To say Carter was not a little pleased after looking at his information would be a lie. What self respecting gamer was not elated when they improved themselves. After memorizing the information, Carter took a second to take a internal accounting of his body. Besides the gash on his left thigh, he couldn't feel anything to out of the ordinary. Taking a closer look at his leg, he could see that the cut while almost eight inches long was not to deep. While the cut may not be life threatening it throbbed like a son of a bitch, Carter thought. Unfortunately for him, Carter was wearing a collared grey t-shirt and khaki shorts, not much else to work with for a bandage in the immediate aread. Using his knife, Carter cut a sizable strip of cloth off his left short's leg and used that to cover the cut. With a grunt he tied, it off and stood up to test it out. While it would work in a pinch, Carter had no doubts about needing something a little more perminent in the near future. He also was a little self concious because people coult now see his avocado boxer briefs beneath his shorts. 

Skill Learned   First Aid 1 Increases the efficiency at treating wounds and other ailments. Increase knowledge and experience to improve.   

Relieved that Carter did not have to worry about losing the use of his leg and excited at the prospects of his new skill. He began to take stock of his surroundings. A couple of feet to his left was the monster's corpse that was emitting on god awful stench. The body must have purged its digestive track when it finally bit the bullet Carter figured. Slightly past the monster was his pile of books, Carter did not notice during the struggle, but they had rolled into the aisle the creature had been blocking off when he tackled it. Looking to his right Carter was given an unimpeded view of what was providing the subtle glow that illuminated the immediate area. 

An orb the size of a volley ball was floating about four feet off the ground. Looking on it with his eyes Carter could not seeing anything special about it. 'Other than its fucking floating in the air and looks to be radio active...' He thought to himself. Its glow was mostly white but with a subtle hint of blue at the edges. Taking a second to tap into his mana manipulation and view his surroundings, Carter confirmed that the orb was the reason the mana density increased in the area. 

Carter decided that he was going to inspect the creature and its stash of books before he went over to the orb. He liked to think that the prospect of loot and powerful items had driven his decision to place them above his curiousity about the orb, but if he was being honest with himself he was a little worried about his 'Johnson' losing the ability to preform from radiation leaking off of the orb. 

A couple of hobbling steps later Carter was back at the creature's body, it did not take long to go over its body due to the lack of clothing on it. The only noticable piece of clothing on the thing was a cross between a loincloth and a skirt made of leather. Carter checked for pockets but drew the line at looking underneath. Carter came away from the body with a couple of rings and a necklace, which was basically just a cord of leather attached to some sort of onyx like stone. A quick look through the pile of books and Carter was left with a stick a little longer than two feet. 'To short to be a staff so... a scepter maybe.' Carter thought to himself. Tapping into his 'Inspect' ability, Carter gave the items another once over. 

-Ring of Intelligence ©

+2 Intelligence

-Scepter of Mana Channeling (U)

+5 Mana Manipulation

-Necklace of Shadow Mastery ®

+3 Dark Magic

One of the rings turned out to be a dud, but Carter was still siked about the results of his findings. He immediately equipped all the items. Despite not knowing any Dark Magic, Carter was still able to equip the necklace, which rewarded him with a notification. 

Skill Learned   Dark Magic 1(4) The ability to channel mana with a dark affinity. Improve through practice and study.  

With the loot all handled, Carter decided to deal with the orb. Approaching it slowly, Carter was waiting for some kind of heat to hit his skin from the orbs glow. The opposite happened in fact, the closer Carter got to the orb the cooler he felt. It got to the point that he could almost feel the mana shifting in the environment. Taking one last step next to the orb, Carter reached out and touched it. 

Notice! Unaffiliated Dungeon Core located:

-Take Control (Limit:1)

-Harvest (Used to boost other Dungeon Cores)

-Destroy (Experience Modifier)

 Looking at his options, Carter was a little surprised but quickly began deliberating. 'I can ignore the 'Harvest' option since I don't have another core. So it is between control or experience, easy decision.' Carter thought. While the experience would be nice, he had clocked enough hours in video games through his life to know this was an opportunity he could not pass up. Carter quickly mentally selected 'Take Control' and his world exploded in notifications.

Notice!

As the first inhabitant of your planet to obtain a stronghold you are awarded a Major Boon. Use your wits and power to help your planet thrive. 

Calculating reward...  Processing... Reward awarded.

Notice! Due to outside influence you will be transported to council for review. Prepare for transportation in 3...2...1...

There was a bright flash, and Carter's world once again turn to blackness. 

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Orttonath would like to say that he was surprised by the council's actions, but he wasn't. This new planet had an abundance of resources that were not available to the rest of the system, due to humanity's destruction unearthing it all. While its true that abusing and taking resources from planets leads to their destruction, it also leads to rare materials and items that are not able to be found on planets that are nurtured and cared for. The Conglomerate had long come up with a way to obtain these resources without plundering their own well nurtured planets. They would locate planets that were on the path of destruction and use their influence to obtain the rare resources and materials found on the planet. 

What had surprised Orttonath was that the boy he had met in the tutorial had already captured a dungeon. It had not even been an hour since the tutorial and Carter had already gained a stronghold on this new planet. 'This is bound to get interesting.' Orttonath thought to himself. 

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Carter opened his eyes to discover he was back in the endless feilds of grass. 'Ok, so back in my mind again like the tutorial, I will have to find out if time acts the same again, otherwise I need to figure out a way to get out of here so I can get back to Catherine.' Carter quickly got his thoughts together. Before he could begin to think of walking around, there was yet another flash, but this time instead of blacking out, Carter looked up to see that he had been half surrounded by a raised platform. The platform was in the shap of a half moon and on it sat ten individuals. Nine of those individuals were shrouded in shadow, but the tenth was quite recognizable. Carter looked over to see Alvin, in the form of his grandfather, give him a smile and a wave. 

Despite Alvin's apparently light mood, Carter got a serious sense of tension from the other shadowy individuals. Before he could open his mouth to ask what was going on, one of the shadowy figures stood up and spoke to everyone.

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"The council convenes due to suspected interference in the development of a newly integrated planet by the indvidual codename...' the shadowy figure paused here to look over at Alvin, "Alvin? Really?" To Carter the speaker sounded more exhasperated than interested in what was going on. 'Wait a second, codename? Does that mean his name isn't Alvin?' Carter thought to himself sending a glance in the direction of the only person he knew here. 

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" the shadowy figure asked Alvin.

"Nope, I mean yeah I over shared a bit with the new guy, but nothing I was able to get out should have led him to being able to take control of a dungeon in a little over forty five minutes." Alvin stated like he did not have anything to worry about. It seemed to Carter that Alvin was being a little to lax in this type of situation. 

The figure then turned to Carter and spoke, "Carter William Hudson, level 3, participated in the tutorial with 'Alvin'," the shadowy figure seemed to struggle getting Alvin's codename out, "shortly after leaving the tutorial you were able to capture a dungeon. Can you explain to the council how this came about?" The figure then proceeded to sit back down and gestured for Carter to begin speaking. 

"Ughh... well first, Hey I guess, not sure what is happening but is this going to take long? I really need to get back and find my wife?" Carter said a little nervously. He wasn't exactly sure what was happening but to be honest he really didn't care. His only goal right now was to get back to his wife and make sure she was ok. 

"The time dilation is in effect due to being in your mindscape so do not worry to much about current events. Please explain the events leading up to you taking control of a dungeon shortly after your tutorial with the aforementioned council member. " The same shadow explained to Carter. 

'Council?' Carter picked up on. "Well there isn't really much to explain, when the tutorial was abruptly ended I found myself back in the library where I was when all this started. While I was in the tutorial the library must have been converted to a dungeon or something. All I knew was that I was trapped on the top floor with some monster. I killed it and touched the orb and voila, here were all are." Carter finished with a little bit of sarcasm. He was a little peeved that they would forcefully transport him here without his consent because they didn't understand something. 

Finally another shadow spoke up, this one distinctly more feminine, "He speeks the truth, the mortal has broken no rules, knowingly or unknowingly. Our fellow council member on the other hand, I can not say the same." 

"Thank you for your time, Carter Hudson, as an apology for interefering with your developement you shall be awarded a Minor Boon. Keep up the good work so far, we shall take this meeting elsewhere." The original shadow said. 

'Not again...' Carter thought, as yet another flash left him in darkness. 

----------------------------------------

Carter came back to himself standing right in front of the orb. 'This is some messed up shit, they can just call me up whenever they want and then just dismiss me. Fuck that shit.' Carter thought to himself. He was beyond pissed at the whole situation but the notification floating in front of him helped ease his anger slightly.

Notice! Due to unnecessary interference on the part of the Council of Order, you have been awarded a Minor Boon. 

 'Seems like they can't just 'beam me up Scotty' without some kind of reparations. That helps a little, but they are still on my shit list.' Carter thought as he read the message. 'Major and minor boons huh? I wonder what I can swing with these.' Carter had just taken control of the dungeon when he was transported to the council meeting. He still had some notifications to get through.

Notice! You have taken control of a dungeon core and formed a Stronghold. Strongholds can be upgraded and developed with the right care. Interact with the Stronghold Core to make modifications to the Stronghold. 

Notice!

For your actions you have recieved a Major Boon. This is a gift from the planet's conciousness for helping to get rid of its corruption. Major Boons customized to the recipients desires within the planets power.  

Personal Dugeon Spirit has been awarded. 

Notice! The Council of Order has seen fit to bestow upon you a Minor Boon. Minor Boons can be used in the shop for a limited free purchase. 

After looking at the notifications Carter came up with a game plan. To be honest he had no idea what to do with his Major Boon. The Minor Boon gave him quite a few ideas. Thinking back to all the items available at the top of the list of the shop Carter's inner loot monster started to drool. Putting the two boons aside, Carter also had the stronghold now that he was excited about. If he could get this place set up securely, he would be able to protect Catherine all the better. Thinking along those lines, Carter moved to the 'Stronghold Core' to see what he was working with. 

As soon as Carter touched the orb he was presented with an interface.

 Stronghold Core*

- Structures                    - Economy              - Core Strength

-Administration              - Alliances               - Military

- Security                        - Territory                 -Summon Dungeon Spirit (1/1)

- Population                    - Dungeon

Carter attempted to peruse the interface, but was quickly overwhelmed with the amount of information available. Unfortunately, he did not have time to go through all these things to make sure that he had his stronghold on the right path towards development. It had already been a little over an hour since this whole ordeal started and Carter had yet to even leave the building. Fortunately, he had an idea about what he could do to solve this issue. He quickly moved over to the summoning tab for his dungeon spirit. 

Summon confirmed... processing... ownership acknowledged... blood contract required. Taking samples from both parties to complete contract. 

 Carter felt a prick all of a sudden, then a moment later he felt a conneciton formed. It was a feeling like he had never had before, it was almost like a bubble had formed in his mind that created a connection to what Carter assumed was the dungeon spirit. 

Contract sealed. Transferring purchase now. 

There was a mini flash, and all of a sudden there was a fairy slightly smaller than the stronghold core floating in front of him. 

"Hi, my name is Carter, Carter Hudson, may I ask what yours is?" Carter started off with an introduction hoping to get off on the right foot.

"Hello Master, my name is Svelt of the Sylphs, you may just call me Svelt." The little fairy responded with a childlike voice. It was obvious to Carter that she was female from her appearance. She wore a deep green dress that highlighted her fair skin. Her hair was titanium with a hint of blue at the edges, the four wings on her back match the color of her hair. 

"No need for that master stuff, just Carter will do. Go ahead and familiarize yourself with the dungeon. Is there anything you need from me to get this place up and running?" Carter asked. He wanted to get this place going, but he was getting anxious to start heading towards his wife. 

"Yes, Sire. The ability to acces the dungeons interface will be all I need as of now." Svelt said ignoring Carter's comment about how she should address him. It would be highly disrespectful for a spirit in her position to address her core's owner so casually. 

"Done, can you tell me if there is anymore monsters left in the building?" Carter asked, while flipping through the administration tab until he found core access permissions. There had only been on Hobgoblin shaman on this floor, but if the lore on goblins held up. Then the lower floors could be teeming with the little shits. 

"There are currently no monsters left in the building, Sire. When you took control of the core, it evicted all previous residents other than the new owner. It then set itself on locked down which is the default security mode. It would take a significant amount of power to be able to break into the building at this point, which most monsters would not posess at this point of the mana integration. If there was an attempt, we would be able to notice." Svelt responded. 

"Good to know, I have to head out for a bit to locate my wife. I need you to prep the stronghold for my return. I give you permission to develope the stronghold as you see fit till my return. Focus on security at this point to allow us to have a safe place to return to." Carter said. H While the stronghold was an opportunity, Carter was never really the type of person to sit around in his base and let others fight for him. He preferred being out on the front lines with friends. The acquisition of the spirit allowed him to leave for significant periods of time and still let his stronghold develope. 

"Alright, Sire. I will make sure that this stronghold will be in order upon your return." Svelt said with a mid-air curtsy. 

"I'm off then, its time I found my wife and explored a bit of this new world." Carter said as he walked towards to the stairwell. This time he was able to open the doors without issue. It only took him a little over a minute to get to the lobby, looking out the doors he could see the fog had completely cleared out since he had captured the dungeon. He had managed to catch glimpses of the city through the windows, but looking out the doors now he could see that several parts of the city were currently on fire. Despite the many possiblities he might run into out in the world, he only had one thought on his mind at this point. 

'Please let Catherine be ok...' Carter thought, pushing his way through the doors into the new world.