A popular delver rumor states that all rifts have multiple clear conditions. The first one is the obvious: passing the challenges set before the delver. The other condition is to pass the rift’s trial.

  The story is thus: Rifts may be run an indefinite number of times by an innumerable people (once stabilized), so long as the delvers only complete the challenges. If a delver instead completes the rift’s unique* trial, the rift will close. No amount of external stabilization can maintain a rift once it’s trial is completed, or so the rumors say.

  Although I was unable to find any primary sources to back these accounts, there are sufficient secondary sources to lend the idea credence. For this reason, I include the anecdote here. Specifically, I include it to urge you not to seek out a rift’s trial, nor to complete it if you do find it. You risk the wrath of many for forcibly destroying a valuable resource.

  …

  * The idea of uniqueness is even more speculative than the rest, as not enough accounts are recorded to make a statistically accurate judgement. I personally find the claim of truly unique trials difficult to believe. There should, logically, be commonalities between experiences between some trials and others.

  

  Jonah

  Third Storage Hold, Passenger Hold, Wesnmen’s Coallition Trading Barge

  

  The entirety of the ship’s interior, along with a large portion of the surrounding emptiness of space, spread out beneath Jonah’s view. Most of his attention was locked on Naomi and Jemer. They were both in the later’s personal quarters. Over the last two weeks, Naomi had managed to get into Jemer’s good graces to such an extent that the angry woman had finally made good on her initial deal with Naomi to teach her.

  For now, they were stationary and all of Jemer’s close allies were busy with their own tasks. He was as safe as he ever was to let his mind wonder and continue rebuilding his foundations. Since combining his initial insights, and forming his new one, Jonah had spent a large amount of time reclaiming lost power.

  While he hadn’t fully lost anything at all, it had all been distant. Vague. Of course, it was vague because he hadn’t defined it. As the self-proclaimed game master of his own play-through, he had to confider every rule and mechanic carefully before it could apply. The first thing he had decided was to do away with the extremely complicated stat sheet he’d been working off of.

  The gamer part of him had loved seeing his numbers go up, theory crafting possibilities, and overall just enjoying a solid representation of his current power and how it progressed over time. He mercilessly denied that part of himself for a very simple reason: the stats were misleading.

  If he could later think of a way to appropriately quantify everything in hard numbers, he absolutely would. He wasn’t wise enough, or smart enough, to do that though. And, while he could have just accepted the same stats distribution system he’d been using, he didn’t think it was working in the way he expected it to anyway.

  For example, he had placed a large amount of emphasis on his focus stat, yet he’d never felt particularly razor-sharp. If anything, he’d felt as though he’d been slowly becoming more distractible with a mix of hyper-fixation at inopportune moments. It was possible the stats were working perfectly, but without a proper explanation of everything he didn’t want to follow that system.

  Instead, he’d constructed a soft-system inspired by skill-tree based systems devoid of attributes. That change had permanently lost him some of his hard-earned experience points, which he’d absolutely regretted. On the other hand, his new system was significantly more efficient. After his new insight, he’d been able to introspect a bit more and had been shocked to find how wasteful of xp the entire framework had been.

  With each level, the framework itself demanded more experience to grow itself, which was why each level had a significantly wider gap from the last. Despite the exact same amount of experience being needed to increase his Strength from 10 to 11 or his Resilience from 10 to 11, the framework took more and more overhead by itself. As a result, he’d been significantly weaken almost every way than Naomi while the system classified them as a similar level. The revelation nearly had him frothing in rage. The benefits simply weren’t worth the cost.

  His new simplified system was more closely tied to how both Naomi and Willow described their own xp allocation feeling. He could immediately allocate the experience to whatever he wanted. The difference was, he had to define his potential upgrades ahead of time. Everything in a game was concrete. Systems, stats, skills, spells, abilities, none of these could be made up on the fly or the entire game would immediately become unbalanced. An unbalanced game wasn’t a game at all. It was a rigged event at best.

  So, his stats had all ended up close to his ‘baseline’ again due to entirely ripping the old system out. It hadn’t been a total waste, thankfully. After getting rid of the central stats system, he’d had to redefine each of his spells and abilities in a way which made sense in a context wherein the stats didn’t exist.

  He had started with what he was thinking of as his ‘core’ capabilities as a game master. What were the most important things for a game master? Knowledge. They had to know both how things worked, and what players within their game were doing. His RTS View had been the first thing he redefined. It was the first active skill he’d ever used and one of his most important.

  There had never actually been a description for the original RTS View, so he’d had to figure out how to define it himself for the most part. Of course, at first he’d simply wanted to give himself the ability to view the world from a top-down camera-like angle without limitations.

  The idea of being able to simply move the camera wherever he wanted was tantalizing. Just imagining using it to scout ahead, or spy on enemies, or read classified documents left open was exciting. He loved the thought of being able to simply “look” wherever he wanted to. Unfortunately, while he was trying to become the game master, he still had to work within the larger framework of the game world itself. A world which was much more complex, with far more hidden mechanics than he knew of.

  Thankfully, he was able to tweak and test things out as much as he liked. After all, play testing was an important part of the process. He was quite happy with his current iteration of the ability. He had stretched it as far as he possibly could without raising the cost above a single MP per minute.

  The game master may view the world around themselves from above in a manner consistent with an RTS view game.

  

  
• The game master can only view areas their physical body has been within 20 meters of. Areas where the game master has not explored will be covered by a fog-of-war.


  
• The game master may spend additional mana to expand the radius from their body in which fog-of-war is dispersed.


  
• The game master may move their view around the map, an additional 1MP per second is required per 100 meters away from the default viewing position - centered on the game master - the view is moved


  
• The game master may zoom in and out at will. The amount of detail lost or gained based on zoom percentage is based on the game master’s mental capacity to process and remember visual input.


  

  

  
• This ability consumes 1MP per minute it is active, with the mana being charged at the start of each new minute the ability is active.


  
• This ability always costs a minimum of 1MP.


  
• This ability has no mana-reclamation functionality


  

  During the process of redefining the ability, he’d come to realize he needed a way to measure his mana in order to describe the costs of spells and abilities. He had tried leaving out the cost, of course, who wouldn’t want an entirely free ability? When he did that, there had still been a cost, it had just seemed semi-random.

  Every time he activated the ability it used somewhere between a tiny portion of his mana, and all of it. He had no idea why, but that had been a bug that needed to be patched. So, he’d re-introduced the concept of a mana point. It wasn’t exactly the same as before, as he’d based the measurement off of a pre-existing quantity. The EB currency.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  He’d learned recently that EB stood for “energy backed” and specifically, a single rank zero EB was backed by a unit of rank one unaspected mana. Once he’d learned that, it had been a simple matter of asking around the ship to find someone who had a few mana chits they had exchanged their EBs for. They’d been happy enough for him to trade five of his own EBs for a single chit, which was worth a single EB itself.

  Of course, he could have put an order in for his own chits with the guild that backed the EB currency, but he’d have had to wait until they reached somewhere with an exchange office to actually pick them up. Time was unfortunately not something he was willing to spend. Another 4 EBs though? Sure.

  So Jonah’s new system was now technically EB compliant, 1EB = 1MP. He wasn’t certain whether he’d eventually need ranked mana like EB itself had, but that wasn’t a question he cared to answer yet.

  Instead, he was more focused on reconstructing one last ability. He’d finished recreating all of his other spells and abilities. Simulate was the last one. He had left it to last, as it felt like it’d be the most complicated to make compliant with his new system.

  Though, after staring at the previous description for a good period of time, he was starting to realize he may have over-thought things.

  

  Simulate

  Active ability which allows the user to simulate the outcome of a specific set of predefined actions. Simulation time takes N*0.0001, where N is the time required for each action.

  Simulate will strain the body and mind of the user, mitigated by strong focus, ego, and resolve.

  Simulation accuracy rises with higher focus, connection, ideation, and processing.

  Simulation accuracy falls against opponents with higher ego, processing, and focus.

  There were a lot of stats mentioned, but no hard numbers or specifics. Which, now that Jonah had experimented a bit, made him wonder how inefficient the ability really was. Was it even that accurate? If we’d just fought Jemer, could we have beat her that first day? Could we take her now?

  Several iterations and tests passed, but Jonah finally finished altering the ability to his liking.

  Active ability which allows the user to simulate the outcome of a specific set of predefined actions. Simulation time takes N*0.0001, where N is the time required for each action.

  

  
• Simulation accuracy rises the more creative, focused, and clever the user’s problem solving is.


  
• Simulation accuracy falls against opponents who are able to plan or react faster or more creatively than the user.


  

  

  
• Simulate will strain the body and mind of the user, this strain is mitigated based on the strength of the user’s body and mind.


  
• The user may spend mana as a buffer against the ability’s physical and mental strain. Any mana used as a buffer must be allocated to the purpose before the ability is activated.


  
• The user may spend mana to increase the accuracy of the simulation’s results. Any mana used as a buffer must be allocated to the purpose before the ability is activated.


  

  He’d need to test it with Naomi at some point to verify it was at least as accurate as the previous version. At the very least, though, it was something. He had his full arsenal back! His absolute favorite improvement, though, was to his party system.

  Active ability which allows the user to form a party with other beings. Once partied, the user may see the MP of members of your party, along with basic health and danger statuses.

  You may further initiate an encrypted telepathic conversation between one or more party members at will.

  All party members are granted a temporary at-will ability which allows them to initiate an encrypted telepathic conversation between one or more party member at will. This temporary ability is removed when a party member leaves the party.

  

  
• User may only extend party invitations to beings within view (any direct or indirect live visual contact is sufficient)


  
• Party members automatically leave the party on death.


  
• Communication is encrypted in a manner which obfuscates the existence of the telepathic channel. Should the channel be detected, it is not impossible to breach. Breaches will result in the channel immediately shutting down and a new encryption key being generated.


  
• Communication channels are subject to laws of spatial relativity. Any space which is relatively commutable may be connected across. Any space with a difficult or impossible commute will not connect.


  

  

  
• Each party member added increased the cost by 1MP per hour for base membership.
  
    
  
  
    
  • The user may request the party member pay their individual cost of membership when they invite them to the party. The user will automatically pay the upkeep cost if the member ever becomes unable to pay it.
  
  
    
  
  
    


  
• Observing the MP and/or available status for any member costs 0.5MP per second per member observed. While unobserved, this feature has no overhead cost.


  
• Encrypted telepathic communications cost 3MP per included member per minute.
  
    
  
  
    
  • The user may request the party member pay their individual cost invite them to the communication. Any member who becomes unable to pay the communication’s upkeep will automatically leave the communication channel.
  
  
    
  • Any communication between party members which exclude the user will incur no cost to the user, each party member will automatically pay their own communication entry and upkeep.
  
  
    
  
  
    


  

  Previously, Jonah had to maintain a constant drain on his mana to keep a party running. This had limited himself and Naomi quite a bit. Those problems were solved with his new changes.

  He had, of course, tried to just add ‘User may extend party invitations to beings in view or they know the name of’ and other variations. None of them had worked out, as each test had resulted in all of his mana rushing from his body and him passing out. He suspected it was possible to include such a clause, but he hadn’t gotten it quite right. At least, not in an efficient enough manner that he could foot the bill.

  The part about the ‘laws of spatial relativity’ had been added after discussing with a couple of the ship’s engineers. Ships were, all things considered, exceptionally inefficient means of travel. They were mostly employed as a way to kill time, enjoy the scenery, and find new places of interest in the ever-changing cosmos. Trading ships like these made the majority of their profit by selling star maps from each of their trips, updating points of interest for various organizations who maintained teleportation networks. Networks which could be interfered with should a spatially dense object block the network’s path.

  In essence, the clause was saying that party members within the same universe could talk across the channel without additional cost so long as a connecting spatial path was relatively straight forward. Jonah had been skeptical the addition would work, given both that he didn’t entirely understand what it meant, and the calculations to determine the most efficient spatial paths were supposedly extremely complex. Yet, it had clicked into the system without an issue and he had been able to remove another clause which specified the rate of cost inflation relative to member distance from each other.

  Knock-knock…Knock…Knock.

  “Finally!” Jonah’s quiet exclamation came out in a rush and he stood. He could see who had knocked, of course, the knock ‘code’ seemed a bit unnecessary. It hadn’t been his idea, though, and it wasn’t like it hurt anything. Opening the door, he found Hajjo the troll standing a meter or so from the door.

  Keeping his voice quiet, he asked, “Everything’s ready?” Hajjo nodded sharply and waved, “Everyone’s ready for the ‘dog and pony show’, as Prism puts it. Give her the signal.”

  “Gladly.” Jonah reached out to Naomi, connecting their communication channel. She answered without a moment’s hesitation. “It’s time.”

  

  Naomi

  Jemer’s Quarters, Central Bridge, Wesnmen’s Coallition Trading Barge

  

  The mana shaping exercises Jemer had introduced Naomi to were shockingly effective. She had even tried to pass them on the Jonah, though he simply waved it off and said his ‘new system’ didn’t work like that. She hadn’t had enough time between everything to press him on what that meant. She’d barely had enough time to quickly give him the outline of the exercises. It hadn’t been wasted time, at least, as he said he’d send Willow another message soon and he’d include the exercises for her to try.

  Naomi would have sent her own messages, but she was almost always with Jemer at this point. Besides sleeping, she rarely got enough time to think, much less carefully construct a message. Even not considering her own circumstances, Naomi suspected Willow was still in the rift she’d told them about. It was well known that UICI messages couldn’t be received while delving. If she had already finished her delve, Naomi was confident Willow would have replied to at least one of Jonah four messages. He had kept sending at least one a month, just to keep her updated on their progress.

  The entire plan had ended up taking much longer than expected. They had been in orbit above Motrendi for almost an entire two weeks at this point. Yet Jemer hadn’t even acknowledged the arrival beyond sending a small party of some of her most trusted people to the surface. No one was entirely sure what the shaman’s end game was. Naomi didn’t even much care.

  With a soft ‘clicking’ noise, Jonah connected to her through the now semi-permanent link he’d created with her, “It’s time.”

  “Understood.” She looked up from the shaping exercise Jemer had her working on. One where she was required to form her mana into a dozen small strings and weave them into a rope, without allowing the mana to merge back into a single cloudy mass. Supposedly it would allow her to cast more complex spells to have better control.

  “Jemer, I’ve come to a decision.” She spoke in the clipped, confident manner Jemer responded best to. For some reason, the orc seemed to think it was the most natural tone for her to use. She always shot Noami odd glances anytime she used a different tone or inflected any emotion.

  Her ‘teacher’ looked up from the book she had been pretending to read. Naomi was certain the book didn’t even contain any words, it was just a prop as far as she could tell, having checked it once when she arrived before the orc for a lesson. “Hm, what’s that oh daughter of nothing?”

  Another oddity, Jemer generally refused to call Naomi by the ‘name’ she’d given. Instead, referring to her by a handful of nicknames. Each one referring to her path, or at least what Jemer presumed to be her path. Naomi herself still wasn’t sure what the path of Empty Nothing was. She hadn’t found anyone who would answer.

  “You aren’t going to let us leave this ship and rejoin our friend on Motrendi. Are you?” She wanted to clarify, before knocking over the first domino.

  A wide, wicked, smile crossed the red woman’s face, “Why, I said I’d bring you to Motrendi, which I’ve done. My obligations are complete. Now… If you’d like to make another deal, let’s hear your offer, little Nothing.”

  Nodding, Naomi stood and walked about the room, making a show of checking it over carefully. With an amused tone, Jemer asked, “What are you doing, looking for treats? I haven’t hidden any for you, I promise.”

  “Just being careful. What I’m going to tell you could make me enemies.” Naomi stopped, deciding her display had been enough. After all, she knew Jonah was watching anyway. Even if he couldn’t listen, he was getting pretty good at figuring out the gist of things just by observing from above. A useful talent.

  Naomi flicked the first domino, “The crew, and System, are planning a coup.”