The group stepped through and into Olympus. The doorway spit them out in a designated area right near Seth’s shop. They weren’t quite sure how these things worked totally and opted to make sure there was always a clear space. Didn’t want anyone popping out into a wall or anything.
“Seth!” Calvin shouted as soon as he came through. Time was of the essence.
“Cal! Welcome back!” Seth said, poking his head out from the shop.
“No time. How long will this door stay open? Can we keep it open?”
“Maybe 5 minutes or so, it will keep going until it uses up the energy in the grenade. Why?” Seth was already moving, sensing the urgency.
“There’s a whole lot of really good stuff in there you’re going to want to check out.”
“Oh? One sec. Crash, can I borrow you?” Seth ran off toward the cabins with Crash in tow.
Less than a minute later, they brought Ian, towed in a cart.
Marshall chuckled at the sight and Ian just flipped him off.
“Ian, you’re coming with me.” Seth said, and Seth poked his head into the doorway. Upon seeing the rows of crates, he very nearly lost his cool.
“In you go pal!”
They went through the doorway and Seth instructed Ian to feed the grenade with more energy. Enough to keep it open and poke around. If the gate shut, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Ian could just open another one since the anchor was in Olympus, but the energy cost would be much greater.
Calvin followed Seth through and gave him a rundown on the crates, data slates, information crystal, and the power sources they’d acquired. Seth’s mouth was agape hearing it all. This was a dream come true for him. For Olympus really. He made some mental calculations and came up with a plan.
“Calvin, can you go back and round up as many helpers as you can? Get them back here quickly and we’ll start bringing this stuff through. Ian, how long can you hold that open?”
“Maybe 15 minutes. 30 if I drink a potion.” Ian said.
Calvin wasted no time. He recruited Amy and Marshall to round up a group of volunteers.
By now, Tank had arrived and curiously peeked his head through the mystical doorway that had appeared in town.
“Oh, hey Seth. Ian, nice wheels.” Tank said. Ian was getting used to the ribbing by now. Everyone figured he’d be getting his legs back sometime soon, so it was fine that everyone tried to keep it lighthearted. “What’s going on?”
“We scored. They located this storage area full of crates. We’re rounding up some people now to help. Can you help me lift some of these?” Seth asked.
Tank walked through the doorway and over to a large crate. It was about three feet wide and loaded with some sort of metal bars. Experimentally, he grabbed the handles and lifted… and he picked it right up.
“Woah. This weighs almost nothing.” Tank said. Showing off, he placed the crate under one arm and lifted another.
“They must have some sort of gravity-reducing enchantment. Ok, start loading these over by the shop.
Within minutes, they’d set up an efficient line of people passing crates to each other from the cargo bay. The line continued to grow as curious onlookers stopped by to see what was happening. They’d cleaned out the cargo bay in record time.
Before leaving, Ian placed an anchor in there. He’d spend some time to recharge and they’d send a crew in later to comb through the area and gather any other useful things. Seth for sure was going to go. He wasn’t going to waste the opportunity to strip the place clean. He’d carve the tiles off the walls if he could.
With the anchor now placed in the ship. Calvin’s group would spend some time in town. They couldn’t have two up at once and they wanted to be sure they could return to Olympus ASAP if trouble hit while they were out on the next quest.
Calvin, Ian and Seth were 25 now. Since Seth gained experience through crafting and through his mines being used in combat, he maintained pace with Calvin. Fortunately, Ian gained experience when infusing the grenades, but through some funky quirk of the system, didn’t get experience from those grenades being used in combat. Ian had been close to 25 though already, and he’d spent the time giving Seth as much nano-juice as he needed, so this pushed him well into 25. They had waited for Calvin to return before attempting an evolution.
It was time for a debrief and to follow up on the quest rewards, so the others quickly finished up some business. Marshall in particular needed to go ‘get some potions’, and then they would all meet up by the cabins. Calvin wanted to check out the evolution options before meeting back up with the group to discuss them. He sat by their fire and pulled up the evolution screen.
CLASS EVOLUTION AVAILABLE. AS A TORCHBEARER FOR THE AETHERIAN COLLECTIVE YOU MAY CHOOSE TO EVOLVE ON AN ALTERNATE PATH. ALL TORCHBEARERS MUST BE PRESENT AND ELIGIBLE TO EVOLVE.
NOTE: EVOLVING ON THE AETHERIAN PATH WILL EVOLVE YOUR CLASS AND RACE.
DO YOU WISH TO EVOLVE ON THE AETHERIAN PATH?
That ‘Note’ was a little worrisome. He tried prodding the system for more information but nothing came of it.
Calvin closed out of the menu. He wouldn’t be able to choose ‘Yes’ without everyone present, and selecting ‘No’ might disable the option altogether.
“Andy, can I borrow you for a moment?”
Andy materialized next to Calvin. It was creepy how he could do that, but they’d gotten used to it by now. He certainly was handy.
“Can you offer me any insight into this?” Calvin asked, flashing up the message.
“You’re concerned about evolving your race.”
“I am. Does that mean I wouldn’t be human anymore?”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“That is difficult to answer. Some race evolutions would result in a complete change of your species. For example, if you were offered a draconic race evolution, then yes, you would become draconic in function and form. Other race evolutions are simply enhancements to your existing race.”
“Which of those would an Aetherian race evolution be?”
“That is difficult to say. Searching the records I have access to, I do not see any historical events of such a race evolution. I can offer this though, hopefully it grants you insight. In nearly all race evolutions offered in such a manner through your base rune, multiple options are presented. Some are completely transformative and almost always at least one is simply an augmentation. Additionally, the Aetherian Collective was not a singular species. They were composed of an unfathomable number of civilizations spanning galaxies.”
“Humans? There are humans in places other than Earth?”
“Why, yes.” Andy said with slight confusion, “Do you not know of your history?”
“I thought I did, we evolved from primates back on Earth.”
“Hmm, no. That’s incorrect. Humanity has traveled the stars for eons. The first of your species, which you referred to as Homo Erectus, arrived on this planet arrived aboard a life bringer vessel along with many of the creatures that populate your planet even today.”
Calvin’s mouth hung open in disbelief. “They just, what… dropped us off and left?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“That was protocol. Life bringer vessels have a singular mission. To bring life of all types to non-system space, seed that life onto compatible planets, and let them find their path before system initialization. The unique circumstances of growth and evolution for each species on these new planets alter what they become. All humans are not the same. Humans from Earth have different strengths and weaknesses, different cultures and mindsets, and different affinities and talents. Upon initialization, that uniqueness breeds a unique path. Humans initialized in Sol will grow in the system to be much different than humans initialized in a different star system altogether. These unique paths create a diverse range of opportunities. Initially, it enhanced the Collective through innovation. Eventually, it became a tool to enhance the power and capabilities of the most powerful in defense against The Corruptors.”
“It was the Aetherians who brought us here?”
“Yes. The life bringer vessel that brought you here seeded thousands of worlds with millions of species.”
“Well, shit. That’s a lot to process Andy. Any advice for the evolution?”
“I am unable to help you choose your path. That is something you must do on your own. All I can say is something you already know. The System seeks to nurture power. Rewards are always rewards. They may come with additional challenges but I know of no system-granted rewards that lead you further from power. Only you can determine if the path is right for you. I suggest you consult with the others.”
“You’re right. Thanks Andy. Can you round up the others?”
“Yes. I will do so now.”
----------------------------------------
“What if Ian turns into a worm?” Marshall asked.
“What if Marshall turns into an idiot? Oh, right…” Ian replied.
Calvin had filled them in on Andy’s explanation and the choices that awaited them. Andy was there as well to provide any additional information. The consensus seemed to be evenly split. Initially, it was a hard no from basically everyone, but as they discussed more, the opinion started to shift.
Everyone was now on board at some level. The new path likely did come with a significant boost of power. But they’d have to agree to it before seeing the evolution options and that was a risk. Although Marshall was being hyperbolic, it wasn’t so far from the potential truth. What if they were presented with options that completely destroyed their humanity?
That was a dilemma for sure. They were humans. That was their identity and who they’d always been. When they got out of here, they’d be fighting for Earth, what they believed to have been the home of humanity, although they recently learned that wasn’t true at all.
Like the choice Ian faced when choosing his level 20 skill, it was a risk. Although this risk would completely alter them forever.
“Andy, let’s say we choose this path, and we’re forced to evolve into something we don’t want to be. Is there a way to undo that? Maybe change it in the future?” Calvin asked.
“Nothing is impossible Calvin, though I would caution you on this line of thinking. Your path is an accumulation of choices that brings you from where you are and moves you toward your destination. You should be committed to the path you choose without hesitation. Planning to walk those choices back will of course alter your path. There are an unlimited number of ways in which your race can evolve. This happens through system events, rewards, anomalous encounters, managed evolutions, items, skills, and a number of other ways. So, yes, if Ian was forced to evolve into a worm, it is likely he would be able to evolve into something else in the future. Though his choices may reflect his actions as a worm.”
The group stared at Andy. He seemed pretty serious about Ian possibly becoming a worm.
“I would consider that path unlikely. I have few records of powerful worms in this universe.”
“Few… this universe… so, there are powerful worms?” Marshall asked.
Andy began to answer but Calvin cut him off.
“Alright, we’re getting a bit off track. There are risks. So far, taking risks has been beneficial to us, the Quantum Anchor being a recent example of that. So let’s consider this from all angles. To take this path, we would need to evolve our race. We may remain human, we may not. How attached are we to that? Considering the possibility that any of the other options may be more powerful than ‘human’. Is it our identity we’re worried about losing? That’s a big consideration to make. We should also consider the potential class upgrades… since this is a reward, they’re likely either stronger or more diverse. Finally… we have to evolve together. If we choose this path, we need to get the rest of you to level 25 before we can attempt it. If we forgo the path, three of us can evolve now. Like Andy mentioned before, we have to decide between short-term, immediate power gains, or investment into long-term potential.”
The group deliberated on these choices for some time. The opinion had slowly shifted toward taking the path. While potentially losing their humanity was a MAJOR change, they’d come to realize they weren’t 100% attached to that. Everything about their lives had been flipped upside down. Were they really even human anymore anyway? In anything besides name at least?
They’d settled on a consensus. They would likely choose the path. They would inform the citizens of the situation and let them weigh in. If their leadership structure all turned into unrecognizable aliens, it might upset the balance. If remaining human was an option, they would take it. If it wasn’t an option, they would pick the closest approximation. Freya of course wanted to remain a dog, but she didn’t have any issues becoming a stronger, scarier dog if she could.
With that, Calvin had Andy prepare a message for the townspeople. It included all of the information they had now, their concerns, and a poll. They would meet in two hours in the town center to discuss.
Now, it was finally time to get to the reward. They hadn’t forgotten about it, but they wanted to have this discussion before, in case the reward was related to the path. Calvin flipped open the missive screen and activated the reward prompt.
Destroy The Spinecharge Beetle Breeding Grounds - Complete
IMMEDIATE:
All citizens of Olympus - 5000xp
All group members who actively participated in the quest - 3000xp
UPON CONCLUSION OF TUTORIAL:
(Optional) Settlement upgraded with ‘Aetherian’ modifier - grants access to additional options within base management. (Requires at least one Aetherian in settlement leadership)
Settlement upgraded one tier
Resource Cache (Platinum)
Transportation options within base management
“Holy crap.” Amy said, “I guess we don’t have to wait on evolution anymore, I just hit 27.”
They could hear some small cheers of excitement coming from the town. Everyone just jumped up several levels out of nowhere. Most of the population just crossed a skill threshold and some of the younger population likely just crossed their class selection threshold.
While they had big decisions and lots to think about, their entire town just received a massive boost. A celebration was in order.
“Andy, get a message out to everyone. We’re having a party. We’ll get started after the meeting in two hours. Inform Ambrosia we’ll cover the costs. Seth, I’m sure you want to go play with your new toys, and Marshall looks like he’s coming down with something. I’m sure he needs to get to the pharmacy.”
With that, the meeting ended. They filtered out into the town where high morale was evident in all of their faces. A few people cheered Calvin’s group as they meandered about, and soldiers stopped to salute each of them as they passed.
Calvin was looking forward to tonight.