators to avoid hindering the flow of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy while developing said property.