“Lady Aurelia, so good to see you! Will your Contender be joining us today?”

Eric smiled politely at the rather pretty elf with only the shallowest of points to her ears, much like Caliban’s own, dressed in a distinguished looking Blue Corp uniform who greeted them after a politely dressed assistant led them through the halls of a white marble building that just screamed ‘city hall’ with its central domed rooftop and greco-roman construction.

Eric sensed that alone was an honor, that normally guests might wait any length of time in the antique-looking chairs and leather couch tastefully arranged around a coffee table with a humble stack of hardbound tomes that were either worth a fortune, or could be found by the thousands in any abandoned library. Either way, Eric was impressed.

“My daughter is still resting up after her glorious triumph, and my son, as of course you already know, is his own man. A ‘Free Agent,’ as he likes to put it. Though he is, of course, very interested in the continued economic development of the territories he has placed in your faction’s highly experienced hands.”

The Blue Corp representative positively beamed, boldly stepping forward to shake Eric’s hand with the smile and grace of a politician. And one of the better ones at that.

“Eric Silver! A pleasure to meet our territory founder at last! My name is Lady Jinevive Gilderstrom, head of the Property Development faction here on Terra. But you can call my Jinni. All my friends do, and I do hope we will be the best of friends in our mutual pursuit of a safe, prosperous, and of course, highly profitable real estate development!”

Eric couldn’t help grinning back, for all that a part of his mind was still focused on the image of his army standing tall and proud, 8 yard long spear shafts ramrod straight as they saluted him, fist to chest, as he made his way here, his revenants resonating so strongly with the echoes of ancient history he would claim as their own. A visceral visual image he did his best to hold tightly on to, until he could finally blood at least a fraction of their number, and lock his glorious reforging for all time.

His mother cleared her throat, and the sharp pinch to his side was completely unnecessary.

“Hi Jinni! Thank you so much for taking care of us. The town’s looking great, the little that I saw of it, and I think your plans to keep things looking scenic and picturesque, like a Reconnaissance fair or a tourist town in Europe, complete with boutique shops and grand inns capable of hosting hundreds of adventurers without losing the atmosphere we’re going for here is fantastic! And don’t think I didn’t notice the groundwork being laid for countless shops and high-end living accommodations along what will be dozens of picturesque tree-lined boulevards.

“Because we’re going to make the absolute killing, once we attract the best of the best in terms of adventurers who actually want access to dungeons with critters beyond level twenty, critters who actually drop decent loot, even if in the form of highly profitable hides and furs and plenty of meat. Maybe enough meat to feed a city of millions! So I’m glad we’re thinking long term. And that starts with making this choice real estate spot, less than a mile from this delve, as upscale looking as possible while simultaneously making sure we can funnel through the maximum number of customers for what I’m guessing will be high end adventuring gear shops and, of course, inns full of jolly keepers and servers with rooms available for adventurers of all income brackets.”

Eric frowned thoughtfully, ignoring Jinni’s surprised blink. “Additional stores selling gear for all adventuring brackets we can put a street or two back, though we’ll stick to the theme of scenic tree-lined boulevards and the renaissance-fair architecture and European style buildings with their warm colors and adorable rooftops city-wide, so the entire territory keeps that wonderful open-spaced adventurer vibe that makes all those isekai fantasy animes so damned fun to watch!”

Eric swallowed and winced, realizing he was getting carried away, finally having someone to talk to about what he had spent dozens of hours of fantasizing about as a break from the tension of constant blood, battle, and death that he had been all but wading in for countless weeks, and months, without any real downtime at all. Not until now, at least.

Much to his relief, his mother didn’t pinch him, and Lady Jinevive, or Jinni to her friends, was positively beaming.

“Eric. May I call you Eric?”

“Please do.”

She chuckled throatily. “I cannot tell you what a sincere pleasure it is to work with someone who understands and appreciates exactly what we’re trying to achieve here!”

Her eyes were positively dancing with excitement as she gently took his unresisting hand and led them inside her office, easily the size of any conference room, where Eric saw hovering above her finely polished hardwood office table a holographic display of the entire town that somehow linked directly to Eric’s Dominion Interface Map.

With only a little prodding, Eric found he could effortlessly access a series of slides depicting not only the current state of the town under construction, where the foundation, including sewage, plumbing, and what Jinni explained was electromana power cables, was all being incorporated into the literal bedrock of their town. Additional slides depicted the city in all its stages of growth, now that the town hall proper had been completely built, each slide naturally leading to the next, and Eric couldn’t help but grin with awe, sensing what it meant to build what would be an entire city from the ground up.

Picturesque and beautiful, a feast for the eyes, with plenty of open spaces incorporating flower beds, rosebushes and cherry trees Jinni assured would only take the gentlest of enchantments to be in perpetual blossom, giving a peaceful contrast to what would be, one day, a city to hundreds of thousands of craftsmen, shopkeepers, restaurateurs, and specialists of a dozen vital crafts and trades, in addition to the lifeblood of it all, adventurers.

“… Queen Aurelia was kind enough to share with us all the details her men had gathered in regards to the closest of your twelve Eternal Delves, Eric. You don’t mind if we call them Eternal Delves, do you? We feel it will do wonders for marketing purposes. Anyway, making rough estimates regarding the sheer volume of meat, leather, and furs we expect to generate from just the first four levels of what we are calling the High Hunt Delve, we’ve approximated we’ll need to handle a volume of this number of carcasses that adventurers will be eager to sell for credits, once we are in full swing.”

She quickly wrote down a number. Eric’s eyes bulged at the volume.

“Are you serious?”

“Serious as blood and gold, my dear founder,” Jinni said with a wink, before her features turned serious once more. “And that’s not even counting all the fruit we hope to harvest from two of the first four levels of your delve. Our plan is to pay adventurers fair bulk rates based on prices we’ll be able to secure and stabilize using galactic market futures. From there we will ship the carcasses for processing off sight at a central location that will be between a cluster of Eternal Delve hubs, depending, of course, on what types of denizens and major sources of wealth we determine for each hub.”

Her gaze turned solemn. “I’m sure that there will be any number of adventurers will complain, saying they can make more money for a given shadow puma pelt elsewhere, but both the boon and blessing of your Eternal Delves is that the local market will become flooded very, very quickly. The bright side is that the galactic market, which Blue Faction has unique, unrestricted access to for the purposes of selling local wares means that there will always be a hungry market for the vast, near infinite resources available to us.”

Eric grinned. “And of course, we’ll do our best to maximize our own products and profits by making use of craftsmen and specialist to take those base components and develop them into finished items that command a premium, such as finely treated fur rugs, armor, and, hell, more plush leather chairs and other furniture to decorate fancy offices just like this one. And I’m guessing, maybe hoping, dungeon finds will also be useful for artifact crafting or potion brewing?”

Jinni’s eyes were positively twinkling. She bowed her head towards a bemused-looking Aurelia.

“My lady, your son is a treasure, if you’ll forgive my saying so. A natural entrepreneur!” She frowned thoughtfully. “If he has a class slot available, there is a lot to be said for the administrator, manager, or, indeed, the entrepreneurial Professions. I am quite sure he’d be a wonderful fit for all of them.”

Aurelia chuckled politely. “Oh, I’m afraid my Eric takes after his father a bit to much for anything save the most… visceral of classes. My dear boy is already a Master Necromancer. And don’t tell me your interface hasn’t pinged with the presence of all the revenants before the entrance of your ‘High Hunt’ delve?”

Jinni’s eyes bulged. The city display immediately disappeared to reveal an angrily blinking interface that indeed showed a very bright blue disk in the upper left corner of the map, with a handful of symbols Eric’s mind immediately translated as a powerful military force.

“Friendly. Thank the goddess,” Jinni whispered, before flinching, as if surprised to hear her own words whispered aloud. Her features, for whatever reason, were near chalk-white when she gazed Eric’s way again. No longer seeing him, he was sad to see, as the young heir to remarkable assets who wasn’t afraid to have a hand in his own investments, but as what he was.

A Contender with the blood of over 16,000 fallen foes on his hands. One who not only killed ruthlessly, but happily made his former foes dance to his eternal tune.

She bowed before him. “Forgive me for being caught… off guard.”

Eric winced, far preferring Jinni’s earlier warmth to a business associate’s fear-tinged respect.

He waved away her concerns with a smile. “Not at all. I should be the one apologizing for blocking the entrance to one of our prized attractions with my men! I’m trying to lock in a fresh enhancement, but I promise we’ll be leaving soon enough, so you can get back to making magic happen!”

Eric winked, earning a tiny grin in return. “It sounds like you have the processing and manufacturing sides of things well in hand, and we’ll make a killing on the hotel, retail, and restaurateur side of things as well. But have we gotten around to designing rental properties, yet?”

Jinni slowly shook her head. “Our plan was to use a standard developmental blueprint for worlds populated by natives of roughly Sylvan build and temperament. Like humans. But we’re certainly flexible and open to unique iterations. Did you have any ideas you’d like to share with us?”

Grinning, Eric pulled out both pencil and sketchbook from storage, one of many miscellaneous and sundry he had claimed over the months that had zero tactical application, but sometimes it was fun just to sketch his memory of his sister or Rica’s smile, or, in this case, show off plans for what could be happy homes for thousands.

“I’m thinking a double row of either individual houses or townhouses, and between those two rows would be both space for a modest garden and a common backyard field that would give residences a long strip of land to jog, take walks in, or play various athletic games or just enjoy nature, as well as promoting a sense of community within each individual complex. Maybe we could incorporate evenly spaced trees to give it all a woodsy feel, but with enough space for kids to play tag, football, capture the flag, or soccer,” Eric said with a smile, reminiscing over some of his happier childhood memories.

“Because spacious backyards and a beautiful home shouldn’t just be limited to the wealthiest… or to put it another way, we might be able to give that dream to thousands of potential residents while still keeping the houses compact enough to fit thousands relatively close to the city.” He smiled. “Of course we’d break it up with occasional walkways so people can get too and fro comfortably, and if we design it right, we could have another tree-lined boulevard filled with shops for the adventuring families that would inevitably be living there, just a single block up or down the double complex. And now that I think about it, schools, daycare centers, and the mundanities of day-to-day living should also be factored in for goods and services.”

Eric frowned thoughtfully. “If memory serves, the homemaker controls about 70% of the spending of any household. So even if mommy or daddy is the adventurer, their partner will be the one spending their hard earned cash, and their focus will be on safety and security, food and household goods, childcare and comfort. And who knows? Maybe special classes, tutors, and training for their children, because in this day an age, adventurers are effectively the college-educated breadwinners, with the potential to grow in power beyond what any human could have conceived of, not that long ago. And from what you’re telling me, there will soon be an entire galaxy full of potential buyers for their harvested goods.”

Much to Eric’s relief, Jinni was once more smiling and nodding with what seemed genuine enthusiasm for his ramblings. “Precisely, Eric. It’s a true pleasure to work with a Contender who understands the significance of all that’s happened to their newly assimilated world, has come to terms with it, and is ready to explore exciting opportunities for growth and prosperity for all!” She flashed a confidential smile. “You’d be surprised at just how rare this is, sadly. How hard we have to work to assure any advancement at all, if it interferes with the core tenants of a given culture.”

Eric grinned, glancing at his mother who seemed highly amused by the entire proceedings. “You have her to thank for who I am today. She’s had me studying city blueprints and playing with what-if scenarios for so long it’s almost as if...”

The words died in his throat as he turned to gaze full on at his mother, only now flashing Eric the tiniest of smiles.

“All of this… you knew. It wasn’t about having me find choice pieces of property to develop in New York, or any place else. It was about picking up the pieces, after our world fell. You were grooming me for this very moment since I was twelve. You’ve known what was coming years before it ever happened!”

His mother conceded the point with the tiniest of nods. “Of course, Eric. I knew long before you were born. For all that I thought it would be Aurelia seizing territory and you steadfast by her side, I knew you were best suited for this side of things, far more interested in economics and property development than your sister.” She sighed, shaking her head. “But my enemies maneuvered catalysts months before even I was ready, and caught us all off guard. And so here we are, you now the master… or should I say… founder, of multiple territories. And you could hardly hope to find a better manager than Blue Corp, Eric. Fortunately, you figured that out all on your own.”

She flashed him a warm smile he was too furious to take in. “Truly, Eric, you have exceeded all my hopes and expectations since the world fell. Elonia is lucky to have a brother as capable as yourself.”

Jinni gazed at them both for long moments. Eric could sense both the fear, and the hard-line professionalism radiating off of her as she cleared her throat.

“Queen Aurelia Silver, Prince Eric Silver, I pray you won’t take offense, but there is a question that I’m legally required to ask you both.”

“By all means, speak,” said his mother, even as Eric’s heart raced with sudden trepidation, alarm bells ringing inside his head as he guarded his every word like a man desperately stepping past a dozen land-mined tripwires, hoping only to emerge on the other side unscathed.

She gazed at the pair of them for long moments. “Are you, Eric Silver, truly an independent Contender? Or are you, in fact, Aurelia’s chosen protege, Elonia’s sworn champion, or otherwise a member of the Sylvan Alliance?”

Aurelia nodded to her son, saying nothing.

Eric cleared his throat, forced a smile onto nervous lips, and kept his voice cocky and bold. “I’m strictly a free agent. I go where I like, do what I like, and I claim what I like.”

Jinni gazed at him for long moments. “I see.” She frowned down at a paper she now held in her hands. “There are, regrettably, a number of administrators who would claim otherwise, it seems.”

She flashed an apologetic smile. “They claim that the Sylvan Faction had absolutely zero chance of survival before the emergence of one Eric Silver, who just happens to be the twin brother of the Sylvan Faction’s presumptive Queen. After his intervention, said faction went from near annihilation to becoming the owners of five territories, four of them now blessed with unexpected and unexplained properties that could only be the result of an Earth-linked Contender’s intervention. And as Elonia Silver’s previously claimed territory showed only a modest increase in affinity for arcane-based weather magics, save for two admittedly extraordinary exceptions that took months of preparation…”

Jinni sighed, shaking her head. “I’m sure you can see where they are going with this.”

Eric cleared his throat, pointing back to the interface map. “What do you see there?”

Jinni frowned down at the display. “Sixteen thousand troops pinged with an average level of...” she swallowed, before gazing at Eric with something close to awe. “An average level fifteen ranks above the maximum entry level permitted to all First-Wave factions.”

Eric smiled and nodded, doing his best to hide the sudden spike of anxiety he felt at the mention of ‘First-Wave factions,’ pretty damn certain he already knew exactly what that meant.

“And where do you think I got them?”

Jinni’s eyes widened. “Wait, are you saying that your whole reason for claiming those territories was—“

“Yup! I just happened to be passing by, and saw the very same ugly bastards that had made my life a living hell in Newark, including throwing me and my sister into a Fire pit.”

The elf paled at words Eric said so casually. “When you say Fire pit, do you mean...”

“That’s right. My sister and I were burning alive until I killed the grill master and dragged us to a zero rank pod in the middle of the sewers, and I won’t bore you with the details about the nightmare ordeal I suffered just trying to escape the traps left for me by that psychopathic pod, or surviving the days and weeks that followed, all the while desperately building myself back into a semblance of a functioning human or, sorry, half-elf. Or how it felt to be covered in the most horrific burn scars you could imagine. A final gift from that twisted pod.

“Anyway, passing through those territories served as a wonderful chance for me to declare Vendetta against my foes and wipe the Blackfang Alliance from the map while simultaneously claiming thousands of juicy orc revenants that will now serve me for all time. The fact that my sister got a bit of breathing room in the process?” Eric flashed a thousand megawatt smile. “I guess you could call that a happy coincidence.”

The Blue Corp administrator gazed at Eric for long moments, before cracking a smile of her own. “You know what, Eric Silver? We’re going to do just that.”

She glared down at the letter, wrote a tiny comment of her own, and filed it in a manila folder she put into a filing cabinet that looked right out of the 80s, almost theatrically brushing her hands.

“You have stated your case, your vendetta is already part of the Dominion Interface Records, and your elimination of the Blackfang Alliance is itself a matter of public record. As you and your sister have both suffered at their hands, fighting them together in common cause while still remaining separated in terms of Contender status, is perfectly within the rules.”

Jinni then tapped her chin in thoughtful concern. “Of course, one might ask how it is that multiple territories in close proximity were neither claimed nor auctioned to us or any other parties during that time, but no one can fault a commander focusing on his troops and survival in the heat of battle.”

Eric flashed a tiny smile of his own, refusing to flinch before Jinni’s gaze. “Which is why I’m glad that I chose to trust in Blue Corp’s acumen when it came to finding Ashland, Picksonville, and Greystone territories a happy home… when the battle for survival over multiple territories was nowhere near as intense as it later became.”

Jinni positively beamed. “And we will do our utmost to make absolutely sure that you never have cause to regret your thoughtful and prudent decision!”

Eric nodded, smiling despite the sudden tension he felt, knowing that here was where he’d see just how strong his alliance with blue really was. “I have no doubt of that. Especially since I’m pretty sure our deal locks me in at 60% profit share of whatever business or real estate venture I fully fund myself. And 50% of whatever profits our bank charter nets us.”

Aurelia’s eyes widened before she glared at Jinni like a hawk, as if expecting an unexpected twist. But much to both her and even a tensed Eric’s surprise, Lady Genevieve Gilderstrom nodded in complete agreement, before presenting Eric with a surprisingly concise and plainly worded contract that left in no uncertain terms the profit share he could expect from any territory he surrendered to the care of Blue Corp. What amounted to 20% of profits from all ventures and sources within any such territory, even if Eric never once looked back at its going-ons, a 60% profit share from any venture or property he himself funded within any of his Blue territories, with 20% of the remainder going to Blue and the final 20% kept in custodianship for the eventual Terran ruler who could expect stress free profits for so long as they continued to honor Blue Corps autonomy within whatever zones they administrated.

Additionally, Eric would enjoy 50% of the bank’s profits from any and all ventures, in return for effectively allowing Blue Corp to form a bank under his Charter. Best of all, as far as Eric was concerned, all the administrative, managerial, and day to day headaches were firmly in Blue Corp’s court. Eric would be free of all of that to focus on the bigger picture, as he put it, which basically amounted to crushing his foes, leveling his skills, and avoiding administrative hassles at all costs.

Jinni snorted at his toothy grin.

“My dear Eric has his strengths, but he lacks the patience to actually build a business from the ground up. His one failing, honestly, from an entrepreneurial perspective,” his mother confessed to a smiling Jinni.

“Hey, it’s only fair!” Eric protested. “If I clear a territory of all the baddies looking to slaughter settlers and refugees, then I’m all for players more experienced and patient than I transforming it into an economic paradise where people can get back to a semblance of the lives they once had. So long as someone else handles the paperwork.” Eric shuddered, glaring at the contract before him. “I, for one, hate paperwork.”

But his ‘What The Other Party Wants’ and ‘Nose For Trouble’ perks made it clear that this contract, and Jinni herself, were just as straightforward and honest as he could have hoped. And that was after reading over every last word of the contract, carefully, multiple times. Because he wasn’t such an idiot as to let the System do his thinking for him… or ignore the clear green light 3 sources were now giving him, including his own common sense.

Even his mother’s twinkling eyes making it clear he’d be a fool not to formally sign it.

So he did, earning a relieved smile from Jinni.

“Wonderful!” She gushed. “As much as we already have your soul-signature captured via Interface mail, you won’t believe how much that little piece of paper will help to move things along. Now, before I hand you over to the new head of our Banking Department who has additional documents for you to sign, I did want to say that now is the absolute perfect time to invest in our little venture here, if you have the spare capital to do so.”

Soft blue eyes gazed intently into his own. “To be honest, Eric, we could really use the funds.”

Eric gazed at the rather pretty manager before him. “Shit. Really? But this is only one of our ‘Endless Delves!’ We want to develop towns near each of these powerful engines of sheer glorious profit, right? And we’re suffering cash flow issues already?”

He sighed under his mother’s sudden glare. “Sorry. Maybe that was uncalled for. I can tell you’ve already invested a considerable amount in setting up at least the key components of what will be an absolutely gorgeous adventuring city.” He gazed out the window, admiring once more the construction that was already underway, now forced to wonder if they were just weeks or days away from it all coming to an abrupt, grinding halt. “I guess in my mind, the legendary Blue Corp riding above the world with those high-rise buildings in Freetown had access to something close to unlimited capital. That was pretty naive, huh.”

Surprisingly, Jinni didn’t look offended at all, or flustered, or embarrassed. Instead she was gazing at him with an almost chilling intensity. “So, what question you should be asking me right now, Eric Silver?”

Eric frowned at those words when it all suddenly suddenly clicked. “The Bank Charter! I funded it with a billion in capital. I had plans for it… but hell, I can’t think of a better project than this, and frankly, I wouldn’t mind a 50% profit share over at least a portion of whatever key projects the bank thinks are most vital to our budding city’s development… and why are you looking at me that way?”

Jinni gazed at Eric for long moments. “Unfortunately, all of our bank’s liquid capital is already earmarked for other projects. Thus, we are unable to access or borrow against those resources at this time.”

Eric’s eyes bulged at this, alarm bells ringing in his head. “But, wait a minute! I clearly recall in that charter that no major projects are to get a go-ahead without someone at least talking to me! 50 – 50 wasn’t just about profit, but also about decision-making. I was damn clear about that part of it!”

Jinni nodded. “Indeed you were. The only part left open to interpretation was what constituted a ‘major’ project. So, if the new head manager of our formerly non-existent banking department who took over immediately after Lord Caliban’s disappearance made an administrative decision that any project investing less than 10% of the bank’s capital was to be considered a ‘minor’ project, then said administrator could, conceivably...”

Eric forced the words through gritted teeth. “He could invest all the bank’s capital in whatever way he liked, without having to consult me once. That’s bullshit!”

“Language!” His mother snapped. “And my son is right. This is not the above-board, honor-above-all-else business practice that I have associated with Blue Corp for the last 575 years, where contracts are but a formality. Because not once in that time as any associate of mine ever had cause to file suit!”

The territory administrator deliberately ignored Aurelia’s caustic comment, eyes locking intently with Eric’s own. “You now know our situation. What is your request, Eric Silver?”

Eric furrowed his brow, glaring down at the contract-strewn table Jinni worked from, the holographic display of the city now gone. “Is there any way I can go over this new head manager’s investments? And Caliban’s missing, you said? Can you give us the details? Because if there’s anything I can do...”

Jinni cleared her throat, her delicate, melodious voice resonating through the room.

“Excuse me, Eric. Just to be certain I understand what you’re asking. Are you, a major shareholder in our Ashland development venture and a 50% stakeholder in the Terran branch of Blue Corp bank, asking for a formal inquiry of our financial records since the moment our bank charter was formalized, including all pertinent details regarding Lord Caliban’s disappearance shortly thereafter?”

Eric’s heart began to pound, gazing at soft blue eyes saying so much without saying anything untoward at all.

His smile was all teeth. “You know what? Yes. That’s exactly what I’m asking for.”

“Understood. I will see to it at once. Fortunately, our bank manager’s contacts within our department found out about our meeting today and insisted on meeting you as soon as possible.” She flashed a bright, plastic smile. “I believe he has a number of documents his is quite eager for you to sign.”

Eric cracked his knuckles. “Fucking fantastic. Because I really think its time I met this bank manager and the two of us sat down for a nice long chat.”