Chapter Three Hundred and Fifty-Five. Four long months later.

Chapter Three Hundred and Fifty-Five. Four long months later.

"Any chance we can steal her?" Elania asked, lifting her eyes from the folder.

"I'm afraid Ms. Gupta is being drowned in accolades by her own country," Taylor replied dryly. "If she had been poor, we might have had a chance, but the truth of the matter is that India is a wonderful country in which to be wealthy, which her family was. I'm somewhat surprised that they were willing to share this with us so freely."

"I have a feeling that there are thousands of electricians around the world either saying 'I told you so,' or smacking their own foreheads," Elania shook her head.

"It turns out that we had dozens of requests to authorize similar experiments," Taylor agreed. "We just didn't have the crystals, and to be honest, we didn't need to. As badly damaged as our lines were, our plants didn't suffer nearly as badly as India's. Direct generation of a steady current from mana crystals is going to be incredibly important for them."

"Well, we can write that off as a net benefit for humanity as a whole and India in particular," Elania closed the folder and moved it to the side before opening the next one.

She quickly scanned the document within, then read it again, more slowly.

"Of course," she sighed.

"While she can't be certain, she's made a solid argument," Taylor agreed.

"Summoning, Dimension, and Shadowmancy," Elania leaned back. "It certainly fits with those Ancestral Blessings the System offers."

"The nice thing about those System notifications is that you can always call them back up," Taylor said. "Previously I might have hesitated, citing her advanced age and possibly failing memory, but with reincarnation having restored her youth, I think we have to accept this."

Elania looked down at the folder again.

You have chosen to evolve.

Your species has been shaped and molded by a single individual as it progressed into Paragon and reached Pinnacle. Benefits for these stages included increased mana sensitivity and mana manipulation, as well as increased creativity, empathy, and curiosity.

This individual, as the first of your species to evolve, has guided you to what you were, and contributed to what you could be. In the interest of homogeny, the System recommends continuing to follow this course of evolution.

Wayfarer.

The natural evolutionary path of the Human species (sub-species Earth), Wayfarers are as compact as possible, standing between eight and a half and eleven feet tall, and retain all of their sub-species traits.

Members of your species who chose to evolve past the pinnacle will now receive a natural affinity for the Arcane Schools of Dimension and Summoning, as well as the Divine School of Shadowmancy.

Would you like to evolve as a Wayfarer, or would you like to see the other species available?

"I could be wrong," Elania said thoughtfully, "but as written, that rather strongly suggests that someone who shall remain unrecorded at this time has been rewiring humanity."

"That's what the Queen wrote," Taylor agreed. "Also, everyone is going to know it was Bob."

"Some people are going to want to become dragon men or whatever," Elania shook her head, "but the majority of us are a little too attached to our humanity to want to stray too far away from it. Which is probably why that certain someone did what they did. It would have been nice if they'd consulted with someone before making decisions that would impact our entire species."

"Could have done a lot worse, though," Taylor said.

"Creativity, empathy, and curiosity? Yes, it could have been worse."

Bob smiled as his pack of UtahRaptors finished off the Gwarli that had been attacking Jake's flank.

Quest Complete!

You have dispersed 16,777,216 manifestations!

You have proven your ability to disperse manifestations more powerful than yourself. The ability to select the tier and level of the manifestations you will face in a Dungeon has been fully unlocked.

It had taken four months to finish that quest.

The true frustration had been facing the reality of just how terrifyingly large the numbers he was dealing with had grown.

Summon Mana-Infused Creature. Spell level 89. Progress to next level 1,276,880 out of 5,242,880.

Bob wasn't normally a terribly emotional man, but when he'd seen the cost to increase his spell go up to over five million experience per level, he'd felt an irrational wave of anger wash over him.

He'd done the math a long time ago, and he knew it was coming, but damn.

Thankfully, the past one hundred and twenty-one days of receiving a meager seven experience per monster were over.

More importantly, it was time to take a vacation.

Dave shook his head. "I think you're underestimating your own value," he said. "If nothing else, she's probably going to want to talk to you about those blessings."

"I wonder if she venerates you or Monroe?" Eddi asked.

"Or both," Wayna added.

"We'll need to jump in well away from the planet," Mike said. "There is no way that there aren't a ton of spacecraft up there now, not with how easy it is to build them."

"The Freedom was not easy to build," Bob muttered.

"The Freedom was an incredibly ambitious project more in line with a colony ship meant to explore the multiverse, as opposed to a solar run-about," Amanda said.

"So I guess the big question is, can we afford the trip?" Erick asked.

"You need to stop giving all your crystals away," Bailli scolded him gently, softening her words with a gentle kiss.

"I'm the richest man in the world," Erick replied. "I have you. What else is there?"

"Oh, that's a good one," Dave muttered. "I'm definitely borrowing it."

"Yes, it is, and you should," Amanda agreed. "I think everyone except for Erick has half a million crystals banked."

"Something like that," Jack agreed.

"I wonder how much things cost on Earth," Harv mused. "I learned a little bit about economics when I was trying to distribute the cure for cancer, and it shocked me how much things cost beyond what was needed to create them. Our crystals might not go as far as we think."

"We won't know until we get there," Bob shrugged.

"Any reason not to get going?" Dave asked.

"I should let the King know," Bob said. "Also, we might want to see if anyone else wants to come with us? I don't have anyone besides you guys, but you have families and friends and stuff, so maybe see if they want to join us? It doesn't cost anymore to jump the Freedom when it's packed full of people as opposed to mostly empty."

"Your Majesty," Bob bowed.

"Bob," Kellan rumbled.

If Bob didn't know better, he would have thought the King of Greenwold sounded almost... happy.

"I completed the quest that unlocked my ability to delve above my tier, so I'm going on vacation with my friends to celebrate," Bob shook his head. "They completed it months and months ago."

"It was a bit of an annoyance," Kellan agreed with a chuckle.

Bob hesitated for a second, then shrugged. It probably wouldn't hurt to ask. "How the hell did you finish it before I did?" He asked.

"How long does it take you to clear a Dungeon?" Kellan answered his question with one of his own.

"Two hours, give or take, depending on the Dungeon," Bob replied.

"It takes me about ten minutes," Kellan said, his tone carrying the smugness that only a dragon could convey.

"Ok," Bob shook his head, "you know what, I don't need to know, you're a Dragon, that's what Dragon's do."

"Indeed," Kellan smiled toothily.

"So, I'm going back to Earth for a week, then I'll start delving again," Bob said.

"Excellent," Kellan said as he waved his hand, "I had hoped you'd be returning to Earth soon."

Ericka, the King's draconian seneschal, strode into the room, handing Kellan a sheaf of papers before smiling at Bob, who still found her smile rather unnerving. It was far too broad, and her teeth were far too sharp and pointy.

"As you may be aware, the Empire has uprooted itself and moved to Earth," Kellan began. "This has given my primacy over the entire planet of Thayland. Despite the seventy million people from Earth who have chosen to shelter under my wings, I'm faced with the reality of needing more people to keep the Dungeons cleared."

Kellan flipped through the sheaf of paper quickly, nodded his head and handed it back to Ericka, who in turn handed it to Bob.

"That is a tentative agreement between myself and some of the leaders of Earth with whom I've had an agreeable relationship with in the past. The broad scope is that I'm willing to provide transport from Earth to Thayland for individuals who wish to delve my Dungeons. They will agree to delve for eight hours a day, five days a week. Half of the crystals they collect will be reserved for my hoard, while the nations may negotiate their own tax, although it may not exceed twenty-five percent," Kellan finished.

"I don't mean to disparage your generosity," Bob said slowly. "But weren't we paying a ten percent tax and a ten percent lease?"

"That was when your people were in deadly peril," Kellan replied. "I used those crystals to build up the defenses of the cities of Greenwold, and once that had been done, to fuel the stasis project. This," he gestured toward the papers Bob held, "is, as you would say, just business."