Derek Smith sat at the kitchen table, looking at his companions' expressions. After hearing about his dream, the three of them looked utterly dumbfounded.

Understandable, Derek thought. Even he still had some trouble processing it all.

"Within a year after a Planet first changes, a special event controlled by the System happens—the Origin Dungeon Trial. As long as you are one of the winners... you will have the chance to give Elle another life as a True Spirit," the Umbrafae Queen Priscillia had told him.

One year. I'll have to train even harder, Derek thought.

"Okay, let me get this straight," Neri said after a while. "You, Derek, are now the host of the last nine generations of the Umbrafae Queens. Ten if you count Elle, who's still in there but in a deep sleep. We can give the Tear to Cree to heal him of everything, including his Curse, and then we would still be able to save Elle if you win the Origin Dungeon Trial and become a True Spirit?"

"That's pretty much it, yeah."

"And Elle's mom, the last Umbrafae Queen, wants Elle to live again so that she can continue her mission of restoring their Race," she added as an afterthought, to which Derek nodded.

He hadn't mentioned the part about being rescued by Elle's mother—he was still making sense of that.

The ogres simply sat there looking at Derek, their mouths agape. Greg's blue mane was in complete disarray, the ogre having woken up in a hurry with Derek's call. Grig didn't look much better; his single eye had soft dark shadows under it.

Neri gave a long sigh, then continued, "This is more complicated than I thought. Derek, how much do you know about the process of becoming a True Spirit?" she asked, giving him a sideways look.

"Not much," Derek said, risking a glance at the twins, "but I think the explanation should wait until we have Cree back."

"Yes!" Grig said, suddenly jumping from the table, making Derek jump as well. He hadn't seen the ogre this excited since, well, ever. "Let's save Cree!"

Derek noticed small tears welling in the ogre's eye. Greg just nodded. Derek could see that despite his attempt to look stoic, with his crossed arms and the glare on his face, his lips were quivering, and he was barely holding back the tears himself.

"Then let's go save our Dolphid," Neri said, with a smile.

They went to Cree's room, where the Dolphid lay in bed, unmoving. His dolphin-like head was slightly tilted to one side, and his blowhole was slowly opening and closing. If it wasn't for that and his chest softly rising every few moments, he might as well be dead. Derek shivered at the thought.

"Well," Derek started, "no time to waste, then."

He grabbed Elleiswille's Tear from his inventory and took one last look at the bright green crystal's description.

[Royal Umbrafae Tear of Absolution (lvl 19)] (Legendary): This is the concentrated magic of a Royal Umbrafae. You know its origin, don't you?

Effect: This is a one-time-use item that when consumed, immediately restores your Health, Aura, and Mana fully. Additionally, the consumer gains the following effects:

One hundred and ninety years of additional longevity.

Recovery from all negative Status Effects, be it a Curse, an Illness, or anything else.

Permanent 19% increase in EXP gained.

Both Dark and Wind affinities increase by 19%.

Only one Tear of Absolution can be consumed per individual.

"The moment of truth," Derek whispered. He could feel the other Exiles leaning forward with expectation. His heart was beating so hard and fast in his chest that he wondered for a second if the others could hear it.

With trembling hands, Derek slowly put the Tear inside Cree's mouth and gently closed it. He stepped away, not knowing what to expect.

The four of them held their breath in expectation. A second passed, then another. Derek could barely stand still.

Suddenly, Cree's body began to emanate a soft, green glow that enveloped him entirely. It started to grow brighter and brighter, and Derek thought he could see small particles of light coming out of the Dolphid's mouth and nostrils, traveling all over his body. It was beautiful.

The glow started to fade after a few seconds. Derek and the other Exiles leaned forward again with expectation.

Slowly, but surely, Cree's eyes started to open. But, instead of the uncomfortable grey they used to be, they were now a full, shiny black, with no irises.

"My friends?" Cree said in his whistle-like speech, blinking and looking around. "I can see you! Am I alive? Is this a dream?"

Derek realized that he had been holding his breath. He let it go with a big sigh, and tears started pouring from his eyes. "No dream, Cree. You're very much alive, thanks to Elle!" His voice cracked slightly on the last words, but if the Dolphid noticed, he didn't comment on it.

Neri started weeping and suddenly jumped on top of the Dolphid's bed. "Cree! You're back! It worked!" she wailed, amidst the tears.

"Oof! Calm down now, I am still sore," Cree said, looking surprised at her sudden burst of affection. "But I am most glad to see you too, my dear Ms. Neri. And Mr. Derek! Mr. Greg and Mr. Grig!" the Dolphid said gleefully. Cree looked around at them while the Goblina climbed down from his bed, still crying. Tears were coming down from his eyes as well now, and he had what Derek thought to be a large smile on his face. "And to properly see you all! This must be a miracle! What a beautiful day to be alive, indeed!"

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All of them began to cry now, except for Greg. The ogre was still pretending not to care, even if the tears were practically bursting from his single eye. They all came closer to Cree's bed and gathered there, patting him carefully, while Cree looked around in awe, taking in the world around him for the first time in years. There weren't many things in this world that Derek would have traded for the sight of the Dolphid's expression.

"You said this miracle was the doing of Her Highness, Mr. Derek, though I do not see her," Cree said, wiping his eyes. "Where is Ms. Elleiswille?"

***

"I see," Cree said, solemnly.

Derek had just finished telling him about the fight with the Wrath Incarnate, what had happened to Elleiswille, and how they could still save her. They had all moved to the kitchen because, in Cree's words, he "had been useless for long enough, thank you." Even when the other four tried to stop him, saying that he needed time to heal, the Dolphid denied and simply got up and walked around, showing them that he was fine. Better than fine, in fact. He could see again!

"It appears, Mr. Derek," Cree continued, "that I am, once again, in your debt, as well as Ms. Elleiswille's."

"Come on, Cree, aren't we past that?" Derek moaned, rolling his eyes.

Cree shook his head. Without a word, he stood up, circled the table, and kneeled in front of Derek. "I mean it, Mr. Derek. By now, you have saved my life on more occasions than I care to count. Not only that, you and Ms. Elleiswille have now cured me of the sins of my past, something that I had given up on many years ago. I understand the graveness of the task ahead of us, and I vow to help to the fullest extent of my abilities and more, if I can. I am, now and forever, wholly in your debt," the Dolphid said, his head bowed low.

Derek simply stared at him. Looking around, unsure, he could see that the rest of the group was as surprised as he was with the Dolphid's sudden speech. Even though Cree was usually more formal than the rest of them, it was clear to them that this was something else.

"Thank you, Cree," Derek answered, not knowing what else to say. "We'll save Elle, I'm sure of it!"

Cree looked at him with a strange expression on his face. Derek still had some trouble understanding the Dolphid's anatomy, but it looked like a mixture of pride and determination.

"I am sure of it, too. Now, I will be of much more help," he whistled happily. "Even if my Level has not been restored to what it once was, some of my powers have. Now I can show you how helpful I can truly be."

Derek pondered that for a second. "Cree, if you don't mind me asking, what was your Level before you were Cursed?"

"I do not mind, Mr. Derek," the Dolphid answered. "I was a Level 20 Silver, mere steps away from becoming Gold."

That made all the others stare at him. Neri let out a small gasp, and both of the twins dropped their jaws for the second time.

"You were stronger than Elle?" Derek almost shouted, impressed with the Dolphid.

"I do not know that," Cree said in a thoughtful tone, shaking his head. "My Level may have been higher but, from what Her Highness showed of her Skills and from what you told me of the fight against the Wrath Incarnate, I would not be so fast in assuming that I would be able to overpower her. Which is why we need to focus all our efforts on bringing her back to us," he added.

"So, about that," Neri started in her I'm-about-to-lecture-you tone. "Do any of you know anything about the Origin Dungeon Trial?"

Derek shook his head. Cree went back to his chair and sat there in silence, looking at her with what could be described as a focused expression. Derek could see that it was hard for him to contain his excitement about being able to see again—the Dolphid's eyes kept wandering around, gazing at whatever caught his attention.

Grig was the one to answer Neri's question: "I know. It's a game where a bunch of people compete against each other to become the True Spirits of a newly Awakened Planet."

Neri nodded. "Yes, but there's more to it than that. The True Spirits are the administrators of Awakened Planets. They are the ones that assign the Chosen, and they also control the amount of EXP that each individual receives, making sure that the Planet itself can recover most of its lost Ether. Each Awakened Planet has three of them, regardless of its Grade.

"Once a Planet is Awakened, the system chooses a random period, usually a couple of months, for the inhabitants to acclimate themselves to the rules. Once that is complete, the process of choosing the True Spirits begins. The process varies depending on the grade of the Planet. Since Earth is a Gamma Planet, the most common grade, it should be fairly simple. Still, it's not easy."

"Wait, wait," Derek cut in, "what do you mean a couple of months? The Queen said it would be within a year."

"Yes, a year is the limit of time for the Trial to happen, but it could be at any moment. Enigma is probably waiting a bit before announcing when it will be." Neri answered. "Usually, though, it happens only a few months after the Awakening. It harms the Planet to spend a long time Awakened without True Spirits."

"Now comes the tricky part," she continued. "Each Origin Dungeon Trial is unique. The system designs a kind of game, where the competitors for the True Spirit position must compete against one another. It can vary from one Trial to the other, but it's usually some kind of hunting game. The problem is, given that Earth is a Gamma Planet, you would be competing against one million people," she finished, looking Derek dead in the eyes.

"Come again?" Derek asked, sure that he must have misheard. "I thought for a second there that you said a million people."

Neri nodded. "For the actual Trial. To be chosen, you'll need to be among the top people on the Planet in terms of Level and Race. The System chooses half of the contestants based on their battle capabilities, a quarter based on other talents such as Professions, and the other quarter randomly. So, just to have the opportunity to be chosen, you'll have to become one of the top 500 thousand people on this Planet in your Level and Race in a couple of months, at best. Then, it'll come down to luck whether you are chosen or not. If you're chosen, you'll still need to win against all the other contestants in the Trial and come out as one of the three winners."

"But—" Derek started, before faltering, shocked. Gathering his composure, he started again, "But that's impossible! How can I win against a million people? There were 8 billion people on this Planet even before the Awakening, who knows how many more there are now with all the Exiles!"

"Technically, you only have to win against 999,997, to be precise," Cree added.

"Thank you, Cree. That's very helpful," retorted Derek, forgetting for a second how happy he was to have the Dolphid back.

"You are very welcome, Mr. Derek." The Dolphid answered merrily, not noticing the sarcasm in Derek's voice.

"You don't have to worry so much about Exiles," Neri said. "Usually, only a tenth of the participants are Exiles. It's to make sure the Trial remains balanced."

"Even so!" Derek wailed. "That's impossible!"

Neri looked at Derek, with a serious expression on her face. "Derek. Do you want to bring Elle back?"

"Yes," he said, without hesitation.

"Then there's no way around it. We'll have to train harder than ever, you more than anyone, and at one point or another, we'll have to leave this Dungeon and explore the outside world. Which, I'll point out, is full of humans that probably want us dead," she said, giving Derek a meaningful expression.

Derek lowered his eyes. "You don't know that," he said, in a small voice.

"And you do?" the Goblina prompted, looking seriously at him.

Is now the time? Derek asked himself. Should I tell them?

He looked at her again, and her gaze softened. Slowly and gently so the others wouldn't notice, she nodded.

Derek took a deep breath, then sighed. "Okay, then. Guys, there's something else I need to—"

"Dwarf boy." Greg cut him off. With a suspicious look on his face, he said, "There's an intruder in the Dungeon, and he's shouting your name."