His mother gripped Eric’s arm, slowly shaking her head. “He’s a Blue Corp executive, whatever else he might be. You’d be foolish to risk absolutely everything, were you to let yourself be goaded into assaulting him.” She flashed a hard smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Best let this matter be handled internally, Eric, lest he seek to play the victim card with your own interference.”

Eric clenched jaw, before finally dipping his head, unable to deny the validity of his mother’s points.

Fine,” Eric snapped, before turning to Jinni. “Let’s pretend I wasn’t completely outraged to find a bank manager I’ve never met doing a complete end run around me and using the entirety of our joint bank’s cash reserves to finance his pet projects.” He flashed a fierce smile. “Let’s say that I was actually mad enough to trust that Blue Corp would have my back and see everything squared away in the end.” He quickly raised a finger before Jinni could speak. “And let’s further say that I, by some miracle, actually managed to claim the territory to our east. A territory I might still be willing to slide Blue Corp’s way. Will Blue Corp continue our established precedent of leasing large swaths of any territory I claim to any alliance I happen to be on good terms with for a 20% profit share from crop sales, and no charge at all for the portion of crops consumed by the faction itself?”

Left unsaid was the part that Eric damn well knew he didn’t even need to say. Which was that the Sylvan Alliance and Blue Corp were the only factions he was on any sort of terms with at all. In point of fact he was pretty sure he was in a state of war against every other alliance he had even heard of. Because if his mother’s desperate plan was going to come to fruition… there would be a huge surge of mouths to feed.

Jinni’s eyes widened, peering at Eric with incredulity and what looked to be genuine concern. “Eric, you do know that particular territory lies unclaimed by any faction for a reason, don’t you? It’s not a white tier!” Her gaze turned pitying. “Sad as I am to admit it, our options in this world are surprisingly… limited. This continent is entirely bereft of green or yellow tier zones, and jumps right to burnt orange and red and far too many black zones for a newly incorporated world.”

Eric stole a quick glance his mother’s way.

“Bronze Tier opponents,” she quickly explained, which sent icy chills coursing down his spine. He quickly turned back to Jinni, speaking on.

“… numerous factions are feeling the pinch, as there is safe access only to dungeons promising adversaries of a max level of 20 or so, while abutting threats of at least level 60, up to, in some cases, level 100 that are to be found on all sides of the white-tier corridors criss-crossing this continent. Our soul saving grace is that the wild mana levels are such a sharp contrast between orange and white tier that almost no monster is willing to expose themselves to what to them feels like a vacuum. So Earth’s fragile communities are thankfully free of monster tides that could otherwise wipe out sentient life altogether. Still, these challenges aside, we have high hopes that Ashland, with its multilevel masterpieces, will turn that around in less than a decade,” Jinni declared, pointing to one of several colorful charts and diagrams with a silver ruler, their meaning clear enough even to Eric.

Eric nodded. “I hope so too.” Then he frowned. “But still… a decade?”

Jinni dipped her head. “As you know, it takes a great deal of time and effort to level up, even with ideally leveled opponents, and the Standard Tier Warrior, Archer, Spearman, and Artificer classes, the most common class that humans evolve into as soon as they can get past Conscript, is at an increasing disadvantage as foes get more challenging when one climbs the power scale.”

Eric frowned at this. “My understanding is that native adventurers, at least, enjoy a huge boon in how fast they can level up. As if they’re benefiting with Earth’s ascension, being themselves of Earth.”

“All true. And perhaps I was thinking about how these delves will benefit your sister’s faction as well as your Terran friends,” Jinni conceded, stealing a glance Aurelia’s way.

Eric nodded his head respectfully at her words. “Fair enough. But so long as you fight foes your level or higher, your rate of progression should still be pretty steady, right? I mean, Captain Nils is already level 34. He must have gained at least a couple levels pushing himself and his men over this past month, and I know he had to have been fighting opponents close to his level. It’s only when I was forced to take out hundreds of orcs almost twenty levels below my own that it felt like my progress was slowing to a crawl.”

His mother nodded. “Correct. He was. And Nils lost four soldiers serving under him in the first two weeks before their growing mastery over the environment and the tactics needed to best multiple gatekeepers synergized with specialized perks that now allow them to fight like a well-oiled machine, which is ultimately what allows them to thrive free of casualties in the levels they now dare.”

Eric blinked in surprise. “Wait, Captain Nils already lost four men in just the first two weeks? I had no idea… and they all brought specialized perks together?”

His mother nodded solemnly. “His squad is at full capacity once more, of course, and the tier they dare now has monster levels averaging thirty. This was their benchmark, their goal from the very beginning, and it will be a very long time before they dare go any further. Months, at least, before Nils risks the lives of his soldiers to complete unknowns once more, even if their progression now slows down to a relative crawl. And I was the first to advise him to dare no further until each and every soldier under his command has hit level 40 and unlocked a fourth node power that would further enhance their ability to fight and survive together as delvers before daring to face yet another level boss. For now, I am extremely pleased with his progress, and wish only for him to continue mapping and mastering the levels he has already unlocked. It is his knowledge of the environment and delving tactics that will make all the difference in the survival and prosperity of countless Sylvan adventuring parties and, yes, human parties as well, in the very near future. Of that, I am certain.”

Jinni nodded. “Your mother’s right. Her men took a very real risk daring unknown challenges at their level or higher, even as well trained and equipped as they were. Once an area is understood and the appropriate tactics are mastered, however, it becomes a completely different story.”

She dipped her head Aurelia’s way. “Your mother’s noble trailblazers will be the Dungeon tacticians and sages that will pave the way for countless generations of delvers to safely traverse the first six levels of your glorious Delve, Eric, even if those not compelled by desperate necessity would be well served embracing a far slower progression.”

Eric frowned. “How much slower?”

Jinni flashed a sympathetic smile. “The average two or three-member adventuring group is best off challenging beasts only one half to two thirds their level, and no tougher. Such a group would only dare more serious challenges when they have truly mastered their environment and the foes they are most likely to encounter. And I am still awed by both the degree of wealth to be found in your delves, and the surprisingly well-balanced challenges offered, where carefully applied tactics all but assures victory. So too, it has far less in the way of perilous bottlenecks and ambush predators than any goblin or orc delve, I can tell you that in a heartbeat. But your floor bosses are outright lethal. Incredibly wealthy, each possessing fortunes that could see a man of modest needs living comfortably for decades, and they only challenge adventurers daring to ascend to the next pocket realm, so all delivers have a chance to retreat, but they are exceedingly deadly, compared to all other threats on a given level.”

She gazed almost apologetically Aurelia’s way. “Those sentinels are what’s responsible for the majority of the injuries and fatalities suffered by your sister’s brave soldiers. Those monsters are best faced in large parties with the perks and advantages of Advanced Tier classes or better. And since most adventurers Galaxy-Wide never get beyond Standard classes, they are best served progressing at a slow and steady pace with plenty of time to master the tactics and weapons that will see them through, eventually retiring to a steady level they strive to master to the point their hunting and resource gathering becomes almost safe.”

Aurelia nodded. “Yet it is Captain Nil’s hard-fought experience and tactical analysis that will assure that future Sylvan bands will know the steps to take and tactics to embrace to assure far fewer fatalities will be suffered, if any at all.”

“And Blue Corp will of course happily pay Captain Nils and your daughter handsomely for whatever dungeon maps and tactical handbooks you would make available to Blue Corp and whatever Delvers would call this territory their home. Delvers who would of course be oathbound never to strike at said founder… or his extended family.”

Aurelia flashed a bemused smile. “I’m sure arrangements can be made.”

Eric frowned. “So for most galactic adventurers… it’s all about finding the safest dungeon tier they can grind for maximum reward and minimal risk of death, once they’ve mastered the ropes. And they’ll happily take whatever level-ups come to them, but aren’t expecting to soar up the ranks anytime soon.”

“Correct,” said Jinni. “This is the aspiration of most delvers, including those possessing Advanced or better classes, particularly when they're ready to settle down and start families of their own. Whether their sweet spot would be on the first, fourth, or tenth floor… that depends on temperament, dedication, just how effective their class is, and of course, the size of their crew and how effectively they work together,” Jinni explained.

“For foes above level 50, Eric, or Boss fights to get beyond the ninth floor of your endless overlapping levels of Regio, a well-trained group of Advanced Classers at a level equal to the threats will be an absolute necessity,” his mother stated. “And Adept or Elite Classers, rare as those are, would of course be even better.”

Jinni smiled and nodded. “Exactly. And for our city to successfully host not just a tiny handful of unusually talented souls, but hopefully thousands that will be able to level up and eventually achieve the power needed to tame the wild orange and red territories… before it’s too late… is truly our ultimate goal with Ashland.”

She flashed a smile bright with hope for the future. “Indeed, you could say that your magnificent find of a territory will be this world’s guiding light and a bastion for the future… even if we’re planning for a decade or more out, and can only hope we’ll still have time to prepare for what comes next.”

Eric winced, deciding that he didn’t really want to know what came next.

So of course he asked.

“What comes next?”

Jinni’s strained grimace said it all. “I’m sincerely sorry, Contender, but I’m not permitted to say.”

Eric sighed but nodded, sensing that the Blue Corp executive had already said far more than she should. And he was grateful.

Because he had read enough progression novels to know exactly what was coming.

A beast tide that would no doubt flood his entire planet, and one that clearly wouldn’t give a crap about the paucity of wild mana in white tier territories.

Unless, of course, they cleared every last one of those wild bad-boy territories… and did it in less than a decade’s time.

“I understand,” he said softly, earning a relieved smile in turn.

“I sense that you do. And I’m grateful. So I’m sure you can understand why we would hate to lose someone as valuable as you so early.”

Eric flashed a bleak smile. “Unfortunately, there is a drawback to a Contender’s gifts. Guess the one poor sop who can never access these ‘Endless Delves?’”

Jinni blinked, gazing at Eric for long moments, genuinely surprised, it seemed. “Eric! Oh no. That changes things, I fear. I’m truly sorry to hear it.”

“I’m not. Because there’s more than one way to earn a level, and I intend on doing that, and damned quickly.”

The administrator’s gaze hardened. “You’re talking about going alone into a territory with an average beast level of 70, according to our agents.”

Eric’s smile widened. “Good! It will give my troops some solid practice then!”

Jinni tilted her head, gazing at Eric consideringly. “Yes. Your own case is a bit different, isn’t it?” She flashed a brilliant smile. “Then by all means… if you actually manage to tame an orange tier territory, Blue Corp would be absolutely ecstatic to serve as its caretakers.”

She then turned to Aurelia. “Your Grace, on the off chance a new territory suddenly becomes available to us, we would be more than happy to lease as many unclaimed hectares as become available to you for a mere 20% crop share of whatever produce you would sell at market.” She flashed a winning smile. “As you are no doubt well aware, galactic precedent allows… nay, demands, very lenient rental and taxation standards regarding the production and sale of food, the lifeblood of our entire empire. Vital for the survival of anyone who hasn’t achieved at least Bronze Tier cultivation, at least, which is over 99.9763% of the galactic population.”

“That would be delightful, Jinni. I assume there is no issue with my… part time farmhands making whatever living arrangements they find ideal?”

Jinni positively beamed. “Indeed. We shall consider such accommodations beneath our concern. And it goes without saying, though I shall certainly note, that any crops grown or… other resources made use of in your extended community of part time farmers is free from any tax, fee, or tariff. Of course, if trade involving credits are involved, standard rates apply.”

Aurelia nodded. “Fifty percent profit to the innkeeper, craftsman, or merchant, 50% split between you, my son, and the future queen. More than acceptable.”

Jinni politely cleared her throat. “Of course, we reserve the right to make use of our contiguous territories, should our planned towns and cities of Ashland expand as we might hope. But such a projection is, in all likelihood, many years past our current state of… political flux. And we’d be happy to assure renewable crop-share rights for the eastern half of any neighboring territory for, oh, say the next century or two?”

Aurelia was all smiles. “My dear Jinni, I believe this is the start of a beautiful relationship. Come, let us prepare the paperwork, just in case my son truly is prepared to embrace the madness he proposes.”

She then turned, pinning Eric with her gaze. “And there is absolutely no shame whatsoever, should your gaze point instead in a more prudent direction.”

Eric smirked, but had to bite. “Such as?”a

“Such as New York State with four white tier territories, occupied by less than a thousand gnolls per county. And New York city, interestingly enough, is a joint goblinoid-gnoll enterprise, completely free of the treatises that make those bastards far too bitter a barnacle for you to cleanse Freetown from.” Her eyes glittered with a hungry light he recognized all too well, and he felt a chill when his exquisite Perception allowed him to read the words on her rosebud lips.

“Federal Reserve.”

Heart pounding, he gazed at his mother for long moments, a slow mutual grin shared between them.

That was right! He recalled reading that New York didn’t just have a federal reserve, but the largest one that wasn’t itself the treasury. If he thought his Gilton fortune was impressive… He suppressed the twinkle of avarice in his heart. Knowing that, in all likelihood, a very much ‘on the books’ repository of so much wealth had no doubt already been hit, cleaned out, or was bound by fearsome guardians or curses that could melt the flesh off even a Bronze tier Contender’s bones.

For all he knew, Newark had been the true repository of wealth, and the New York reserve was just a faint. A distraction.

Still, one of the richest cities in the Continental US? How could he resist the urge to see if such a city needed rescuing... and maybe there was a way to liberate countless billions in shiny gold coins that could fund multiple delve cities like this very one that needed rescuing? There was no way to tell what the situation truly was unless he checked.

Definitely food for thought.

Jinni’s warm gaze hardened, clearly having sensed mother and son’s mutual contempt for a certain demographic. “Please understand, Your Grace, Prince Eric, that the treaty forged between the Snicklit Tribe and the Blue Faction necessitates both coming to the other’s defense, should either side be threatened or assaulted within the bounds of Freetown.”

“Oh, we know dear,” Aurelia said with a twinkle in her eye. “But the same can’t be said of New York, correct?”

Jinni’s icy smile matched Aurelia’s own. “Blue Faction has absolutely no interest in the goblinoid goings-on of New York, whatsoever.” Her smile then turned apologetic as she turned to Eric.

“Prince Eric...”

“Please, just Eric.”

She blushed, dipping her head. “Of course. Eric, please forgive me for not mentioning this earlier, but there’s been a bit of a… development in your status in Freetown.”

Eric blinked, feeling a sudden tightness in his chest. “It has, has it?”

Jinni nodded, nervously combing her hair back with her fingers. “I’m afraid so, Eric.” She sighed. “Seeing as how you have formally declared Vendetta against the Snicklit Tribe...”

“Damn right I did,” Eric said with a fierce, unapologetic glare.

“Well, unfortunately, this was all the pretext the goblin elders needed to have you formally declared pariah, and forbidden entry into Freetown.”

Eric blanched. “They can’t do that. I know people there. It’s a free town! It’s in the fucking name!”

Jinni sighed, flashing a conciliatory smile. “You are correct. And for that reason, we were able to force a concession, regardless of your status of Vendetta. You are more than free to enter the Blue Quarter of Freetown from our own quarter’s reinforced gate. Should any guard question you on the route to the city proper, you need only make it clear that you’re heading direclty to the Blue Quarter gate, and they are forbidden from interfering with your passage.”

Her conciliatory gaze hardened. “But that comes with the very firm understanding that you won’t be doing any goblin killing under cover of our quarter. Such an act would be extremely disruptive to our own exquisitely profitable arrangement.”

“And would be just the kind of stupid, impulsive move the Snicklit tribe would hope for in an enemy,” Aurelia noted coolly as Eric strove to control his anger.

“Quite,” Concurred the administrator.

Eric clenched his jaw so hard he felt a molar crack. “I understand,” he said in a voice guttural with fury. “If I visit Freetown… Blue Quarter only. And no killing goblins. Except in self-defense,” he added with a fierce smile.

“But no preemptive self-defense, because your allies are not fools!” Aurelia hissed.

Eric abruptly got up, hot eyes glaring in the direction of Freetown. “And they’re still holding Rica and her daughter. And I’ll bet Caliban as well.”

“I’m taking care of it,” Aurelia said icily. “Trust the process, Eric.”

“As much as I’ve done all I can to help your mother locate her quarry and come to arrangements with the buyers, I have had no such luck tracking Lord Caliban down himself,” Jinni said. “As for the natives you and your mother are interested in, I’m happy to say we’ve successfully tracked their new owners down, and most of them are still among the living. But my best investigators have found no trace of Lord Caliban. And the goblins would be absolute fools to dare kidnap and imprison him, as so many have suggested, such shortsighted stupidity putting our entire accord in jeopardy.”

But Eric was no longer listening to any words save the ones ringing through his soul. “Wait! Are you saying slave traders have already collared my girlfriend?”

Jinni paled, lurching back at whatever she saw in Eric’s gaze. “Your Grace, I didn’t know!”

Suddenly it was his mother, the Winter Queen, locking gazes with him, freezing him to his core. “Stop. That. Now! She’s innocent of anything save aiding me in locating parties she knows nothing about! As for Rica, her daughter, and the others… I am in the process of securing them, Eric, and the lives of over twenty thousand others!” she hissed. “So keep your goddamned cool, focus on the prize, and don’t you dare take on an orange tier territory if you’re not damn sure you can handle it!”

She flashed a bleak smile, squeezing his bicep with a grip that made his 200+ Strength seem irrelevant. Eric blanched in genuine surprise.

“If you’re that hungry to quench your hot blood with conquest, New York will do just fine.”

Her words of course made perfect sense. But the howling storm of frustrated fury in his heart, the constant commands to sit, be patient, handle a dozen other desperately needed tasks while someone who had held him close and gifted him with her most precious treasures, a woman he had dreamed of having so much more than a few brief days with… had been collared by cackling monsters and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

Nothing.

Except paint the lands red with the blood of all who would cross him.

Forcing them all to understand that he’d let nothing get in the way of his goals. Nothing and no one. Not even 70th level horrors in an orange tier territory.

And if Eric could successfully clear Ashland’s neighbor, maybe his foes would start to understand exactly what he was capable of. And just how far he would go when he was pushed beyond all endurance. Maybe they would even hesitate for that crucial second needed to think about inevitable crimson consequences… should hey dare to violate Rica or harm her daughter.

It was all he could do to hold it together long enough to leave Jinni’s office intact.

Which of course was exactly when an angry looking elf with slick-backed hair in a fancy suit that smelled of tobacco and cheap cologne abruptly slammed the door open and it would have smacked Eric right in the face… had he not been able to see and react in the blink of an eye, hand gripping the lip of the door so hard it cracked, freezing its momentum instantly.

An action which of course earned a glare from the irate elf.

“Who the hell do you think you are to...” Then he blinked, his features transforming from naked fury to a smile so forced, Eric wanted to smash the elf’s too-white teeth, with breath that stunk like a boozy ashtray.

“Eric Silver! Or is it Eric Orcbane? Ha ha. Word gets around, my boy. Word gets around! And Your timing is impeccable. Absolutely impeccable! Because there’s someone fairly high up on the fiduciary food-chain here to see you personally. So if you’ll just come on to my office and help me with a little paperwork, I’ll take you right to her.”

Eric gazed at the greasy-looking excuse for an elf in a power suit for long moments, completely ignoring the man’s hand, outstretched awkwardly from the only partially open door. “Who are you, who is this person you would take me to, and why the hell would I help you or anyone else with paperwork? I detest paperwork.”

The elf laughed nervously. “Don’t we all, my boy? Don’t we all! I’m Arlen Ort of Clan Ort. Perhaps you’ve heard of us, one of the richest clans in this sector? No? Ah. Regardless, I’m the new head of banking and finance for the Terran chapter of Blue Corporation’s bank charter.”

“You mean our joint charter account wherein all profits are split between our parties, and major financial decisions have to be approved by both of us?”

Arlen’s syrupy smile hardened. “That is exactly what I mean. Now if you’ll be so good as to follow me, we can sign off on the paperwork and start making some serious money! And don’t worry about the minutia. I’ll take care of the details and the headaches. All I need from you are a quick handful of signatures. Shouldn’t take more than a minute of your time! As for who you are to meet? No less than the august personage of an auditor from the Imperial bank is here to confirm or refute sloppily-made assertions by my predecessor!” His voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper. “And if you want to make some serious cash, enough cash to set this whole world dancing to your tune, you’d do well to consider refuting Caliban’s outrageous claims from the outset.”

Eric blinked, refusing to budge from the doorway. “Excuse me?”

“Half a trillion credits!” The man hissed. “Do you have any idea… can you even conceive of the things we could do with that much capital if we were to invest it in the bank? The doors to profit and power we could open? Think of it!” Arlen said, eyes going wide with what seemed a frenetic fiscal dream of unfettered wealth.

“Why settle for a tiny pittance from an imperial bond that will lock your half trillion away for eternity, claimed forevermore by an empire that refuses even to state interest rate or date of redemption!? You’re practically just giving away your priceless fortune, and can only hope that the imperial treasury will condescend to pay you anything! But these are uncertain times. Tumultuous times for poor little Earth. Yet for the sharp investor, these are glorious times indeed! Ha Ha! Invest with me, with the bank, and nothing’s off the table! Nothing’s off limits! I’ll double our money before the year’s out, or my name isn’t Arlen Ort!”

Eric stared at the man for long moments, holding his glare as the tension in the room continued to ratchet up, a thick electric haze promising explosive violence, Jinni swallowing an alarmed whimper… until Arlen’s smile cracked, the man abruptly blanching and looking away.

Yet despite the fury roiling inside him, Eric kept his voice cool. He took a deep breath, speaking calmly, almost softly. Absolutely and utterly in control.

“The papers you want to sign. There in regards to the investments you wish for my co-signature on. Correct?”

Arlen forced a smile. “Just a technicality, I assure you! For all intents and purposes, with your unexpected… leave of absence, I was well within my authority, completely proper, I assure you, to invest as I saw fit. For both our sakes!” He quickly raised his hand. “Now I know major decisions are a two party affair, I know that as well as any manager worth his salt! But given the extended nature of your absence, I exercised my managerial discretion and invested in ways I thought prudent and wise… investing no more than 5 to 8% with any one venture, I assure you! No one knows the value of diversification more than Blue Corp, after all, ha ha. And I’m happy to report… no, absolutely ecstatic to report, that we’re already enjoying a 27% return, just in the months since I’ve taken care of the accounts!”

“You say you’re within your rights to exercise managerial discretion, yet you still need my co-signature?”

Eric’s eyes glimmered as he heard Jinni’s soft snort, sensed the twinkle in his mother’s eye, but kept his features carefully neutral. Blank as a slate of granite, his cold sapphire eyes boring into the increasingly uncomfortable-looking bank manager’s own.

“A mere technicality, mind you. A mere technicality! But as Jinni herself noted, it makes the process far smoother than it otherwise would be.”

Eric blinked, his mind whirling with the ramifications of what the man had just said, desperately making use of every scrap of his limited acting skills just to keep his blank, clueless stare in place.

To cover, he did the only thing he could think of, distracting the quarry gazing at him just a bit too intently.

“27% Percent profit in a single quarter? That’s beyond impressive. That’s a fucking insane return. So why don’t you bring the documents right here? No need to waste time, and I’ll sign what needs to be signed.”

The man blinked, inhaled to say something, then saw the impatient look on Eric’s face.

“Well? You said we have an imperial agent waiting! Get the documents and let’s get going! There’s money to be made!”

The man looked on the verge of saying something before jerking a quick nod. “At once, Lord Silver!” he said with a cheerful smile.

No doubt thinking of all the money that would soon be lining his pockets.

Eric turned to lock gazes with the pair of elven ladies, one a queen, the other clearly a noble as well as an administrator, making the universal sign for writing.

Wordlessly, Lady Genevieve Gilderstrom handed him a thin stick of charcoal in a silver case that drew as smoothly as any pencil. Sly enough in her own way to pass him materials that could easily be smudged to illegibility.

What Eric wrote was quick, concise, and to the point.

“He knows.”