Anyway, going back to the beautiful deity that was reveling in the fact that she’s almost clueless about the future, I realized that probably all Gods are just as self-indulging as Reaper was. That and the fact that each one of them their own things - which they enjoyed way too much - in order to entertain themselves, which usually have something to do with their divinity…

But really though, there’s no way that THAT guy didn’t know any of this at the point where he sent me here. That makes me more curious and anxious about the purpose, making me scratch the scar on my left hand unconsciously.

Seeing that I was out of it, Mia pulled my sleeve and dragged me out of my daze.

[Master, the entries for all other environment requirements changed a bit! Look!](Mia)

Scared for a second that this sudden announcement and thinking that the change might put me back where I started, I inspected each one of the fields. Except for temperature which remained pretty much the same though this whole ordeal, the pressure, oxygen and biomass levels changed quite a bit.

Thank Reaper the water levels didn’t drop, or I would’ve gone ballistic…

[It makes sense…](E)

“It does? How come?”

[Mana. Everything is stronger once imbued with it, so the upper levels of what they can endure change.](E)

“What about biomass? The goal dropped to 600.000mT…”

[Quality over quantity…](E)

“Meaning that vegetation enforced by mana doesn’t need to be as much as the one without, therefore less of it could still easily sustain life? How is that the case?”

[Correct master! I’ve run the numbers and water should reach the goal in 70 years, biomass in 40 and oxygen will hit the new target in 65. What should we do?](Mia)

“Well, I can’t do anything else now, can I? However, before skipping forward again, is the math you made, after creating the drainage system?”

[Yes master! Leaving that unaltered will affect the world too much in the future…](Mia)

“I see… Then, if you’d please, fast-forward 70 years Mia.”

[Acknowledged! Fast-forwarding…]

To my surprise though, even after the twentieth cycle of Midgard around the Sun there was no growth notification from the World Tree. I brought up the Mana tab as well and checked for the improvements.

Mana Current: 323ppm Growth: 17ppm/year Goal:100.000ppm

A bit of growth, but it’s going to take a while until the next upgrade at this rate. To my pleasant surprise though, after the 50th revolution, a familiar message reappeared.

World tree growth!

Your world tree is now 11 meters tall and fully controls the spread of vegetation on Midgard.

Due to its growth, it no longer provides a boost towards biomass increase, but rather it focuses on further evolving and strengthening the vegetation.

Due to perfect mana control in Midgard’s atmosphere, it increases the conversion rate of oxygen to mana by 50%!

[Wow…](E)

“As impressive as it might sound, it’s still at 30ppm/year… From the current 863 to the goal of 100.000… Mia? How much time would that take?”

[Calculating… 3304 years, 6 months and 21 days master!](Mia)

“Well, damn…”

[But if the World Tree keeps growing at the same pace, the required time will shorten as well.](E)

Oh right! Another 50 years and if there’s another growth the time will become less… and then after another 50 years…

So it’s still up to patience in the end...

[Master, there’s an anomaly on Midgard!](Mia)

“…of course it is… Why can’t I enjoy good things that happen, without having to fear sudden world destruction?”

Major Achievement: Dungeon Master!

[I see… Congratulations on your first dungeon Michael!](E)

“Is that what this is?”

Dungeon Master

Requirement: automatically awarded once the first dungeon appears in your world.

Reward: 1000AP and 10 extra levels for the first dungeon

Something told me that I should leave the dungeon alone, since my sanity points were already draining out at an alarming rate. Come to think of it…

“Mia, where did it appear? The dungeon?”

[On the empty continent master!](Mia)

“Ha…haha… of course it did… Haaah! E, do monsters leave their dungeons and suddenly invade civilizations that players spent a lifetime create?”

[That's oddly specific... Not really. That naturally created mana hotspot is used up in creating a ‘core’ which, for better or for worse, enslaves the created monsters… Oh, right!](E)

“What!? Don’t yell like that in the middle of a sentence for Reaper’s sake…”

[No, remember when you said is going to take forever to reach the next rank up for the world?](E)

“Yes…”

[There’s another way!](E)

“To rank up?”

[No! I mean… yes, kind of. Ugh… the mana! You can increase it through the same way I did previously!](E)

“You’re not making any sense… Do you mean in the future I ‘helped’ change?”

[Yup! This is amazing, since it should work the same way! You see, the core of the dungeon, not only does it absorb the entire hotspot worth of mana, but it also generates it on its own as well. However, the dungeon acts like a huge container, not allowing any mana to slip out of it to the outside world. And if you can destroy the core and have the dungeon collapse its shackles on the mana, it’s going to be released in bigger amounts than when it was absorbed originally. Think of it as a bank with a really, really good interest rate!](E)

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Huh!? Wait, wait! Does that mean that I just lost some of the mana the moment the dungeon appeared?”

[Yes… It’s like a savings account. Later on, you can be given back tens of times the amount that was taken from you. To put it in a simple way to understand, the more levels your dungeon has, the more mana you get back once it’s cleared. A 10 levels dungeon, easily doubles the mana you ‘invested’, not to mention that each year the dungeon is not disturbed, another level is added. So in ten years from now, you’ll have a 20 levels dungeon that will give you four times what it took from you! By the way, how much did it actually take?](E)

Mana Current: 1ppm Growth: 32ppm/year Goal:100.000ppm

[Oh, wow…](E)

“Fuuuuuuck! It took everything? Mimi, how much was that?”

[Calculating… 1492ppm master!](Mia)

“I think I’m going to be sick… Can I just destroy it myself E? Like for example drop a mountain on it? Or burry it in freaking lightning bolts?”

[Nope! There must be people from your civilization that clear it.](E)

“Of course…”

Mission completed!

Water and biomass reached required levels!

Reward: 50% off from Earth’s fauna template

So I could just buy it instead of evolving it… and also at half the price… It feels like a yard sale.

“Mia, how long will it take to evolve a fauna similar to the one on earth?”

[…longer than master would be willing to wait.](Mia)

“Ahem! And… can we skip through that period?”

[Impossible! There’s a limit to the time-lapse we can create at once.](Mia)

With my only hope shut down, I felt my Scrooge Mcduck soul bleeding. Pained, I brought up the Auction House interface and saw that the regular store was still locked, meaning that I can buy the template from the achievement one. Seeing the Achievement Store blipping, it was obvious that new things were available in it.

Achievement Store Earth’s fauna template : 10.000AP (it will be adjusted based on your world configuration)

“THAT MUCH!? Why don’t you just directly rob me instead!?”

[Then you can just wait it out…](E)

“So I have to buy it in the end? My hearts bleeds…”

Confirm purchase: Earth’s fauna template

Due to reward received, the cost is reduced to 5000AP! Yes No

“Thank Reaper that I got that reward… I would’ve cried myself to sleep otherwise.”

[Cheapskate!](E)

Confirmation received!

Purchase of ‘Earth’s fauna template’ has been validated.

Deducting a total 5000AP.

Thank you for your purchase!

“Thank your mom! Can’t you give a proper reward like the actual template instead? Greedy bastard!”

[…] -both ladies watching a moron yell at a notification pop-up

“Ahem! Mia, take a look and tell me what sort of changes are occurring on Midgard.”

[Yes master! Analyzing… It seems that three pairs of each type of animal, insect, bird, fish or otherwise living creature from Earth has been transported to our world. I began assigning them to areas where they will thrive and begin procreating in order to increase headcount. Taking into consideration natural predators in order for the numbers not to swell up out of control… Master, it’s amazing! The animals appear to love the mana imbued air!](Mia)

“I… I see… How long will it take until the fauna population reaches a balanced level?”

[You’re giving your World Tree and the mana too little credit Michael. Are you worried about the ecosystem being destroyed due to the sudden influx of creatures?](E)

“Yeah. What do you mean?”

[Simply put…hmm… it would be better for you to see rather than being told. Child, you can answer his question.](E)

[It would take 80 years on Midgard for the fauna to stabilize and fully get accustomed with the environment. However, I can’t simulate what sort of impact mana will have on living creatures... Apologies master…](Mia)

It amazed me how much Mia has changed in the span of… actually, how much time did pass since I arrived here? I guess the right answer would be, no time has passed at all.

Going back to this small adorable child, it was impossible to differentiate between a normal human and the AI I knew she was, simply based on the large variation of emotions she was showing. Seeing how pitiable she looked, I placed my right hand on her head and patted her gently.

“It’s okay Mia! After all, mana is a variable that makes this whole thing more fun. You just need to do your best and it would always suffice.”

[Understood master!](Mia)

[Wow! Who knew that this child can smile so prettily… Michael, what will you do now?](E)

“What else can I do but wing it like I’ve done up to this point as well. Mia, go ahead!”

[Acknowledged! Fast-forwarding …](Mia)

While the planet was doing its rounds, I kept checking for changes or other clues which might help me finish the world’s creation faster and wrap up this whole tutorial thing. Realizing that the time hasn’t advanced even a second sent my internal clock haywire and was looking forward to having the time resume.

My eyes stopped upon the mana tab, while pondering its possible effects on my planet. By the fifth revolution around the sun, I got an achievement that E told me was awarded to all players once the requirement was met.

Master Breeder

Requirement: have more than 1000 species give birth on your world.

Reward: 500AP

Also, there was something else that surprised me as well: the newborns were influenced by the World Tree and mana, which resulted in them being actually stronger than their parents.

With a cheeky smile on her face, E has explained to me how the civilization will benefit greatly from this, since simply consuming meat from the animals or even the plants on the ground, will increase the basic attributes of the people by a large margin, while newborn baby humans will also benefit hugely due to genetics. It was simply, the same type of Blessing of the world I saw previously in the ‘demo’, only that it was naturally awarded this time.

This World Tree proved to be the greatest cheat I could get.

World Tree growth!

Your World Tree is now 12 meters tall and fully controls the flora of Midgard.

The influence it holds over fauna is at 29% of the total living creatures.

Due to biomass already being over the required amount, the World Tree focuses on strengthening the planet and its inhabitants with mana.

Mana conversion rate further improved by an additional 100%!

After asking Mia to bring up a live feed of the overpowered tree, we saw a stupefying green giant dominating the view available, surrounded by a forest that spread out through 20-25% of the entire continent, spanning a perfect circle.

The view was absurdly beautiful between the trees, as green emerald light shone on the ground covered with grass and other plants. Animals were moving about unhindered, showing signs of a healthy ecosystem taking form, just like Eternity said.

Not only that, but with the last upgrade, the mana conversion skyrocketed as a result. It was amazing how flora and fauna were acting like a well-oiled machine: first it fed off the CO2 the living beings created and transformed that into O2 which was continuously released into the atmosphere, surplus of which was transmuted into mana.

Mana Current: 990ppm Growth:70ppm/year Goal:100.000ppm