The Boundless Expanse(An Epic System Apocalypse LitRPG)

The journey back to Earth was initially set to be quite a long one. Coming out, it had taken around two and a half days to cross the six hundred million or so miles between Earth and the Worldmaw. Going back was a different story, after Sam started experimenting with his Authority. Considering that he could envelop a sphere six miles across in a zone of his complete control, he was able to surround the entire fleet with his will. That allowed him to significantly speed them up.

It had taken a few hours for him to find a balance between self exertion and speed, but he settled on being able to multiply the speed of the fleet fivefold. At that speed it took twelve hours to return to Earth.

The ships parked in near Earth orbit, at a floating dock that Sam hadn't spotted during his initial survey of the planet. It was a product of the upgraded Planetary Core that the faction had gained when Sam reached E Rank.

Luckily for Sam, the Core hadn't changed on account of his nature as a D Ranker. Had it done so, all of his caution would have been for naught. The faction's status hadn't changed either, at least significantly so. It was now a Peak E Rank faction, which, while somewhat hard to believe considering that it only had three E Rankers, was still within the bounds of reason after Sam and his father progressed through the Tower.

Anyone watching closely enough would have seen Sam's Tower completion Title earlier, and would associate that with his meteoric rise in power. All of his other concerns were alleviated as well. His Authority was technically available to E Rankers, but considering that almost nobody formed one at such a low level, the acceptable parameters for such an ability would be judged at a D Rank level.

Connecting the orbital station and the faction city was a teleport gate, bought at great cost from the Planetary Core. At least, it would have been a great cost a few weeks ago, when Sam had left Earth. The faction was incredibly wealthy at this point, delving dungeons for resources that were sold on the Interweb at a profit. The treasury had trillions of credits, so full that the System had started allowing the money to be condensed into more modest forms. Those forms were organized by Rank, with each Rank of credit increasing a hundredfold in value, and each Tier a thousand times.

With normal credits now considered G Rank Credits, an A Rank Credit was equal to somewhere around a quadrillion of those. As it stood, the faction held five B Rank Credits in total. It seemed like a lot of money, and it certainly was, but compared to the sorts of beings whose Ranks matched the coins, it was nothing. A real B Ranker would consider the credits of their Rank to be the same as a regular credit to a mortal.

That was about all the information Sam could get out of Jeffrey. He had been told to ask Okita if he had any more questions, as the banker would be far better equipped to answer them.

Sam stood in front of the portal, ringed by the faction elites who had journeyed to the outer reaches of the Solar System in pursuit of the Worldmaw. For the first time in months, he was about to step foot back on his home planet. All Sam could think, looking down through the glass beneath his feet, was how fragile his world really was. He had seen a far vaster cosmos than he ever could have imagined during his time in the Tower. In comparison, Earth was nothing. It was completely insignificant. The only thing that made it special was that Sam considered it his home. For him, that was enough.

A smile broke onto his face as he took a step forward, and walked through the portal.

Sam emerged in a dark room, but as the grand arc of his Authority swept out across the city, he knew where he was. He stood in a vast web of hallways beneath the city hall. Hallways that hadn't been there upon his departure from Earth. There were miles and miles of them, stretching out underneath a building that was the size of a city in its own right.

Jeffrey stepped out behind Sam a moment later.

"You guys really have been making the most of the Planetary Core," Sam observed as his friend stepped up beside him. "How did you even get the city hall this big?"

"You can sense all of it?" Jeffrey asked, incredulous. "I thought you could sense a few thousand feet, at most."

"We really need to find that mental protection I was talking about," Sam replied. "It'll all be clearer when that happens."

Eduardo and Lao exited the portal a few seconds later, quickly followed by Talnor.

"Not to be that guy…" Jeffrey began, "but this isn't exactly the best place to hang around and chat. Let's find somewhere better. We can have a proper reunion. I'm sure a lot of people who didn't come along, like George and Okita, will want to talk to you."

"You're right," Sam acceded. "How about a restaurant? I haven't eaten anything in months. I know we don't need to anymore, but the social aspect is what we're really looking for."

Eduardo grinned. "I know just the place."

***

"Vittorio's Trattoria?" Sam asked, looking at the cozy little restaurant nestled between a tavern and a smithy.

"Yes," Eduardo replied happily. "I've come here a dozen times since it opened. A little taste of home. The food isn't the main reason, though. It's the atmosphere."

"How exactly?" Sam replied. "Is it some sort of fine dining place? Do the meals come with gold leaf, or whatever it is they do in those sorts of places?"

Eduardo laughed. "Nothing of the sort. It's quite the opposite. Vittorio and his staff don't treat me any differently from anyone else, despite my position in the faction."

"Oh," Sam said, smiling. "I understand now."

"I'm glad you do. Now, can we go in? The others are waiting."

Eduardo led the way, holding the door open for the rest of the group. The other four headed in.

The interior of the restaurant was small, but rather than feeling cramped, it had that sort of timeless nostalgia that one felt not only like they belonged, but always had. A long table was set in the center of the room, with some people already sitting at it. Noticeably, a whole side was set up for Rax, who reclined comfortably on the ground, his many legs curled underneath him.

"Sam!" George called out from the table. "It's good to see you again. How's your smithing been going?" He frowned. "Wait, you were off in the Tower. I-"

"Actually, I did get some smithing done," Sam said. "We should talk about it soon. In a few days?"

"Sure. I'll find a time."

"How have the rest of you been doing?" Sam asked, addressing the wider group. Many of them had been present since the very beginning, but Sam hadn't spoken to them much, especially not recently.

Ava and Jane sat next to each other at one end of the table, while Claude, George, Okita and Thomas sat on the side opposite Rax. Three seats were open next to them, and another two at the head of the table.

"Really well," Ava said. "The faction has been prospering. In fact, we've pulled in so much money that-"

"I got a new tongue!" Jane interrupted, a wide grin on her face. "I wasn't sure if I should have bought it, as I had to dip into the faction reserves, but everyone else agreed. I'm probably not going to reach E Rank any time soon, so it was worth the investment."

"I'm glad," Sam said, also smiling. "Money isn't worth anything if it isn't used."

Seeing that the rest of the group he had entered with were sitting down, Sam did so as well. He and Jeffrey sat at the head of the table, while the other three sat down on George's left.

A few seconds later, a man came out of a door in the back of the room. He was tall and a bit overweight, but not in a way that made him seem fat. He was built like a strongman, almost six and a half feet tall. The man wore a chef's uniform, heavily modified to fit his bulk.

"Welcome to my restaurant," Vittorio said. If he was apprehensive about serving so many faction elites, he didn't show it.

"It's nice to meet you," Sam said. "My friend Eduardo was talking you up before we came in here."

"Oh, has he?" Vittorio asked, raising an eyebrow. "What exactly did he say?"

"That you didn't treat him any differently because of his rank. I can already see that is true. That's quite a rare thing in this city."

Vittorio chuckled. "There's enough killing and absurd displays of power these days. I know just how strong you are, and how integral to the faction. My personal philosophy, however, is that at the table, all are equal."

"That's a philosophy I can get behind."

Vittorio clapped his hands. "Now, I know you all didn't come here to discuss morality, at least with me. What can I get you all started with. Drinks?"

Sam looked down at a menu that had suddenly appeared in front of him. On it were a few dozen drink options, ranging from the sort of pedestrian sodas one could find in any diner on Old Earth, to fancy cocktails with increasingly pretentious names.

"I'll have a beer," Sam said simply. "Whatever you think is best."

A mischievous glint entered Vittorio's eye. "I'll start you off with one of the house specials. It comes from the tavern next door, actually. It's called Terra's Will."

Eduardo laughed at this. "You told me last time that all of the drinks from that tavern are named after Sam in some way or another. Didn't you say the owner had a body pillow-"

"No!" Sam said, cutting Eduardo off. "I don't want to hear about that."

"Drinks for the rest of you?" Vittorio quickly said, returning the conversation to a more normal topic.

The rest of the captains quickly ordered, most going for beers as well. It was almost as if they were trying to get Vittorio to list off progressively more absurd Sam-based names for the beverages. Once George ordered something called Sam's Big Hammer, Sam tuned it out.

Vittorio left after collecting the orders, leaving the table. As soon as he did so, Okita turned to Sam. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you about. So, I've recently been approached by a few investors on the Interweb who want to make a deal with the faction. Only, they wanted to speak directly with you about it."

"What sort of deal?" Sam asked. "Something exploitative?
"As far as I can tell, no. They mentioned watching you progress through the Tower at a rate that beggared belief. Apparently, they've been going through some rough times lately, and wanted to hitch their wagon to a rising star."

"I'll see about that later," Sam offered. "You can introduce me."

"Alright," Okita said with a short nod. "That will work for me."

"Now," Sam continued, looking at the rest. "Tell me everything that's happened since I left."

By the time the drinks arrived, the conversation had broken down into smaller groups. Jeffrey incessantly queried Sam on the Tower, with Rax listening in. The others talked about more important, faction related matters. While it was supposed to be a more relaxed occasion, the faction still had to be kept in mind, as most of its highest ranking members were in one place.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

The door swung open after Sam told Jeffrey about his experiences in the Forbidden Heavens, revealing Pyotr and Addas. The two were caked in blood, their armor rent and worn.

"What happened to you lot?" Sam asked, surprised at their state.

"Monster attack," Pyotr said simply, and started towards the table.

"There was a small pack of Peak F Rank beasts attacking one of the satellite cities," Addas said, going into more detail. "The guards were struggling, and needed some higher level support."

"Satellite city?" Sam asked.

"When you were gone," Addas began, "we started to focus on expansion. With the Planetary Core able to extend across all of Earth, such a task was extremely easy. We have outposts across most of North America, and some smaller cities closer by."

"I'll have to check some of this out," Sam said simply. "I spotted a few of them from orbit, but wasn't sure what it all meant."

"From orbit? When you returned with the fleet?" Addas asked.

"No. When I came back from the Tower, the System spat me out a few thousand miles above Earth. I'm not sure exactly why, but I suspect it wanted me to get a grip on my powers before returning."

Before Addas could say anything else, a bellow of rage echoed through the building. "Not in my restaurant!"

Sam spun around, seeing Vittorio waving a fist at Pyotr, who had been about to sit down.

"Clean yourself up first! This isn't some low end tavern to boast about your adventuring deeds in. If you get blood on the furniture, you're going to have to clean it up!" Vittorio's voice was one of the most intimidating things Sam had ever heard, and he had encountered a lot during his time since the arrival of the System.

Pyotr nodded contritely, the man uncharacteristically cowed by Vittorio. He headed off to the bathroom, quickly followed by Addas, slinking by Vittorio.

Eduardo smiled knowingly at Sam, who smiled back.

Vittorio came over the table, having been on his way to get the food orders when Addas and Pyotr arrived. "What can I get you, ladies and gentlemen?" He shot a venomous glare at the rapidly retreating Pyotr, making it clear that he didn't consider the man to be a gentleman himself.

Menus appeared on the table, just like they had for the drinks. After a short pause, everyone ordered. With their superhuman perception and processing speed, everyone had read through the menus in fractions of a second. Sam had already known the contents before they even arrived, his Authority giving him a god's eye view of everything within six miles of himself. After this conversation, he really needed to test the limits of his newfound power.

The food was traditional Italian fare. Not the sort of stuff one would find at a diner in America before the end of the world, but neither was it some pretentious mishmash of tiny plates and gastronomic regret.

Sam started off with a Napolitan pizza, topped with mozzarella, fresh tomatoes and basil. For his entree he ordered a hearty bolognese, and for dessert, something he had never tried, but wanted to. A tiramisu. When he was younger, his parents hadn't wanted him eating the coffee soaked dessert, and when he was older, he was too tight on money to afford such a luxury. Now though, he could afford to splurge.

Vittorio returned to the kitchen, leaving the faction elites to talk.

"Does he have staff in there, or does he do all the cooking?" Sam asked.

Eduardo nodded. "Yes. He cooks everything. It's why we booked the place out. Although he can prepare dozens of meals in a minute with his superhuman speed, the food still takes the same amount of time to come."

"I'm looking forward to tasting it," Sam said, really meaning it. He was excited to taste something for the first time in months. With his enhanced senses, it would likely be an extraordinary experience.

"Now, I think we had some more important matters to discuss," Lao said. "Mainly, the current direction of the faction. Sam is back, and I am sure that his father will be returning shortly. Their return will most likely create some sort of pretext for stronger invaders." Lao looked at Sam. "Which raises an important question. Just how strong are you now?"

Sam felt everyone's gazes land on him, leaving him in an awkward position. While he wanted to maintain some sort of secrecy until he found a secure means of communication, he still had to give them an idea of his strength. They already had a good idea of it after he had slashed the transport time of the entire fleet.

"Let's just say that I'm not especially worried about what is to come," Sam reassured. "This universe is closed off to people above a certain level of power. I think it's in some way influenced by the average level of the natives."

Jeffrey raised an eyebrow. "That's not really an answer, Sam. I know you wanted to have a more secure conversation about the details of your time in the Tower, but can't you give us something concrete?"

Sam sighed. "Alright. I'll put it like this. That monster you had to bring an entire fleet to kill? I could kill it in an instant."

There was silence for a moment.

"You could kill a D Ranker in an instant?" Jeffrey asked, incredulous. "You're powerful, but how can you be that strong? You just came from the Tower. You should be level 200 right now. I know you're strong, but-"

For the first time since his ascension to D Rank, Sam unfurled his aura. It spilled out like the tides, inexorable and implacable, like a force of nature. He limited it to the area around the table, but still let his friends feel the full force.

Sam hadn't had the chance to explore the strength of his aura yet, relying mostly on his Authority. That was a power more subversive than his aura in ways, and far more domineering in others. It also was hard to gauge a cultivator's power from it. Aura was the ultimate expression of personal power, the sum total of everything that they were.

Sam rose to his feet, and started to float into the air, the nexus of what, to the others, felt like the power of a god. His eyes blazed with flame, and his hair stood on end. His body glowed from the inside, nearly blinding everyone there.

His aura contained the power of a thousand nuclear bombs, going off constantly in an endless, apocalyptic display beyond that which any human should have been able to create. It was absolute in its authority, establishing Sam as a semi-divine figure compared to those around him. For a moment, he was no longer Sam Atlas, the easy going former burger jockey from a diner in the middle of nowhere. He was the very ideal of what a cultivator should be. Inviolable strength, will and control.

The reactions were mixed. Most of the captains fell out of their chairs, their eyes staring at nothing. They mumbled, but no intelligible words came out.

Rax crouched low, a rumbling growl coming from his mouth. It was the reaction of a mouse cornered by a cat, preparing to fight to the end.

Eduardo, Talnor and Jeffrey remained sitting, but they were pressed into their seats by the force, each staring at Sam with astonishment.

Only Lao retained some sort of equanimity, simply narrowing his eyes, studying Sam carefully. Despite this, the elderly cultivator's clothes flapped like they were in an unseen wind, and his hair was pressed to his skull.

Only then did Sam retract his aura, and floated back down to his seat. He didn't say a word, simply letting the others process what had just happened.

Finally, Jeffrey found his voice. "I believe you."

At that moment, Vittorio arrived with the first round of food. He left the appetizers at the table with an almost comedic level of normalcy after what had just happened. Sam was sure that Vittorio had some idea what had just happened, even if Sam had hidden his aura. Sam was by no means an expert of using his aura. He only knew how to express it in terms of his power. When it came to greater control he had his Authority.

Sam wished he had some sort of aura trainer. For some reason, his mind drifted towards a very specific image. A man in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts, with a very prominent chin… Sometimes, Sam's mind found itself mixed up in terms of recall. His memory was utterly perfect now, but many of the memories he had made before the System were still hazy. He often remembered random details from encounters that he didn't remember in their entirety. No doubt the strange character in his mind was from one such encounter.

Sam dug into his pizza, almost freezing as he took a bite. It was one of the most delicious things he had ever tasted. His massively enhanced senses ensured that every savery note, every rich, salty flavor, was rendered in exquisite detail. On the other hand, Sam's control over his body allowed him to turn out the other flavors that would have been horrific at such a level of amplification. Like the burnt pieces on the bottom of the thin crust pizza. They added to the flavor for normal people, but with senses thousands of times beyond the human norm, it would have been nauseating.

"So," Sam said around a mouthful of food. "What's the status of the alien invaders? That's the only challenge to Earth now that the monster you killed is dead. How has the defense of the planet been going?"

Jeffrey scowled. "E Rankers keep coming. They arrive in the dozens every week or so. There's a limit on the average strength of the invaders, but as the faction grows stronger, that limit rises."

"I assume that now that I have returned, the limit will rise a lot?" Sam asked. "And even more after my father arrives."

"Once our enemies realize that you're back, they'll start sending E Rankers in droves. Depending on how strong you've really become, maybe a D Ranker." Jeffrey shuddered. "I don't know how the faction could hold up against that."

"I do," Sam said. "Well, it depends on the stage of D Rank that the invader is at. I can't deal with a high D Ranker, or even a mid-stage one. What is the maximum level for D Rank?"

"Level 500," Jeffrey answered. "So you're saying you could fight up to an equivalent of level 375? I don't see how that is possible, even after what you just showed us."

"I killed a level 300 D Ranker in the Tower," Sam reasoned. "It was as easy as swatting a fly. I assume I could pose a decent challenge to anyone within a few dozen levels of that."

Talnor and Jeffrey stared at Sam, while the others seemed a bit confused at their reactions.

"You what?" Talnor asked, sputtering slightly. "The Tower doesn't have enemies that strong. What did you get up to there?"

"It turns out," Sam replied, "that the Tower stratifies challengers by their strength. Someone like me could breeze through the easy stages of the Tower without much issue. The System started to send me, and my father for that matter, into other universes and Multiverses."

"And in one of those, you encountered a level 300 D Ranker?" Talnor asked. "That's so far beyond what the Tower is supposed to be. I assume that was your final challenge?"

"It was. Though Zeredran, that was the D Ranker's name, wasn't the strongest being I encountered. There were two C Rank entities that I came across, although I didn't have to fight them directly."

Talnor shook his head. "You seem to be the nexus of outlandish events. It's almost impossible to progress as quickly as you have. I think only the Creator Kings, and the other A Rankers, have gone as far in the Tower."

"That's what I gathered," Sam said. "If we can survive Tantalos, this faction has a long and bright future ahead." Sam frowned, remembering something. "Right, about that."

He briefly explained the situation with the Adventurers' Guild, showing the note he had received in the Tower. It was met with a variety of reactions, mostly hope.

"We're going to need to hold out until the Universal Tournament," Sam cautioned. "Depending on what sort of threats the faction faces until then, that might be hard. I don't think the invaders are going to give up. Stronger and stronger people are going to arrive, trying to kill me. I will probably survive, but what of Earth? At what point will there be no world left to fight for? Just a scarred rock, tumbling through space?"

"You mean to say that you could essentially destroy the Earth?" Lao asked. "The surface at least, that is?"

Sam thought about it for a second. "Given a few hours, I think so. In a fight against someone as strong as me, that timeline will be a lot shorter. This planet is extremely weak compared to the Tower."

"A few hours?" Eduardo breathed. "What happened to you? How did you get this strong?"

"The Tower," Sam said simply. "You'll see. E Rank isn't like anything that came before. Progression really starts to take off from there."

"What I'm getting from this is that we need to shore up the defences," Jeffrey declared. "At least something that can stand up against D Rank threats for long enough to respond. I don't know how realistic that is."

"I'll leave that to you guys," Sam said. "After this meal, I need to test out my powers. To do that, I'll need to go further afield. Maybe the asteroid belt. I don't want to end up shifting the Earth on its axis or something."

Before Sam had to explain himself to the increasingly more aghast captains, the entree arrived.

The rest of the meal passed in pleasant conversation, with a few resolutions being made as a result. The first issue on the faction agenda was improving the defences until they could stand up to anything short of a dwarf planet hitting Earth. That was about the level of concentrated destructive power that a mid range D Ranker could put out, so it was a useful calibration.

Second was finding some sort of mental shielding, which Sam intended to do on the Interweb as soon as possible. It would let him tell his closest allies the truth about the Tower, and what he had done there.

Finally came faction development. Sam and the others wanted to get the rest of the faction forces up to par as quickly as possible. His goal was to have at least one E Ranker amongst the core captains by the end of the month, and for the rest to be within a few weeks of breaking through themselves.

As for the rest of the faction, Sam wanted at least ten thousand peak F Rankers to serve as the core of the faction army. They would be able to defend against most monsters on Earth at this point, and against the weaker invaders who came with the E and D Rankers.

The group disbanded, with most of the captains having more pressing concerns than lingering after the major decisions had been made. The whole setup for the meeting, the meal and everything, was more elaborate than the normal engines of bureaucracy. It had taken much longer than normal, but everyone could agree that it was worth it as a break from normal affairs.

Only Jeffrey wasn't busy, as he lacked any responsibilities other than existing as a key aspect of the faction's fighting strength. Everyone else had things on the side, like George's smithing. For example, Talnor served as a liaison between his species and former faction and Sam's own forces. Eduardo and Lao frequently could be found helping out around the city, and, in the former's case, meeting up with other members of his faith. Technically, he was the highest ranking member of the Catholic Church left on Earth, and as such, many looked up to him as such. Though, Eduardo had no interest in serving as the new Pope, or in some other position that would keep him from his duties as a defender of the city. The world had changed and the men of the cloth were no more, replaced by men of the sword. Eduardo could only hope that God looked kindly upon this turn of events.

As for the others, various duties pulled them away, leaving only Sam, Jeffrey and Rax standing outside of Vittorio's Trattoria, with nothing better to do. The hulking herpetopede towered over his companions. As a light rain picked up, he moved in slightly, shielding Jeffrey and Sam with his bulk.

Sam could have walled off the rain for six miles in every direction, but he chose not to. Rax clearly wanted to help, and it would be cruel to deter him. Sam welcomed the monster's desires to stay in touch with a more human aspect of his personality. The more smoothly Rax's development into sapience went, the better it was for everyone.

"Is there something I can lend my hand to?" Sam asked. "I'm itching to test out my strength after the Tower. The last battle was a bit strange…"

"Enough," Jeffrey said, exasperated. "Stop teasing me with tidbits of what happened. Let's get you that mental shield, and then you can explain properly."

"I'll meet you in the Interweb, then," Sam replied. "You can show me where to go from there."

Finding that Rax made quite a good seat, and a good guard, Jeffrey and Sam sat down and entered the Interweb.