Bob guided his mana out to wrap around himself in a persistent effect Flight spell, marveling at how much easier it seemed.

'Is this the result of choosing enhanced matrix manipulation?' he mentally projected.

'In some part yes, however,' Trebor cautioned, 'a portion of the improvement must be allocated to your increase to tier six.'

Bob dropped a portal at his feet and fell through it.

Bob approached his home and paused as he heard a peal of laughter, light and pure.

Portaling into his sunroom, he was greeted by the sight of Bailli trying to coax Icy out of his rosemary plants while Monroe lounged idly on the bench.

"Thanks for watching over him," Bob said, causing Bailli to twirl in surprise, then lean back as her eyes widened and her gaze traveled up to meet his own.

"Stars, you were tall before," she said with a shake of her head, which then tilted.

"How are you going to fit in your bed?" Bailli asked curiously. "Or your bathtub, for that matter."

Bob shrugged and held up his hands in defeat, "Unintended consequences," he replied.

"Well," Bailli turned and huffed, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes, "I hadn't intended for Icy to decide that your herb garden was a forest to explore, so I suppose we are both suffering today."

"There is an easy fix for that," Bob noted as he couched down next to Bailli.

"And what might that be?" Bailli asked in exasperation, "I've tried bribing her out with food, but she's not hungry."

"Something no cat can resist," Bob said solemnly, "although this power must be used with caution, lest it incites your feline overlords to a mindless rage."

"Really," Bailli said, a tone of doubt in her voice.

"Really," Bob replied as he stood and motioned Bailli to back up as well.

Bob quickly cast his persistent effect elemental spells, controlling their shapes, until he held the glossy stone tube that was his tightly focused light pointer.

Gesturing with the stone wand, an intense red dot appeared on the ground just inside the bed of rosemary.

Icy stilled focused intently on the light. Her tail swished. Bob moved the light slightly to the left, and Icy pounced. Keeping the light moving, Bob led her on a merry chase for a few seconds, which ended as the light reached the floor, and Monroe saw his hated enemy.

Exploding into action, the huge floofer launched himself at the red dot, joining Icy in the chase as Bob led them into the den and then into the kitchen, where he dismissed the light, much to the disappointment of his feline overlord.

"You can't use it for too long; they get really worked up; I normally can play with Monroe for about five minutes, then I need to let him calm down for half an hour or so," Bob explained as Bailli watched the two felines search for their elusive prey.

"I need to know how to make that," Bailli said with a brilliant smile.

"I really do appreciate you keeping an eye on him this morning," Bob said, "I wasn't sure how that whole tiering up thing was going to work."

Bailli eyed her kitten and made the safe decision not to pick her up just yet.

"So," Bob said awkwardly, "I have another favor to ask, and this is a big one," he began.

Bailli looked at him quizzically.

"You know that I was blown up and pushed here to Thayland from another universe," Bob continued, "and I pulled Amber here to fix my matrix, and all that right?"

"Yes," Bailli replied.

"Well, there's a bit more to it than that," Bob hedged, "See, if anyone from this universe were to go back to mine, they'd bring mana with them, which would sort of," he waved his hands, "trigger a huge mana tide, as the mana in my universe woke up."

"You want to leave Holmstead?" Bailli said sadly, "Leave Thayland?"

"No!" Bob protested loudly, "No, not at all, I've never been happier than the time I've spent here," he reassured her, "except for the pain and the blood, and the hours spent fighting for my life," he trailed off as her expression darkened.

"No, even with all that, this is still the best life I've ever had," Bob said emphatically.

"Alright," Bailli said slowly.

"Anyway, as much as I miss my Kindle, I don't want to go back there," Bob went on before Bailli raised her hand to interrupt.

"What's a 'Kindle'?" She mouthed the strange word.

"It's a device that lets you read thousands of books," Bob responded, "but that's not really important," Bailli raised her hand again.

"If it's the thing you miss the most from your old world, it must be pretty important," Bailli said, leaning back against the kitchen counter.

"Well," Bob replied as he considered the idea for a moment, "I guess it probably is."

Bailli nodded for him to continue.

"I love to read, you know?" Bob mused, "I just love it, sitting down and reading, spending a few hours in someone else's world, living history through the words of someone who was there..." he trailed off.

Shaking himself, he refocused.

"I do miss having hundreds of thousands of books at my fingertips," Bob confessed, "but that isn't where I was going with this."

Bailli waited patiently.

Bob blew out a breath. "So, if someone with mana comes to my universe, everyone on my world is going to die because they are all level zero, and it will be an instant Tide," Bob watched as Bailli's eyes widened.

"Which is why I didn't send Amber back, and why I didn't hop back to get my kindle, because it would trigger that event," Bob took a deep breath and continued, "but the problem is that when I came to Thayland the knowledge of my universe was, sort of absorbed by mana, and someone out there figured out that my universe existed, and popped by for a visit."

Bailli covered her mouth with her other hand as she leaned back.

Bob nodded as he pressed on, "So, there's now a timer counting down until all the mana in my universe wakes up and causes the tide, and there are seven billion people on my planet, and I'm pretty sure that in order to save them I'm going to need to bring some of them here, so they can level up and start working towards helping others, and I was counting on using the Dungeon here in Holmstead, but with all the people flooding into the town, it's going to be packed."

Bob ran out of breath and hung his head, panting for a moment, before looking back up at Bailli.

"I need help, Bailli," Bob pleaded, "I need to build another Dungeon, and I think I've found a good spot, but there is no way I can gather enough crystals on my own to make this work."

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

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Bailli watched Bob as he hunched over slightly, trying to control his breathing.

Her mind raced. She'd thought when Bob had asked her for a favor that he was going to ask her to play matchmaker. Painfully shy as he was, asking her when they were alone would have made sense.

She had not expected him to tell her that the lives of another planet full of people were at stake.

"Bob," she asked slowly and quietly, "what is a billion?"

"A thousand, million," Bob replied, "or a thousand, thousand, thousand."

"I know what a million is," she muttered as she tried to wrap her head around that number.

Seven thousand million. Seven Billion.

"That's..." It was her turn to trail off. "That's an impossible number," she finally said.

"I know," Bob agreed, and she could hear the pain in his voice. "I'm not trying to delude myself that they can all be saved."

He shook his head sadly, eyes still closed. "I need help from earth, people who are smarter than me, and better with people, who understands the logistics of moving that many people around..."

Bailli stepped forward and carefully took his large but still strangely delicate hands in her own.

"I'll help however I can," she said quietly, "Eric and I are still trying to decide where we want to live, so I can gather crystals for you in the meantime."

She chuckled softly, "Thanks to the Affinity Crystal and the Path, I can gather Crystals very effectively."

"Thank you," Bob said, a catch in his voice, "I'll pay you back, I promise."

Bailli squeezed his hands gently. "Bob, we're friends, and friends help each other."

Bob sank down to the floor, and Bailli followed him, holding his hands as Monroe crawled up and onto his shoulders, which shook as the now huge man sobbed quietly.

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Bob struggled to pull himself together. He hadn't cried in almost twenty years.

Bailli had offered to help. She hadn't asked for anything or tried to bargain. She'd just offered to help because they were friends.

Bob blushed as he realized that he was still holding her hands.

He gave them a tentative squeeze, then let go, using his hands to stand up.

Monroe shifted on the shoulder perch his newly enlarged human servant had so thoughtfully provided, the gentle rumble of the big cat's purr serving to soothe Bob's raw emotions.

Bailli had stepped back to give him some space.

"Thank you," Bob managed, after several long moments of slow, deep breaths.

"You won't have to do this alone," she assured him, "Eddi would love to help you."

She shook her head ruefully, "Thidwell has had him gathering Summoning Affinity Crystals for hours a day, every day, and when I talked to Eddi last, he had more mana crystals than he knew what to do with."

"He bought his girlfriend, Wayna, a full suit of armor for levels ten, fifteen, twenty, and twenty-five, along with a staff for each," Bailli chuckled, "I told Erick he needed to start delving deeper with that sort of example."

Bob grimaced slightly, "He's got a bit of a hero-worship thing going on with me, which I should have done more to stop," he said, "I don't want to take advantage of him."

Bailli shook her head again, "Bob, he owes you, stones, we all do," she said in exasperation, "I know you're not close friends with him, but he at least thinks he is your friend, and out of everyone here in Holmstead, he owes you more than most, and he knows it."

Bob opened his mouth, only for Bailli to shush him.

"He was going to be a laborer, Bob," Bailli said fiercely, "and likely stuck with it for a long time. But then you showed up, and he decided to be an adventurer because, like it or not, what you did that first wave?"

Bailli pointed a finger at his chest, "Rushing to rescue that family? Fighting off not one, but two major threats?"

"By the stars above and stones below, you are a hero," she paused to draw another breath.

"Even if you don't see it, the rest of us do," she finished.

Bob shrugged uncomfortably. If Eddi was willing to help, he'd take the help.

He'd done a bit of napkin math.

Assuming he had the relevant skills capped, and he went all out, pushing to his tier cap, he'd be able to ritually affect an area fifty feet per side and ten feet in height.

The problem was that he'd need to drop four rituals for each fifty-foot section, just to reinforce the walls, keep it from flooding, ensure a breathable atmosphere, and to direct the mana flows.

That last one wasn't a value he was absolutely sure of, as while he'd now done some repairs, but he hadn't ever created a Dungeon floor.

"I'll see if I can talk to him tonight," Bob conceded.

"Good," Bailli beamed, "now, let's head back to Holmstead; you can join me while I shop for a new staff."

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Bob opened a portal, gestured to Bailli, and followed her through, appearing twenty feet over the street in front of Alder's Smithy.

Bailli drifted to the ground while Bob just dropped, noting idly that an extra couple of feet in height made the drop even easier than normal.

"Perfect," Bailli laughed, "Alder's is the only place in town to buy a weapon over level fifteen."

"I didn't know that," Bob admitted, "but it's where I bought my staff, and I've been nothing but pleased with it."

"I'm guessing that Harv and Elli pointed you to Alder's," Bailli said as she glided into the shop.

Bob followed, nodding his agreement, "That they did."

Stepping into the shop, Bob felt a wave of heat wash over him as he left the cool early spring air for the sweltering heat of not only a forge but an active smelter.

Joseph was already greeting Bailli, so he stood back and looked around the shop.

It hadn't changed since he'd purchased his staff, which wasn't a surprise.

Bob wondered if it was worth buying a level twenty-five staff or if he should just bite the bullet and have one made in Harbordeep.

He was loathe to spend money in that place, but he didn't know if anyone in Holmstead would be able to create armor and weapons that provided bonus up to level thirty-six.

He'd ask Thidwell tomorrow, he decided.

Bailli was testing the balance on a few staves, and it seemed to take only a few moments to make her choice.

"Perfect," Joseph chortled, "Willow with a tempered bronze core, it'll serve you well."

The broad-shouldered smith turned to Bob and squinted.

His gaze fixed on the staff for a moment, then shifted back to Bob's face.

"Stones, you've outgrown that staff I sold you, and then some," Joseph boomed cheerfully, "you'll be looking for a new one, eh?"

"Well, I was going to wait until I reached the tier six cap," Bob began, only for Joseph to wave his hand dismissively.

"Sure, sure, I can see you're frugal, still using a level fifteen staff at level twenty-six, is it?" He half asked as he ducked down behind his display cabinets.

"That hickory still feels good after you've tiered up?" The question drifted over the counter.

Bob spun his staff in his hands, considering the question.

"Better than ever," he replied, "I guess that's one of the reasons I've been putting off upgrading; it just feels right."

"You flow enough mana through a tool, and it starts to feel like part of you," Joseph agreed as he reappeared, slinging a long, thick staff onto the counter.

"Now," he said proudly as he nodded towards the staff on the counter and gestured for Bob to inspect it, "this is a bit of a happy accident."

"My wife, she tends to the groves, growing the trees around the cores I craft," Joseph explained, "and it just so happened that this grove somehow had a few trees that grew a bit taller and faster than the others," he lowered his voice and whispered, "Helen doesn't like to do more than nudge you see, says it's best to let nature walk its own path if you can."

"So, I have this staff here that is just about your size and just right for your tier," he gestured again towards the staff, which Bob had looked over, noting that it was the same calico hickory as his current staff.

Bob slid his staff into his satchel, and thus into his inventory, and then picked up the proffered tool.

He spun it in his hands, noticing immediately that it was easier to grip with his now economy-size hands.

Calico Hickory and tempered Bronze Core Staff

Plant-Shaped Staff

- Hickory Hardness Seventy-two.

- Tempered Bronze Core Hardness One Hundred and Twenty.

Grown and Shaped by Helen Alder

Tempered Bronze Core by Joseph Alder

- Magical and Professional Bonus to Spell Casting - 36/36

Professional Bonus by Joseph Alder

Magical bonus by Helen Alder

"Wow," Bob muttered as he looked over the staff more carefully.

It really did suit his new form better than his old staff.

"I knew you'd take to it," Joseph grinned, "not much call for tier six work in Holmstead, although," he winked at Bob, "with those new paths going around, alongside those 'Affinity' crystals, I imagine I'll be back to smithing tier six staves and weapons soon enough," he chuckled happily, "so much for my quiet retirement, eh?"

"Retirement?" Bob queried.

"Indeed," Joseph replied, "Helen and I, we got tired of the all the little annoyances that make living in Harbordeep so difficult, and with our son and daughters grown and living their own lives, we decided to retire someplace where we could just tinker and relax."

"Ah," Bob nodded his understanding.

"Now," Joseph gave him a conspiratorial grin, "I'm aware that it was you, not Thidwell, who pulled those paths together, and with Helen leaving me wave sized hints that's she's going to reincarnate for that Floral Adept path, I have to ask, have you delved any paths for a humble smith?"

"Not at the moment," Bob hedged.

"Ah, but I'll wager you can work one out, eh?" Joseph grinned merrily.

"I'll tell you what," Joseph whispered, "you figure out a path for me, and I'll not only give you that staff free of charge, I'll put together a hundred level five staffs and sell them at cost to those poor souls camped outside our walls."

"Give yourself twenty-five percent over cost, but make them for everyone out there who needs one, and I'll start working on a path for you," Bob rejoined, "although," he lowered his voice to match Joseph's, "I'll need to know what sort of skills I'm going to be working with."

"You drive a hard bargain," Joseph grumbled, although his smile widened, "but, I'll take it, can't have Helen leaving me behind after all."

"I'm a pure smith, I've Strong, Enduring, Nimble, Tireless, and Metalworking as my base, while I've taken mining, smelting, and Elemental Fire to aid my work," Joseph explained. "I'm a guardian when I'm delving, so the normal skills you'd expect there, nothing fancy."

Bob nodded. "I can work with that, I'll let you know what I can come up with," he promised before he led an amused Bailli away.