As the group of travelers left the fae realm of Silverthorn Vale, each was assaulted by flashing blue boxes that filled their vision.

You have saved the life of a Prince of the High Fae. The Beast Knights will remember this deed.

You have earned a Large Favor that will be honored by any of the Beast Princes.

King Maximus the Gold Digger, Ruler of the Gnomes of Cinderstein, thanks you for the rescue of His Royal Highness, Prince Rupert.

You are named Friend of the Gnomish Court and invited to visit.

You have earned a 50% discount on all fees for Banking, Legal Advice, and Tailoring offered by gnomish citizens and artisans in the city of Cinderstein.

The Great Lords of the Hoard have approved the upgrade to Gold Status of the Royal Gnomish Bank of Sedgewick.

A Copper Branch Bank has also been approved for opening in the City of Gadobhra, and a junior banker has been dispatched.

Oberon, High King of the Realms of the Fae, has declared the Time of Seclusion to be over.

Rejoice, mortals, for the Fae have opened the gates to their wondrous lands and invite you to adventure in the Wilds of the Fae Realms. While other mortals must quest to obtain the Ivory Keys needed to gain access to the Wilds of the Fae Realms, you have earned yours. Simply ask Uncle Gom for them.

You have Strengthened Trade between three Realms and earned Building Points:

Baron William of Gadobhra is rewarded 10,000 Building Points.

The Village of Sedgewick is awarded 5000 Building Points.

King Oberon has gifted Countess Silverthorn 10,000 Building Points to replenish her broken realm. (This, of course, is none of Billy's business.)

The System awards each of your party 5000 Building points, and you may gift those or use them as you wish. (And no, Billy doesn't need to know about this, either.)

Your party has accomplished a Legendary Feat. This comes with benefits:

-Enough experience to reach Tier Four and Level 16.

-Increases to statistics commensurate with the experience (And beyond. There was a lot of spread around, and the Countess didn't mind sharing.)

-A large chunk of Enhancement points.

-A personal Legend that comes with Legendary abilities.

-The wisdom of an Advisor.

-Time to talk and decide your paths in life.

-Legendary Loot

Welcome to Tier Four!

You and your companions have shown the Fae Nobles that mortals are still dangerous and not to be trifled with. Actions have consequences. In this case, the death of a powerful immortal has thrown the King's Court into chaos and rewritten the political landscape. And let's not forget that you managed to frighten every Fae in the Realm and remind them there is a counter to their power. On the good side, alliances are being forged and strengthened between gnomes, Fae, and the little village of Sedgewick.

The rewards for your great victory are many and have pushed you to the beginning of Tier 4.

The following benefits are rewards for your victories in battle and negotiation. (It was hard to shove that much experience into you all at once, but we're trying.)

Nothing Left on the Table: Many of your Trade Skills, Resistances, Weapon Skills, and Aspects have been raised to rank 15. Your stats reflect those increases. You may boost three other skills of your choice to rank 15.

All the Spirits!: Bonus Enhancement Points have been used to increase all your stats by +3, if not already increased.

The caps for your stats in Tier 3 have been raised to 10. If Experience could be added to a skill that would raise one of your stats, that was done.

Creature Type Evolution: Your Creature Type has been changed. You are no longer considered a minion.

Poison? This is Poison? Tasty! I'll have another helping: Your Poison Resistance has increased to a minimum of Very Strong (Tier 3) and Rank 15. Very Strong Poisons are reduced by 75 points of damage. Weak Poisons and Strong Poisons have nearly no effect upon you. If your resistance was higher than Very Strong, it is Increased to Rank 15.

-Points of INT, CHA, or WIS will add 80 mana.

-Points of STR will add 70 stamina and 50 health.

-Points of CON will add 50 stamina and 70 health.

You have gained a Legendary Ability!

Legends are a tricky thing, and while they come with benefits, they also shape your future. You each have options; choose wisely. Your Legend will highly influence your class you receive in Tier 4.

You may choose three skills to upgrade to Rank 15; you must do this before moving to Level 16 and spend any unspent points on new Enhancements before moving to Level 16.

You have gained a large number of Enhancement Points. Please spend these and any saved points before moving to Level 16.

Advisors

Each of your party has been assigned a helpful guide who will advise you on this next stage in your lives. You will meet with them for casual one-on-one conversations before you rejoin your friends and plan your future.

Following all of this were many global announcements which flashed by too fast to read. The blue glow expanded, and all five travelers were gone. The only witness to the event was a confused sedge beast.

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It was quiet today, and that made Dan happy. Quiet meant nothing was going wrong in Genesis. No bugs with player builds were being exploited. No corporation was doing something that generated ten thousand angry emails from players. No one had triggered an event early and released a World Boss far ahead of time. Today, being the head of the Event Monitoring Group meant extra time to enjoy a lovely cup of coffee generously provided by Sidney. Her popularity had increased since she began hosting coffee tastings and leaving the leftover beans for her coworkers to enjoy.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

Unlike previous games where he'd been an admin, he'd grown to appreciate how Genesis seemed to run itself. Many glitches were fixed as soon as he filed reports and brought them to the system's attention. The categories where problems occurred were almost entirely from something outside of the game. The corporations had a lot of leeway and were competing to develop and explore the region known as the Empire and its surroundings. That led to problems and, at other times, created new and exciting events. Or both at once. The current underground war was one of those.

A coal mining town had expanded, and a corporation had brought in five hundred workers who could dig huge amounts of coal and earth. Instead of traditional mines, they created a huge, open-air strip mine that went deeper and deeper. Tesladyne had ignored the warnings from the Dwarven Kingdom of Blackthunder and pushed their strip mines until they encroached on the Dwarven kingdom. In the search for coal and iron to sell, they got into a war. The dwarves launched attacks against the surface, and the war had raged for a month, with players flocking to the area to fight for either side. Blackthunder won the event, forcing concessions from the corporation when they tunneled underneath the mining villages and mercenary camps and blew them up with cataclysmite. The celebrations were short, as the ring of explosions shattered supports in the underground mines, and a chunk of the surface a half-mile across sunk into the ground and disturbed the Troglodytes and Myconians who dwelt beneath the dwarves. The war was on again, this time between the Tesla-Thunder Alliance and the Righteous Army of Those Beneath. Quests poured out from both sides, and Dan hadn't had to do anything except start a Dwarven Berserker to participate in the battles. Strictly for monitoring purposes, of course.

He was sneaking in some playtime with all the big bosses gone to Geneva. He'd just led his party into the Fortress of Fun-Guys when Ray entered his office. "Hey, Dan! What's up with the game? We didn't have anything scheduled." The distraction cost Dan another death as a pulpy Myconian claw engulfed his head, and roots invaded his skull, turning his brain to fungus. He logged out of the game, waiting for his respawn timer to let him continue the fight.

"Ray...what have I said about rushing in with news and disturbing me?"

"Well, last time you said 'HOT DAMN! I'm rolling up a dwarf for that!"

"Yeah, well, besides that. What did I say the time before?"

"I think it was 'Oh My God! How fast can we get our characters to the Necropolis? That sounds fun."

"Um, forget it. What's up? I had announcements turned off." He hastily logged back in.

Ray grabbed a chair and sat next to him. "Check it out, Global Weather Announcement; never seen that before."

Global Weather Announcement: Winter is Coming!

Rogue Cyclones from the Icy planes have descended to wage war against the weak weather spirits of the Conjunction. Already, storms are raging in the northern mountains, and the temperature is dropping daily in Northern Grultain and the lands of the Maple Priests. Soon, the Jack of Frost and the Wolves of Winter will be loosed from their chains, and the Ice Spirits and Frozen Horrors will flock to their banners. Heroes are needed to fight against this new threat!

Players should begin their trek north to the Capital of the Northern Duchy, the mighty fortress of Wolfsburg, and receive quests from Duke Carl. Players may also gain the same quests from Baron PennyPincher, but they only pay half as much.

(Or, as an alternative, seek out one of the hidden Frost Wizards now roaming the far north and join the forces of Winter as they march south. Gaining an Aspect for Ice Magic had never been easier!)

This is a seasonal event lasting three months. (Unless Winter wins.)

Ray watched as Dan brought up the announcement, "Wow, that sounds cool. Did we have anything to do with this?"

"Dan, if you don't know, I sure as hell don't. So either Steven tossed a wrench in the system, or this is from the Engine. It sure isn't player-related, and it started in the planes. No one has even been to any place there other than the smoke. One of the guilds has opened up the gate to Air, but they fell to their deaths when they overloaded the Cloud Cutter the quest gave them. Putting 57 armored players into a little ship made of wispy white stuff wasn't smart."

"He, it was in the heat of the moment, and everyone was excited. Um, not like I was there."

"Oh, is that why you were so grumpy last week? I keep telling you to save up those bonus points you earn working overtime for Steven and put them into one character. You spend them on something new as fast as you can."

"I like new stuff! But maybe you're right. I should crank the overtime for two weeks while this event starts to get going, then do an apprentice mage build with my bonus points put into Cold Resistance and Extra Mana. Then head north."

Global Announcement: Oberon invites all travelers to visit The Wildlands of the Fae

The Fae Realms have ended their seclusion and look forward to visitors. It is a time to rejoice, mortals, for the Fae have opened the gates to their wondrous lands and invite you to adventure in the Wilds of the Fae Realms. Players may now gain access to the Wildlands between Oberon's Kingdom and the Shadowlands. Between these two kingdoms lies a vast and wild realm, uncharted by any mortal.

The first four mortals to discover the Fae Kingdoms have become Legends and earned great riches, new abilities, and powerful magical items. Will you be next?

Passage to the Wildlands may be found in many places: Mysterious mushroom rings, enchanting crystal caverns, left-handed doors at the end of strange, twisting alleys, and gaining the favor of handsome goblins in a Fairy Market.

Global Announcement: The Wonders of the Gnomish Kingdoms

King Maximus the Gold Digger, Ruler of the Gnomes of Cinderstein, has authorized quests where travelers may earn the trust of the Gnomish Kingdom. To begin these quests, go to any Royal Gnomish bank and start a savings account.

Global Announcement: The Threat of the Unsouled

Somewhere, a dark thing stirs, the enemy of all living creatures. Seek out Inquisitor Diego or another member of the Inquisition and join the quest to ferret out this growing evil.

Global Announcement: Pets for Everyone!

Many players have asked for an expansion of the classes that may earn special pets as Boss Loot or from Dungeon Quests. The System is happy to announce that pets will now become more available, especially to those who truly want them, and spend their expansion points wisely! Pets will still be available from the original quests. The following perks may now be bought with Enhancement Points.

Gain Pet Rank 1: Gives you a chance to find a pet as part of Dungeon or Boss Loot. Cost: 5 points.

Gain Pet Rank 2: Increase the chance of finding a pet. Cost: 15 points.

Gain Pet Rank 3: Greatly increase the chance of finding a pet for the unlucky or impatient. Cost: 30 points.

Gain Pet Rank 4: (What? Still no pet?) Gives a 99% chance that your next Boss Chest will contain a pet. Cost: 50 points.

Players who have spent points on these skills will be the first to gain options for increasing the size, health, and special abilities of their pets.

Dan looked at Ray. "Let's take a look at the list of overtime projects. I want to see how many points we can earn in the next week while everyone is gone."

Ray agreed. "Works for me. Steven said there was a lot of stuff he wanted done in the next couple of weeks. If we put cots in the break room and have food delivered, we can just stay logged in. And there's no shortage of coffee."