The Forgotten Legacy

Shaun couldn’t deny that excitement he felt about claiming his first dungeon, even if it was an F grade. He accepted the prompt and claimed the dungeon, when he did so even more options were provided.

**Please choose one of the following options**

Option 1: Terraform surrounding area covered by this dungeon. Note: this will cost further TE, amount dependant on Terraforming.

Option 2: Terraform as per option 1 but also leave dungeon in place. Note: this will add an extra 25,000 TE to cost.

Option 3: Claim area, leaving dungeon in place but do not terraform.

The options he was provided were as expected, and looking at the cost of keeping the dungeon in place, something that he truly hoped many others would do, he went with option 2.

**Please choose how you wish to terraform the area, this can be changed at a later date if you wish to spend further TE as long as you still hold control of the dungeon area.**

The moment he finished reading the message a map of the entire area appeared in his mind. From what he could gather the area that this dungeon covered was about 10 kilometres from the tree line towards the mountains and about the same across. He could also make out where the boundaries met with the other dungeon areas as these were not curved at all but straight lines. The area was massive and he knew that terraforming the entire area would be a very expensive endeavour. Thankfully he had no plans to do that, all he needed was to form a physical boundary around the edge of the forest to stop anyone from entering the dungeon area. Technically it wouldn’t stop anyone yet, he would need to claim every F grade dungeon for that to happen unless he chose to wall off every edge, which he considered, but would ultimately be pointless as it wouldn’t stop anyone from reaching the other dungeons which was his true goal.

On the map in his mind he was able to change what he was with mere thought so he immediately started to form a wall on the outer edge. The wall itself spread over 10 kilometres across and was over 30 metres into the air and about 5 metres thick. The cost of this was rather cheap, as he could see how much the cost was every time he made a change. Currently as just a normal wall it was only costing about 10,000 TE, which was a tiny amount in the scheme of things. He then decided to add more into the war, including watch towers and a path along the top of the wall. He even decided to add in rooms within these towers, not many but enough that a good amount of people could either sleep or relax. The purpose behind this wasn’t for him, but for Eric, Viv, Gabe and Li, who he hoped to hand this entire place over to at some point in the future. They would need these things, and when he looked at the extra cost it had jumped from 10,000 TE to 50,000. That meant that to claim everything, keep the dungeon and have a killer wall it would cost all of 175,000 TE. He did some quick math and even with the additional expenses, factoring in that he spent about half of the TE to claim each dungeon area of the higher grade dungeons, he still had plenty of TE left over. Confident in his decision he accepted the changes he wanted to make to the area, even if he wanted to he could always come back and make further changes.

**Terraforming confirmed, time to completion 18 hours. Would you like to name this area?**

He didn’t know why the changes would be instant, but seeing that he had 18 hours till the wall was complete meant that he had no reason to sit around and see it completed. He also denied naming the area, something he had no interest even thinking about.

**Title earned: Mayor**

**Mayor: Through the claiming of an area of a planet large enough for a city the title of Mayor has been acquired. While in an area that you rule you stats are increased by 10%. Title Upgradeable. Note: If the area under your control is taken from you or you freely give up this land you will lose the title.**

Shaun groaned at seeing the title, he had no interest in such things and he would have much preferred to not get the title at all. The only upside was the increase in stats but even than he had to be in the dungeon area for them to apply which would only ever help in a short period and only if someone actually came to him.

Rather than dwell on it he simply ignored it, waiting for the day he could get rid of any kind of title related to ruling others. He had other dungeons he needed to focus on and now that he had a general idea of where they would all be he was ready to move out. He would need to spend hours searching for each dungeon but when he found them completing the actual dungeon could be done quickly and then going through all of the terraforming business would be all he had to do before moving on.

He had 18 hours before the wall was done and if he could he would prefer to claim the next dungeon before that timer was anywhere close to being up so that the next wall would already be underway before the previous was completed, hopefully even two sections of wall. He also had an awareness in the back of his mind of the area he had claimed and because of that he made his way into he air and moved at full speed towards the edge of his dungeon area. This didn’t take that long, but that wasn’t what he had been worried about, it was when he got into an unknown area again he would need to spend time cover a 100 kilometres of land to find the next dungeon.

Over the course of the 18 hours he had managed to claim 2 more dungeons, the first being filled with wasp monsters and the second these ferocious green goblins. The dungeons weren’t complicated in how they needed to be completed, it was a simple make your way through them and kill everything you see sort of deal. He made the same walls as he had on the first dungeon claim, and he was able to join them easily as when he chose to terraform, as he owned the dungeon next to it, he could see the full layout of both of them.

With his progress he was able to do 3 of the F grade dungeons in a day, and if he continued on with the speed he was going he would claim each of them in 5 days. He knew that the E grade would take much longer, the D grade even longer still as he would probably need to train in the E grade dungeons before he even attempted the D grade. But before all of that he would need to study the books he had on magical wards, he had been warned that terraforming blindly would be a disaster, especially when it came to actually doing more than just creating a wall.

It was on the third day, after claiming 8 of the dungeons, that he encountered a problem that he didn’t know how to solve. While searching for the dungeon in the 9th area he came across a group of people in the forest at the edge of his echo. There was about 50 of them altogether, and although none of them felt like they were high level, he also wasn’t sure on how to approach the situation. At nearly the same time he felt the dungeon, and it wasn’t that far from this group. At full speed he would probably make it there before them, but even then he had the issue of people being in the area.

He had a choice to make, deal with the dungeon first then the people, or deal with the people and then sort the dungeon. He made the choice quickly, he couldn’t risk them or anyone else get to the dungeon, and afterwards he would deal with the mess of having to handle this group.

At full speed he pushed himself through the air, making it to the dungeon before the others stumbled across it. The area was a small lake, beautiful and pristine and the dungeon was located in the centre on a small island. At the speed they were going though they would probably make it to him in about a minute, but even then they would need to travel to the centre of the lake, without some ability to do so it would cause them a delay.

**Welcome to The Oasis (F grade) Dungeon**

This dungeon forms part of an unclaimed cluster. Current dungeons claimed in this cluster: F grade 8/15, E grade 0/5, D grade 0/1.

Note: to claim this dungeon you need a minimum of 100,000 TE. No rewards will be provided if dungeon claimed.

One participant located, do you wish to enter?

He accepted immediately and appeared in the dungeon. He appeared on an island surrounded by water which was different but he immediately realised what was going to happen. Like a wave dungeon this one would send monsters up form the water to attack, all one needed to do was kill them until the boss came and then win that fight and you would be done.

Shaun didn’t have the time to wait for the monsters to come to him though, he needed to get out of here as soon as possible. Tapping into his water element he dragged the monsters out of the water and immediately froze them before moving onto the next. It appeared though that the dungeon didn’t create the monsters until all of the previous ones were killed. It slowed him down, not by much, but enough that he need dup having to wait between waves before killing off the next set of monsters. Humanoid octopus were the last of the monsters and it included a boss. They were hideous to look at but easy enough to kill. And finally, after what felt like forever, he got the warning of being ejected from the dungeon and appeared back outside. Sadly he had taken too long. Stupid dungeon!

He felt the people gathered around the edge of the lake and he had appeared in full view of them. For a moment they did nothing but look at him all the while he just looked back. He still had to deal with the terraforming stuff but now that he claimed the dungeon he was out of danger of losing all progress he had made in this cluster.

“Hello, we don’t mean any harm, we swear. You claimed the dungeon right, we are safe?” A man from the group yelled at him from across the lake, identifying him he saw that the guy’s name was Jeff and he was only in the high 20’s level wise.

“I claimed the dungeon, there is no point sticking around now. I am claiming all of the ones in this area.” He hoped that would be enough for them to leave but apparently it had the opposite effect.

“That is the best new we have heard in a long time! We have been walking nonstop, we are tired, hungry and honestly, we don’t know what to do in this new world.” The group all nodded along. He took the opportunity to look them over. Unlike his tutorial, where everyone was in their prime, this group had a mix of elderly, and children. “Do you mind if we talk, please?”

These people were not fighters, not really. They may have had classes but they did not seem like the type to have any real fighting ability. They looked scared if he was being honest with himself. But more than that they looked about ready to collapse from exhaustion. Sending them away, it would be a death sentence. He didn’t think there was anywhere even remotely close to here, but even if there was it would be days of travel. Without rest and supplied they would never make it. Shaun gave the guy a nod and so he didn’t scare them he ran across the water, solidifying it under his feet so he didn’t fall in, not being in the mood to go for a swim.

“What bring you here?” Shaun asked them without getting too close. He was holding back every ounce of his aura, including that of his armour, so that he didn’t cause any of them harm.

“We have nowhere else to go. We were having a party, it was my sons birthday and we were all out in our campers when the system, this horrible destructive apocalyptic damn system came. We all went to a tutorial, some of us were together but for most we were separated. For months we were apart and then when we got back only those of us here appeared again. But everything was gone! We had no way to get home and we were in the middle of nowhere! You must know, how hard this has been. What it has done to our planet, it is unforgivable.” The more he spoke the more upset he became, some of the kids started to cry as they listened and many of the parent held their children close. “We just want to be safe, to get home.”

Shaun listened to the man speak, and the more he looked over the people present the more he felt for them. He never had to worry about anyone else when he was in the tutorial, not like the people that had been torn from their families. He had never considered some of the more harmful impacts of the integration. “Where is your home?”

“A few hours from here, just outside of the city.”

“I am sorry, but your home is gone.” This wasn’t what they wanted to here, their expression changed and many of them looked devastated. “What I mean is, I came here from the city. If you tried to walk back it would take weeks, if not more at a normal pace. When I travelled through I saw places that used to be suburban neighbourhoods. All of them had been reclaimed during the planet being terraformed. There was nothing really left. Even the city was mostly reclaimed.”

“I…why? Why has this happened to us? Your saying we have nothing left? What about food? Shelter? Have we truly made it through the tutorial just to die anyway?” Although these were phrased at questions the man didn’t really expect an answer, Shaun chose to anyway.

“You will need to hunt for food. Monster meat isn’t so bad. You will need to rebuild your home though, find a place where you can settle down. It won’t be easy, but you can do it if you focus on it with everything you have. The world has changed, but it doesn’t mean you have to die because of it.”