Adam looked at the Council of seven as a message from his CC group entered his vision.
CC: Adam, the breakdown of the notifications is as follows:
54 Level 176 Giant Ants, 19,008 Quintessence
1 Level 177 Giant Ant Queen Ant, 354 Quintessence
20 Level 178 Giant Praying Mantis, 7, 120 Quintessence
1 level 180 Giant Worm, 360 Quintessence
1 Dungeon Core, 36,000
Your Treasure Renderer Skill automatically looted and place the Quintessence in Orbit around your Soul Core. Also, you should know that you are receiving quintessence equal to the Quintessence Level of the creature you kill. All awards were increased by 100% due to your Dungeon Founder Mark.
You currently have 63,640 Quintessence motes in orbit around your Soul Core. The change to Treasure Render makes things much easier. Also, we were looting up to 42 corpses at a time as long as they were within 52 feet after you killed them. You’ll need to be careful to make sure you touch and loot creatures outside of dungeons though.
Adam’s thoughts were pulled from his message to the voice of High Counselor Seribia in front of him,
“Adam, we would like to thank you for your quick and decisive actions. We do have a question, what happened to the Dungeon?” The High Councilor asked.
“I was just checking on that. After I killed the Dungeon boss I was given the opportunity to take Dungeon. As it was in the middle of one of your parks I thought I should choose the option that presented itself with removing the dungeon from your park.
“The dungeon will not be coming back?” a different counselor asked. This counselor was a male with purple-tinted eyes and red hair.
“I cannot say for sure. Dungeons will pop up based on population and other factors. I removed the dungeon from that location, another may appear there, or it may not,” Adam said.
“I see, did you get anything interesting from the dungeon?” High Councilor Seribia asked.
“I was able to loot quintessence directly off the creatures I killed. There weren’t too many creatures. A small number of giant ants, a few praying mantis, and a giant worm on the final level of the dungeon,” Adam said.
“How many quintessence did you receive?” a female councilor with purple-tinted eyes and red hair asked.
It looks like I received a quintessence for every level of the…Let me check something,” as he dropped his focus into his Mindspace.
“The Quintessence, did they arrive individually or as a bunch of level 1 gems?” Adam asked the aspect of himself he left in charge of his Mindspace.
“The Quintessence was absorbed into your Shadow Vault and automatically transferred to your Soul Core. We can set it to NOT absorb quintessence when looting if you want to keep some, though the auto-loot function this time made this a lot easier because there were so many. It would have taken a long time to pull out 60,000 crystals. Of course, we don’t know if it was awarded as 1 crystal for 1 point or 1 crystal per creature, but as soon as the quintessence entered your Shadow Vault it was absorbed and went into orbit around your Soul Core. Each mote orbiting your Soul Core is worth one Quintessence, we checked,” his CC Administrator said.
Adam shifted his focus to his Soul Core and dived in through the orbiting motes of Quintessence which all appeared as dull grey motes. When he focused on one he noted that it was just a quintessence mote, it wasn’t an air quintessence or earth quintessence it was just Quintessence now. Adam hoped that was a byproduct of the looting ability and that he could still find specific quintessence.
After he made it past the orbiting quintessence he was able to zero in on the node for Treasure Renderer and set it so that it would only convert 90% of the quintessence and store the rest in his vault. As he looked at how he could set things up he was very happy to find a setting to differentiate between quintessence types. He set the Treasure Renderer ability to set aside at least one of any type in his Shadow Vault and then 90% would be absorbed while 10% would be stored in his Shadow Vault. That way he was always sure to keep one or more of each type of Quintessence he ran across. He might need them to pass out to others or to save the pattern for himself.
Adam dropped out of his Soul Core and back into his Mindspace and addressed his Administrator, “It’s taken care of for now. We’ll worry about how much each physical quintessence is worth next time we get one.”
“Understood, better get back out there,” his Administrator aspect said.
Maybe he should give it a name how about…
“Not Bob, now get!” the Administrator said as he gave Adam a shooing motion.
Adam withdrew from his Mindspace and looked up at High Councilor Seribia as he said, “I apologize, I will not be able to tell you how the quintessence was offered. I have an ability that allowed me to loot the corpses from range. All of the Quintessence was automatically looted into a storage area of mine and absorbed by me automatically.”
“Still, knowing how many are awarded would help us greatly?” the High Councilor said.
“Each creature was worth the value of its levels in quintessence. If the creature was quintessence level 176 or had what you call a Universal Density of 176, I received 176 quintessence.
“How?” another Councilor asked. A bald man who looked to be in his 60s asked.
“I believe it’s because of the Universal Update, Adam said. “
“How so?” High Councilor Seribia asked.
“I believe that whatever caused the change is trying to make it easier to grow in power. Or a shift has been made to allow for rewards to be earned that were otherwise hard to get.”
“That would follow. One of the reasons our society turned to technology, more than abilities was because it was so hard to unlock those abilities and improve them. Before the Universal Update, we needed to find one quintessence equal to our Universal Density to unlock an ability. In this new system., it looks like that is still so but finding the quintessence seems to be easier, especially in these dungeons,” High Councilor Seribia said.
“And I’m guessing that quintessence didn’t just appear out of the blue before the changes,” Adam said.
“They did not,” High Councilor Seribia agreed.
“I understand because I received quintessence for every single monster I killed this will make it incredibly easy for anyone who ventures into the dungeons to improve themselves and unlock their abilities,” Adam said.
“Yes it will,” The High Councilor agreed. “How many quintessence did you find in the Dungeon?” The High Councilor asked.
Adam pondered for a minute, thinking about how to best answer the question before he said, “Every ant was worth 176, The Queen 177. The male Praying Mantis I destroyed each gave 178 and the female gave 179. The Giant Worm gave 180. So just over 15,000, give or take a few,” Adam said. He wasn’t going to share what he received for closing the dungeon or the fact that he’d earned double that because he had a mark that gave him 100% rewards from any dungeon. Honestly, he’d be a fool to try to farm quintessence anywhere but in a dungeon or the Labyrinth.
“So many,” one of the Councilors gasped.
“And there are dungeons all over the world,” another councilor said.
The High Councilor waited for the whispering between her fellow councilors to subside before she continued, “We had other reasons for bringing you back here besides asking you about the dungeon. Also, while we do not understand how you are withstanding the pressure in this Universe we would like to return you to yours as soon as possible…”
Adam held up his hand which caused the High Councilor to stop as he asked, “Pressure?”
“While you seem to be fine, it is uncommon for creatures to enter Universes with a much higher Universal Density than there’s. As a general rule of thumb if you enter a Universe with a Universal Density more than twice your own the pressure kills you, almost immediately.”
“I didn’t even see a warning message,” Adam said.
“Be that as it may, we would like to return you to your universe. You are obviously human, what world are you from?” The High Councilor asked.
“I’m from a planet known as Earth,” Adam answered, though he wasn’t going to specify which Earth.
“We are familiar with it. The planet Earth is in a universe very similar to the universe we started long ago, you could almost say they were neighbors, though our original Universe is much older,” The High Councilor said.
“You said ‘reasons’ Adam asked.
“Hello Adam, I am Councilor Daevis,” a councilor that had not spoken before said drawing Adam’s attention. “Isabel has informed us that you have knowledge of forbidden technology being used.”
“I do.”
“Such crimes cannot go unpunished. Would you mind sharing that knowledge with us so that we might take action to ensure this doesn’t happen again?
“Absolutely. The Pelza Empire was the only empire that I witnessed using the technology but as soon as their facilities were destroyed the Xzexti, Tellini, and the Cordite showed up almost immediately as three of the stations I destroyed had been within their universes.”
And you didn’t feel uncomfortable in each of those universes?” The High Councilor asked.
“No, I did not, though I wasn’t in any of them for very long,” Adam said.
“So, the Pelza Empire was responsible for the use of the forbidden technology and the other empires provided locations for them to create the facilities they used, better and better. What did you do to the facilities?” Counselor Daevis asked.
Adam thought about how to answer that and then said, “I provided a thermonuclear explosion into each chamber that was targeting a Universe actively.”
“You set off energy weapons inside the chamber that was using the forbidden technology? the red-headed female councilor asked with a shocked look on her face.
“Seriously?” the counselor that could be her twin asked.
“Yes. One of the first things said to the former Emperor of the Pelza empire when the representatives showed up was a question about a new nebula where the facility had been.
“I see,” said Councilor Daevis
“I figured it would cause a big bomb but didn’t concern myself with that. I just wanted the devices shut down,” Adam said.
All seven Councilors burst out laughing. They laughed long and hard. They laughed so long and hard that Adam started laughing too. This went on for a few minutes until everyone started to calm down and Adam was able to ask, “Why were we laughing exactly?” which caused another bout of laughter that took even longer to subside.
When the councilors had finally brought themselves under control High Councilor Seribia addressed Adam, “We are laughing because the explosions you caused probably span light years. Not to worry, only a fool would put such a facility near any habitable planets. That alone should be punishment enough for the secondary culprits. As for the Primary transgressors, Adam, did say the emperor was dead?” The High Councilor asked.
“I did. He was ultimately responsible for what happened to my original Universe. I could not let that stand.”
“We understand, Justice was served, though complete justice was not. We will handle that. We will close this audience with an offer of friendship and thanks. Should you ever find yourself in our Universe again you may visit us freely. Also, the parents of the children wish to convey their thanks.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“You are quite welcome. If you are sending me home can I choose where?” Adam asked.
“Of course, we have the entire solar system mapped out.
“Good, then please put me right outside the Oort Cloud, I can get back from there.
All seven Councilors stood as a portal into deep space opened beside Adam. There was some kind of pressure barrier because the atmosphere did not get sucked out. Adam immediately felt all of his links to Thor activate. He gave a slight bow to the seven councilors and stepped through the portal. Adam activated Flight and Freedom of Flight as the portal closed behind him and a message from Thor popped up.
Adam, you’re back, what happened? Thor asked.
Update incoming, Adam responded and sent a data burst detailing everything that had occurred as the portal closed behind him and a new one that Thor created opened beside him. Adam floated through and found himself in a new location, “Where am I now Thor?”
“Nu Draconis, Al, and I are both here. Also, Commander Johansson is on Earth waiting for your return. She said she needs to speak with you,” Thor said.
“That can wait, I need to catch up on what you and Al have been up to and also see how things are going on Earth.
***
What an Interesting man, High Councilor Seribia thought as she looked at her fellow councilors before she said, “Does anyone wish to comment?”
Councilor Aethor, an elderly bald man with brown eyes and a relatively slim build spoke first, “I believe we know what we need to do. I found no deception in Adam’s words or actions, though I am surprised.”
“How so?” Councilor Cilira, one of the Councilors who hadn’t spoken up while Adam was before them asked.
“Our scanners showed him as both having a Universal Density of 1 and being off-scale. How is that possible?”
“If I might respond to the question,” Councilor Allron, a man with blond hair and red-tinted eyes asked. “As we all know my team has been performing research into the Interface system and how it quantifies attributes. Some of my team believes that the interface is quantifying certain aspects of everyone into common traits such as Strength, Perception, Luck, etc. We believe this interaction with the interface has been added to our normal scanners so when our Universal Density detector scanned Adam it read his density and his attributes.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Councilor Sivia asked as her twin brother Councilor Draketh nodded. Their purple-tinted eyes and red hair made both stand out, even while sitting down.
“It matters because we know that the Universal Density of a creature increases the general attributes of creatures within that universe. We haven’t been able to completely quantify the differences, but we know they are there. Some members of my team let me know they believe that while Adam may have had a Universal Density of 1, his attributes were far greater than those needed to exist within our Universe or any Universe up to 100 times denser than ours.
“That strong?” Councilor Daevis asked as his hazel blue eyes became lost and thought and he scratched the right side of his head just below the line of his short black hair.
“That strong,” Councilor Allron agreed.
“Adam is not the issue,” High Councilor Seribia said as she directed the councilor’s attention. As you all know, we can view events in the past within a certain window of time. We have done so. The evidence is on the terminals before you. Please review it and then we will discuss what to do if any discussion is necessary of course.”
The councilors each accessed their terminals and watched the facilities the Pelza Empire had created distribute their Universal Batteries for at least the last year. As there was a limit to how far back their temporal viewing could go more than a year in the past was outside of their limits.
When everyone was done and waiting calmly Councilor Aethor asked, “Do we have any idea how long this went on before the one year we can view into the past?”
“None, though we can find out,” The High Councilor said.
“How many?” Councilor Cilira asked.
“In that year alone, 2,513,” The High Councilor said.
“That many!” Councilor Allron said aghast.
“Response?” The High Councilor asked.
“I wish to Motion for a Reset of the Pelza Empire,” Councilor Aethor stated calmly while he seethed with rage.
“I will second that motion,” Councilor Daevis said.
“The motion to Reset has been brought forward and seconded. We will now move to vote on the motion. All in favor of Resetting the Pelza Empire?” The High Councilor asked.
Every Councilor, including the High Councilor, voted to pass the motion.
“Very well, the motion to reset has passed. Is this to be a continuous reset or a single reset and let them rebuild?” Councilor Allron asked.
“I would like to put forth the motion to recover all information, determine exactly how many batteries were created, and then make this a continuous reset equal to one hundred of their years per battery they created,” Councilor Sivia said.
“I of course second my sister’s motion,” Councilor Draketh stated.
Again, a vote was called and again all seven voted in favor.
“Additionally, we will send representatives to the Cordite, Xzexti, and Tellini and let them know the fate of the Pelza Empire,” The High Councilor said. “With that I declare this Council meeting closed for the day. I believe we all have a lot of work to do.”
Nods went around the table as every member of the Council Teleported to their office and started making calls.
***
The efficiency with which the Eterium empire worked would have surprised Adam, Thor, Al, and any other being that may have been watching. Within 30 minutes the Eterium version of nanites was released into every ship and biosphere that the Pelza occupied. Even their operatives infiltrating the many empires in their Universe and adjacent ones were infiltrated with the nanotechnology of the Eterium human empire.
Within 5 hours they had the number they wanted. The facilities had been working for 10 years, 3 months, and a couple of days. There was no mention of where they had acquired the technology from. The number of batteries created was 27,913. The number was staggering.
The enforcement division of the Eterium empire coded the nanites to the Pelza genome and technological signatures present in all of their technology then sent the command out. Six hours after Adam returned to his Universe every member of the Pelza Empire found themselves removed from their building, bedrooms, vehicles, whatever and standing in a field with up to 25,000 other members of their race. Each wore a set of coveralls and comfortable boots. Then the weirdness happened.
Around each group every structure that the Pelza Empire had created melted away and was replaced with very simple communal buildings with padded mats on floors. There was enough housing to support everyone as well as enough food and water.
Everyone looked around in shock at what had happened as holographic screens popped into the sky above them and a voice began to speak.
Eterium Edict Pelza Continuous Reset has begun.
All Pelza infrastructure is to be removed.
Communities have been set up. Each Community will provide food and water for individuals present now, daily. As the population adjusts due to births and deaths the food provided with be adjusted.
Duration of Continuous Reset, 2,791,300 years
The people of Pelza may build additional infrastructure and commercial enterprises so long as no Technology above Steam Power is recreated. Any such attempts will be immediately removed. You can improve your society and increase your food and beverage choices so long as you do not try to add any technological items during the Continuous Reset.
WARNING: Universal Eradicators are a Forbidden Technology. After the Continuous Reset has been lifted should the people of the Pelza Empire ever use the technology that they did to eradicate Universes again the individuals responsible will be instantly recycled and another reset without food and water support will commence.
***
Erika Johansson was in a little café overlooking the Pacific sipping an iced coffee. She’d only been on Earth for a couple of days while she waited for Adam to return. Today she’d decided to track down one of the few things she like, an Iced mocha with just a touch of hazelnut. As she sat there watching everyone she also checked the news and watched as people went about their lives as the world fell apart around them.
Something had changed. She couldn’t detect what was going on, but she knew that somehow Adam, and this Thor character were making sure everyone on planet Earth was being fed. Additionally, anyone that tried to take any kind of aggressive action against anyone else soon found themselves naked. She was currently watching the news where a naked man was being led away in handcuffs because he couldn’t put any clothes on. His wife had called the police and claimed abuse. When the Police arrived, he’d been unable to put clothes on. As evidence went towards who started the aggression not being able to put clothes on was profoundly satisfying. She was sure this was an unintended consequence but throughout the day a lot of men and women had been arrested on assault charges.
Erika considered how it was being done and realized that it could only be nanotechnology. The Pelza empire had dabbled with that technology but magic and unlocking its secrets had been their primary focus. As she was sipping her coffee and checking the news on her phone a ringtone she wasn’t expecting went off. It was the song “Another One Bites the Dust,” by Queen and she’d set that as the Empire was calling and the shit had truly hit the fan.
Erika stood. She left her drink on the table and walked into the bathroom and then into a stall. She closed the door but didn’t lock it then teleported back to her apartment in the Capital City to find herself standing in an empty field. As she looked around, she looked up and saw the floating red words. When she was done she looked down and realized that everything she’d been carrying was gone and she also had a pair of coveralls on
Erika quickly teleported back to her apartment on Earth and tried to put on the clothes she had there. Fortunately, it seemed that whatever punishment the Pelza were going through, it wasn’t like what was going on here on Earth. She took off the coveralls and put on jeans and a blouse.
Erika thought about what was going to happen back in the Pelza Empire and realized that for all intents and purposes, she was free. The new emperor couldn’t teleport to Earth unless she went to get him. Also, there were not very many individuals within the empire that could teleport to other Universes. As far as she knew, she was the only one. Her communicator was gone, as was every other electronic device she had. She was also pretty sure the tracking implant she had in her left forearm was gone as well, though would it matter, it looked like every tracking station had been reduced to dust as well.
Erika sat down on the couch, relaxed, and smiled. She could begin a new life here. One that didn’t revolve around serving people that didn’t care about other beings. Maybe she could even do something about getting out from under this aspect of Death Quintessence she had.
***
Thor gave Adam a tour of the facility at Nu Draconis. As he’d done in the SYSTEM Matrix Thor created a large base on, and in, a small moon at an orbit that would allow the facility to utilize solar power to get started while the fusion reactors came online. The other thing using Nu Draconis did was allow Thor to test technologies that worked in a simulated environment out here in the real world. Oddly enough, almost every theory that worked in the “Game World” worked here. Labyrinth LLC had tried to remain as true to reality as possible in the creation of their world and the SYSTEM A.I. had tested every possible theory and idea in a simulated location as part of new civilizations. The only thing that hadn’t been accurate was how Reality was set up and how magic worked, though it could be argued that the magic was in some ways similar.
Eventually, Adam found himself sitting in a recliner in a room with Earth’s standard gravity sipping a cup of coffee as he checked in on Earth and the news. He was going to have to give that exclusive to Elizabeth Day soon. Portals Inc could be started up at any time and as soon as it was, he would control a technology that would surpass anything anyone on Earth could create, except perhaps Erika Johansson. He’d check on her later.
Adam’s thoughts were interrupted when the Administrator, Adam’s new designation for the CC group controller, contacted him.
Administrator: Adam, Hal has some information to share with you. He believes it answers the question you sent off to Bri concerning the mana cost of Mold Chaos.
Adam: Be right there.
Adam put his coffee down, leaned back, and dropped his focus into his Mindspace. Adam moved over to Hal’s area within the small city that had cropped up there. Hal still chose to appear as a changing kaleidoscope of shifting geometric shapes as Adam asked, “What do you have for me, Hal?”
“After your conversation with High Councilor Seribia, we all started relooking at our data and then I started sending specific queries and I discovered that there was another Universal Update, though it didn’t come across the Interface. Universal Update 2.1 was simply a definitions change. It would seem that the Quintessence level is now referred to as Universal Density
“How does this information help me?” Adam asked.
“In addition to the definition changes a new attribute on your Personal Information became visible, Soul Core. The Soul Core is rated as equal to the Universe to which you were born but can be improved by investing Quintessence into it. These quintessence strengthen the body and improve its ability to withstand the Universal Density of Universes with a higher Universal Density. I did some research and found that as was explained to you individuals that travel to Universes with a higher Universal Density usually find it hard to move, breath and they do eventually die.
“Let me guess, my insanely high level and attributes are somehow circumventing that,” Adam said.
“Yes, Hal said.
“So, I can increase my Soul Core and that will do what exactly?” Adam asked.
“I am not exactly sure, but it would appear that abilities are tied to the Universal Density so using your Level 42 abilities is costing you a lot of mana or stamina because they are so much higher level than your Soul Core. One of the first things we can do to see how this increase works is for you to invest some of the motes you’ve earned and increase your Soul Core’s level.,” Hal said.
“I can see that. Be right back,” Adam said as he changed his focus to his Soul Core.
Adam at first focused on the area that had all of the mote’s quintessence orbiting it and quickly realized this was not the place that would allow him to increase his Soul Core. He pushed past the first barrier and soon found himself looking at the nodes of his racial abilities. Still nothing. As he moved closer to the center of his Soul Core he found the spark that represented him. Currently, it was about the size of a golf ball and held the shifting colors of chaos. Adam reached and touched it with his virtual hand.
Soul Core Level 1.
Quintessence Required to increase Soul Core to Level 2: 6
Quintessence in orbit around Soul Core: 63,640
Warning increasing your Soul Core by more than double can have unknown side effects. Ensure you are in a safe location before proceeding. Would you like to integrate 6 Quintessence into your Soul Core to raise it to level 2?
Adam chose “Yes” as he pulled up his Personal Information.
The process was a little uncomfortable but after a minute it was done. Adam looked at his attributes in wonder. None of his base attributes changed. But his Hit Points, Stamina, and Mana all doubled. Also, a new attribute popped up. Minimum Damage Threshold which had a value of 1.
Adam returned his focus to his Soul Core and chose to level his soul core to match the level of his abilities at his ability level of 42. He heeded the warning, made sure he was comfortable, and executed his command.
Adam’s focus was wretched out of Soul Space and back into the real world as a pain unlike any he’d ever felt before went through every part of his body. His willpower was high enough that he could endure the pain but even he couldn’t ignore it as every cell of his body felt like it was simultaneously being frozen and exposed to extreme heat. It wasn’t a quick process either.
What Adam hadn’t known when he started the process was that it would take progressively longer each time. Soul Corel Level 2 would take 2 minutes, Level 3 would take 3 minutes. All in all, it was going to take 902 minutes, or 15 hours and 2 minutes. 15 hours and 3 minutes if you counted that first minute to reach Soul Core level 42. The first change had not been more than double so his body had been able to adapt quickly. Because the Soul Core change he had started was 21 times higher than the starting point he received a bunch of debuffs and pain. Yes, he had astronomically high attributes, but it seemed that anything making changes to his Soul Core didn’t care. He could withstand the pain, realistically he’d been through worse for a lot longer. It just sucked that he had to sit here and take it while the changes were being made to his core and his body while he was locked up.