Congratulations! You have successfully cleared Pocket Realm 0XYZ324Q (Forgotten Colony) with 100% Completion rate! Bonus experience Earned!

You have overcome a Level 85 Dread Boss!

You have come to the rescue of an entire colony lost to space and time!

Runic Lore is now Rank 26!

Hell Vines is now Rank 9!

Master Adventurer is now Level 54!

All classes of Adept tier or lower are now open to you!

You have earned 3 (x4 for Orange Tier Delve) = 12 potency points as a First Completion bonus for completing Colony In Peril! These points have been evenly distributed between Strength/Vitality/Quickness/Perception/Arcane Potential/Spiritual Energy… the stats most in sync with the path you walked while within Pocket Realm 0XYZ324Q.

Anomalous stat Psionic Potency detected!

Significant use of Psionic Potency has been noted while achieving First Completion Bonus within Pocket Realm 0XYZ324Q.

Sector sanctions have been overridden. Previous exemptions are in effect.

Anomalous purge request denied.

Psionic Potency has gone up one point.

How do you wish to shape this delve?

Eric was suddenly overwhelmed with the heady euphoria of endless possibility, never mind the chilling realization that the System could have purged him for even daring to learn unorthodox arts, thanks to sanctions his enemies had put in place before Earth’s ascension had even begun. Because just as he had hoped, he found he had the power to utterly transform this pocket realm in countless ways.

You may increase or decrease the peril of this delve! Decreasing Peril allows for stability and wealth options. Increasing Delve tier allows for unlimited potential modification and the chance of epic tier artifacts!!

Note! Unlimited potential modification guarantees the annual release of Red Tier monster waves! Each monster boss will drop at least 1 Red Tier artifact per wave!

Yet as awesome as it was to realize he could change the shape, content, even payout ratio of the dungeon he had dared, to make it safe and wealthy, or even more perilous with the chance for artifact loot drops… there was another path he was desperate to take. A path he had to struggle for his Interface to even acknowledge as he sensed the far-off screams of Ingrid and everyone else fade into the distant crackle of the gate, already a world away.

“No! It does not end this way!”

Eric furiously fought against probability’s stubborn grip. Recalling with painfully sharp clarity the feel of Ingrid’s hand against his own… the connection of blood, potency, and shared experience that bonded ten stalwart souls to his own.

Souls every bit as real as his own.

Souls he would awaken from the eternal dream that had trapped them all for far too long.

One desperate step at a time, he did his utmost to pull them through.

Dragon’s boon in effect!

A dragon will hold onto his prize no matter what opponent or natural law would try to oppose him!

You have successfully retrieved 300 Souls from oblivion’s grasp! More than just echoes of a reality that never was, they now resonate with endless potential!

*** System Conflicts Detected ***

Forgotten Colony as been de-escalated to a Miscellaneous Yellow Tier Delve rich in basic resources and free of all traps and ambushes. Basic encounter types and environment has been completely reset!

There is 0% chance of monster surges emanating from Randomized Pocket Realm 0XYZ324Q.

Congratulations! You are the first Adventurer in the Northeast Quadrant to successfully clear an Orange Tier Delve! You have earned The title: Adept Delver! Said title grants +5 points to Finesse, Perception, Vitality and Quickness! Because survival is everything, and only the adventurer who sees trouble in time to react has any hope of making it through! - Additional Bonus! You are adept at tapping into the potency of the most perilous of realms! You now earn a 20% Experience bonus whenever you enter a delve of Orange Tier or greater!

Eric unabashedly whooped for joy at his singular accomplishment, having successfully rescued 300 souls from oblivion’s grasp. As an added bonus, he was beyond delighted to find that Orange tier delves were worth a whopping 12 points for first completion.

That, plus the 20 points for being the first Delver to complete an Orange tier delve on Terra, or at least, in this tiny quadrant of his planet, and all the other sweet boons he had earned almost made up for the ordeal he had endured.

Almost.

Yet it was troubling as well.

Making it more than clear that his lead was far from insurmountable.

And he had absolutely no doubt that, given enough time, especially with at least the first Delve of his Ashland dungeoneering mecca slowly nearing completion, elite troops of adventurers would soon be working in concert to grab themselves every first completion bonus that they could.

Unless he claimed them first.

As to why he hadn’t used Necromantic Consumption to consume the delve entirely and earn another handful of points, In addition to his focus being on saving fragile lives that wouldn’t have endured had he dared to devastated their tiny pocket reality, it had been made exquisitely clear to him with the last micro realm he had devoured that doing so repeatedly risked jeopardizing the fabric of Earth’s underrealm itself. Far more fragile than Terra’s actual surface.

Most importantly, risking the collapse of pocket dimensions in a territory adjoining his own endless series of overlapping dungeon levels, thanks to the unique bridge between worlds he had helped to established, would be such a monumental act of stupidity that even he was forced to think twice.

Congratulations! You have successfully claimed 1 Orange Tier Territory you have designated as Hope Territory.

Hope Territory’s endless potential now lies before you!

You have chosen to embrace the Path of Endless Bounty!

Strength and Vitality have each gone up 15 points!

Path of Endless Bounty is now Rank 14!

You have forged a Natural Wonder!

Eric was caught utterly off guard, overwhelmed by the immense tidal wave of power roaring through him as he dipped his crimson chalice in waters so full of wild potential that it was but a drop in the ocean as he drank deep of the power of life, death, and transformation, allowing the flood of potency to flow along well-known paths while the lands around him evolved a thousand generations in the span of a single day.

And what a glorious feeling it was, to feel the power of a god, crashing through his soul.

A god who could harness the mighty wild powers of an orange tier territory and shape it in countless ways, able to unleash 3 greater bounties worth of potency, the sweet crimson nectar he had drunk but the tiniest sip of this land’s extraordinary potential, Evolution’s Crucible and Oblivion’s Mercy combining to allow for unparalleled growth and transformation in an endless moment, frozen in time.

Flashes of magical faerie kingdoms, ephemeral castles floating in the sky, portals leading to countless other realms filled with glorious cities of crystal and glass and magitech wonders all danced before his eyes.

But there was only one path forward that would offer the slightest chance of this territory, bubbling with so much potential, to expand the size and scope of Ashland’s endless delves. And that was embracing the Greater Boons of Legendary Wealth and Endless Opportunity, as one modest delve became the Lost Towers of Zor, a legendary Silver Tier wizard who had designed 24 magnificent towers of silver and gold, each with 24 levels, and every last one host to glorious secrets and prizes that would allow the top contributors of any boss fight on any level to earn a treasure that would aid them in their adventures, or otherwise help them to advance their class. It was a masterwork that had not only taken Zor centuries to complete, but had cost him everything in the end. It had consumed the evolution of his class, and the ascension of his soul. Gifts freely given before consuming Zor entirely, and leaving behind one of the greatest masterworks in the sector, a prize that had catapulted Zor’s ancient clan in prestige and notoriety before internecine wars had eventually spelled their downfall, millennia later.

It was a prize so great that any world manifesting those towers would immediately be coveted by the wealthiest of clans for their young budding proteges.

But the towers had been lost in a devastating rift war, countless centuries ago.

Until now.

And the weight of awe and dread Eric felt at quantizing this fanciful figment into a retroactive reality that had always been, even as his final greater boon stabilized the wild mana into enhanced Spiritual, Arcane, and Druidic energy flooding through the entire province, filled Eric with both awe, wonder, and dread.

Just knowing that Hope Territory would very soon become the coveted prize of countless Silver tier clans in the local quadrant, and he could only hope that no Gold tier godlike adventurer or cultivator would consider a newly blossomed Earth even worth the bother.

Yet as much as an exhausted Eric wanted to collapse in slumber, he needed to divest himself of this incredible prize or forsake his Path.

Immediately.

And if the urgency he felt in his gut wasn’t enough, the sudden flood of messages spamming his Interface inbox, slipping completely past numerous mental firewalls that he and Bunbun had both put in place so that no Administrator could trap him with twisted weapons of Lawfare, made it clear that countless eyes were indeed focused on Earth’s development.

Eyes that had most definitely noted his collapsing the probability wave that was Hope Territory to include the one in a trillion probability of actually manifesting the Towers of Zor, such an outrageous breach of statistical odds no doubt clearly blinking like a glaring red light on the Interface tablets of countless powers throughout the local sector.

Or so an exhausted, near hallucinating Eric indulged himself the conceit of fantasizing, even as he accessed the most minimized and condensed version of his Interface that he could, ignoring a dozen flashing messages demanding absolute compliance as he sent off a single carefully imprinted message of his own, doing his best to keep his scattered thoughts focused and true, getting an immediate reply so fast it was clear that even Blue Corp’s upper management now had their eyes on a Contender who was no doubt turning into a veritable gold mine in their eyes.

Blue Corp accepts the Surrender of Hope Territory for pre-established profit sharing rights and additional privileges precisely mirroring those of Ashland Territory.

Asylum and anonymity will additionally be granted to any and all individuals requesting such, REGARDLESS OF BACKGROUND, so long as a non-aggression pact is signed by said individuals.

Simple, concise, and to the point.

Eric flashed an exhausted smile. As much as a part of him had wanted to hold out for a 33% share of whatever loot was no doubt to be found in the 24 towers of Zor, he feared that would cause more than a bit of an outrage and untold grief with the many interested powers-that-be.

But a galactic standard 20% profit-sharing cut, which happened to precisely mirror the terms established with the surrender of Ashland, up to and including his ‘resource’ being the delves themselves, meant that he already had solid precedent incorporating dutiful adherence to System-wide norms to cushion and mitigate whatever ire his daring would otherwise earn him from the no doubt countless factions who would very soon be demanding a golden ticket to partake of Earth’s ascension and, he sometimes feared, Mankind’s final desperate gasps before they were disenfranchised entirely.

For all that his heart raced with anxiety at the thought of the dozens of interface messages he had absolutely no doubt were chalk full of enticements, threats, and warnings in equal measure, he felt a fierce sense of satisfaction in his accomplishment, having single-handedly cleansed an entire orange tier territory, for all that he had had far more close brushes with death than was good for anyone while doing so.

He took a deep breath of air now rich in invigorating spiritual energy and arboreal life force, the ether itself tingling with docile streams of arcane potential he could so easily formulate into spells. The best of all worlds for druids, farmers, mages, and cultivators alike.

Just as he had hoped it would be.

He couldn’t help chuckling softly, gazing off into the now peacefully rustling grasslands as Bunbun gave an excited squeal, hopping off his shoulder to devour what looked like a native carrot. And if his bunny had decided she was so elevated as to have a fully functioning metabolism, he certainly wasn’t going to say anything. Especially not now, open-mouthed with awe as he caught sight of just one of the magnificently shimmering silver towers in the distance, so readily able to imagine the magnificent future mecca of prosperity and wealth this territory would one day become. No doubt filled with shiny futuristic cities of crystal and chrome and magitech beyond compare. Or perhaps quaint European style villas and cozy Renaissance fair-like towns and cities so flush with wealth that they could afford to be as much picturesque tourist areas as incredibly wealthy centers of arcane manufacture and trade.

If his hunch was right, then this place was about to be in extremely high demand by multiple clans and alliances, and that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing either. Because it meant that his Endless Delves of Ashland, humble in comparison, for all that endless tiers of Wealthy quality dungeons were nothing to laugh at, would still get lots of love from the humans and elves taking full advantage of a relatively safe, even idealistic opportunities.

Even if the most elite clans were focused on running the Towers of Zor, anyone with the potential to level up would now have the opportunity to ascend to the heavens, thanks to Hope and Ashland both.

“Win win for everyone. Humans, elves, and whatever elites want to pay premium rates to run my towers. Right, Bunbun? Best of all, Blue Corp agreed to take on any unexpected settlers that might end up inhabiting these lands, no questions asked!” Eric declared as he dared a few brief halcyon moments dreaming of the future, finding the musings sweet indeed.

Before frowning, when heady euphoria turned to concern, noting his familiar’s solemn stare. “Bunbun?”

His familiar gently patted his brow. “I’m sorry, Eric.”

Eric felt a cold lurch in his guts with those words.

Only a handful of seconds had passed since they had exited the gate. He knew that. Even if he had transformed the world… or simply made note of what had been there all along. Just like his entire party should have been there all along, serving as the spiritual link to an entire ship’s worth of crew that the System itself had credited his claiming. A flickering light in the darkness of the void, determined to bring hope, life, and humanity, or a high tech, blue-teared, mind-blade wielding version of humanity, to brilliant life upon one of countless uninhabited planets in the deepest reaches of space.

Eric slowly turned around, beholding the golden gate leading to a wealthy Yellow Tier dungeon, lush green grass waving in the wind, and the glimpse of a fantastic tower of silver and gold, in the far off distance.

But he saw no ship.

No crew.

No one at all.

The friendly faces filled with gratitude, joy, and excitement he had expected to meet his own were nowhere to be found.

The beautiful golden smile he had found so captivating was now no more real than a dream.

Eric blinked, crashing to his knees, all his dreams of wonder and glory crashing to dismay.

“Bunbun? What happened?”

His familiar sighed. “It was under the System Conflicts subheading. If you hit the administrative curser next to it, it breaks it all down.”

“Bunbun, what the hell are you talking about? I don’t have any access to any administrative...” Eric’s heart skipped a beat. “Wait, are you saying...”

His familiar winked, speaking directly in his mind as she so often did, an odd contrast to his newest friends who seemed to enjoy carefully speaking to Eric with words, even if they themselves could share ideas as fast as thought. “I think a certain group of exquisitely nasty bureaucratic assholes forgot to close a certain loophole. What a damn shame. For them.”

Eric swallowed. “Agreed. Now quit stalling. What the hell does it say?”

His familiar’s sigh told Eric all he needed to know. He did his best to quiet the awful roiling in his gut to better focus on Bunbun’s mental words, the pair now conversing with their own version of telepathy for discretion’s sake, if nothing else.

“According to this, there were significant System issues detected.”

Eric blinked with dismay. “I didn’t even know such a thing was possible… System issues?”

Bunbun solemnly nodded, her thoughtful gaze meeting Eric’s own. “Eric… there’s all sorts of references to forbidden subcodes, multiple anomalies, and recursive algorithms, but according to what it says at the end of the report… oh my.”

Bunbun’s soft brown eyes widened, her ears standing on end.

“Bunbun? What is it?”

“According to this, your colonists, well, they’re not exactly from around here.”

“Well yeah, we figured out that much.”

“No, Eric, I mean that your friends aren’t even from this System.”

Eric blinked. “Come again?”

“They’re, well, I think they’re from a neighboring reality. A neighboring System. And our own has just been seeded with a progression paradigm quite different from anyone else’s… including those upright walking brain squid.”

Eric shivered, speaking aloud. “Always hated those cuttlefish fucks, whenever I played Delvers & Dungeons.”

“Agreed. And since you’re a Contender with a dragon hoarder perk who had the brilliant madness to use a culturally sanctioned but otherwise forbidden school of power to pull them into this world… the System’s default position is isolation.”

Eric’s heart skipped a beat. “Please don’t tell me they were put in deep freeze or just obliviated?”

His rabbit solemnly shook her head. “Nope. But their fully restored ship and crew are now orbiting a semi-habitable arid moon around a gas giant with a strong enough magnetic field to protect them from whatever solar flares the red star that’s now their home sun might be giving off.”

Eric swallowed. “I see.”

“Don’t worry. System gives them odds of successfully landing and setting up a viable colony at 88%, and that’s not even counting for all the exotic magical fruit cuttings you claimed from our latest delve and just had to give your one night stand. Because why wouldn’t you?”

Eric favored his suddenly sheepish-looking rabbit with a hard glare. “It was two nights, but you’re right. Why wouldn’t I? They’ll clearly need all the help they can get.”

Bunbun hurriedly agreed. “Yup! It’s a smaller world with threats between Green and Yellow tier, and gravity of about 89% of Earth’s norm. Fortunately, they have tectonic plate activity, the soil has a relatively high Phosphorous content, the crust is rich in thorium and countless rare minerals, and the mother gas giant’s electromagnetic field is keeping the atmosphere safe enough from solar winds and everything else. Though oxygen is closer to 15% than 20%, that’s something even normal mortals can acclimatize themselves to, given time, and alter with appropriate terraforming techniques, like in every space colonization game we ever played.”

Eric winced. “On the other hand, they’ll be landing in an arid, desert-like world with a red sun where they’ll have to struggle just to survive.”

His familiar nodded. “A fully repaired ship with access to Thorium fission chambers, solar converters, a greenhouse where I’ll bet your almost girlfriend’s even now carefully planting several hundred exotic magical cuttings, and, oh yeah, fully functioning blasters guaranteeing a monster free zone around their ship, particularly if they establish any kind of defensive perimeter.”

Eric swallowed, blinking back the hot sting in his eyes, wiping away tears that were utterly clear, without any trace of sapphire-blue essence at all.

“So they’re going to be okay.”

Bunny nodded. “I’m absolutely sure of it! And they sure as hell aren’t near any hot zone, since they’re so deep into the boonies that no Silver titan would bother scoring those mostly baron worlds for resources or sustenance. Heck, from what the report says, Okendyne hasn’t even evolved flowering plants yet! Lots of fern hybrids and other sources of lush greenery by the lakes and shores, but save for burrowing snakes living on sand algae, there’s hardly anything like the animals we take for granted here on Earth. Plenty of aquatic creatures like squid, crabs, shrimp, and sea snakes, so there’s that at least.”

Eric swallowed. “But at least, with all the seeds and animals you just know they have stored in the belly of their ship… they’ll be able to transform it into a paradise. Given enough time.”

“Absolutely!”

Eric sighed, shaking his head. “I’m never going to be able to see them again, am I?”

“Probably not,” Bunbun said with a sympathetic pat. “But your dragon core should meet their minimal energy needs for literally centuries, especially with thorium generators and solar panels soon to take up the slack and taking over energy production for what will one day be their industrial hub. So hey, who knows? They might have a really impressive civilization in just a thousand years.”

Eric winced. “But they’re only starting with 300 people. I thought that maybe, if they were here...”

Bunbun flashed her master a gentle smile. “Eric… there are more genetic differences between them and you than humans and Neanderthals. Considerably more. Do you really think anything could have come between you and Ingrid, save for a really good time?”

Eric flushed, having no answer to that.

“And don’t worry. They have tens of thousands of fertilized eggs they’re keeping in cryogenic suspension.”

Eric blinked. “Really.”

Bunbun nodded. “I wasn’t just playing Exile’s Path, while you and your friend were getting to know each other better. I even managed to get access to their city planning and thorium generator blueprints, that being technology that we were almost at the cusp of claiming as our own. I have no idea if that will do us any good on our newly ascended world, however, but it seems that the System will at least let their ship and the tech within it count as stable magical constructs, even if they’ll be reduced to primitive tech outside of their starter city.”

Eric blinked, gazing at his familiar for long moments. “Just how fucking high is your Scholarship?”

Bunbun grinned. “More than twice your own, fearless leader. Since I get to cheese off your Vitality and Mana Pool, I’ve been evolving myself to fulfill a managerial role in our partnership.”

Eric frowned. “Balanced stats and a high Quickness are vital, Bunbun.”

Lilly rolled her eyes. “Like I haven’t been making ‘leet builds for half my life. Besides, with my limitations, there’s no way I’d be making good use of my points pouring them into my utterly limited potency pools. Not until you um...”

“Yes?”

“Evolve me. But we can talk about that later,” she hurriedly said.

Eric sighed and let the soothing breeze wash over him, smelling of a thousand fragrant blossoms, rich green grass, and spring in all it’s glory. He shook his head, filled with an odd mixture of hope and regret.

“There’s nothing more I can do for them, is there?”

“Nope, you did all you could. I’m sure they’ll be telling tales of their faerie champion for many generations to come.”

Eric snorted. “I’m hardly a faerie champion.”

His familiar laughed. “Really? An inhumanly handsome boy who looks just like the hero on the cover of Malin’s e-book, and they do have those by the way, comes to their rescue just before they get chomped to death by man-eating dinosaurs? Swinging his fiery blade and launching magical spells in front of interplanetary psionicists? Solving their gravity woes not with advanced graviton physics, but mystical spells, who then embraces blood magic to effectively send them to the farthest reaches of our galaxy, a habitable planet suddenly popping up on their sensors? Sorry, hero. As far as they’re concerned, you’re as faerie champion as faerie champion gets.”

“Touche.”

Bunbun politely nibbled some foliage, giving Eric a chance to reflect on everything that had happened over the past handful of days, both the tragic and the wondrous. Lives destroyed, lives rescued… friends who he would have loved to get to know better, learn from, and maybe one day run countless delves with. And now they were so impossibly far away that he would likely never see them again.

Eric turned to his familiar, gently scratching behind her ears. “No point in being haunted by what-if’s and shit I can’t possibly change. Not when there’s so much I can do for myself and the people I care about, right here and right now.” Eric swallowed. “Not when there are people whose lives are counting on someone willing to intervene on their behalf. At least that’s something I can do.”

“Exactly!” His familiar enthused, raising her arms wide. “You managed to clear an entire Orange tier territory yourself, pulling an epic tier resource that might just keep you and Elonia on the permanent nice list of who knows how many powerful clans eager to see their young sprouts prosper running the Towers of Zor or the endless delves of Ashland, and all they have to do besides give you your 20% cut is swear to play nice with you and your twin.”

Lilly flashed a cheeky smile. “Do you have any idea of what a difference that will make in the Sylvan Faction’s long term prospects, should they actually survive to mid-game? Once the major factions are allowed to make an appearance, your family’s clan is one of the few they won’t be wiping off the map like a shit stain, because of the access to sweet, sweet delves and loot you offer to all your friends!”

“Convenient how that’s working out, isn’t it?” His smirk then turned to a worried frown. “What do you mean about surviving to mid-game?”

His familiar sighed, giving him a pitying look as she shook her head. “Eric, you sister has a number of extremely choice territories, and less than a thousand troops. And by troops, I mean everyone who can pick up a bow; man, woman, and child. The thing is, our opponents might sometimes be foolish, but they aren’t idiots. You don’t think they also know what happens if they haven’t established themselves in the next year or two? Trust me, wiping your sister off the map ASAP is probably on the top of their list.”

Eric felt a shiver of apprehension with those words. “Shit.”

His familiar nodded. “And your mother’s sent a number of very polite messages addressed to me personally. Can you believe that? Anyway, the gist of it is that she hopes you’ll hit Ashland soon and spend some time ‘catching up’ before planning your next great conquest or heist.”

Eric exchanged a look with its familiar. “I suppose it’s inevitable.”

Bunbun nodded. “On the bright side, they actually have an upgraded Inn you can see on your Interface map, since you’re a 20% stakeholder in absolutely everything they build and profit from in Ashland. We can kick back and rest up for a few days while your mother fills us in on her progress freeing your friends from goblin bullshittery.”

Eric winced at those words. “I almost feel guilty.”

Lilly tilted her head, ears flopping adorably as she did so. “Are you feeling guilty because you had happy times in a delve, where everything’s basically a dream until you pull it back to the surface, quantifying all your level-ups, skill ranks, and prizes? Eric, you’re being silly.”

“Yeah, but...”

“Eric, the only thing you should feel is proud of yourself for giving the spark of life to 300 souls who will serve as the seeds of an entire civilization, just you wait!”

Eric sighed, bowing his head. “I know. I’m trying to tell myself that right now.”

His rabbit snorted. “You met a cute girl you helped rescue from orc madness and had a sweet romp for a few days. Who said it had to be anything more than that?”

“But Rica’s in trouble.”

“And you’re willing to swoop in and play the hero, even months after your fling, when you find out that she and her daughter could really use a helping hand. Eric, that’s commendable! You’re the friend in the corner every girl hopes for. It still doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your own life to the fullest.”

Eric couldn’t help but smile at his familiar’s counsel even as he tried to put everything that had happened into perspective, savoring the memory of his latest wild adventure while muting out the horror, fear, and regret as he savored the sheer rush of racing through the grasslands far faster than any creature before him. And when he finally hit a track of relatively smooth pavement, he truly let loose, giving out a whoop and a laugh as he tore across the lush, fertile plains at a pace he knew was absolutely absurd, having put his revenants away at the start, using his newly blossomed ability to somehow slip right past air resistance to achieve speeds not even his necromancy perk could hope to match.

For now.