《The Death Core》


 Chapter One

    It awoke in darkness, unaware of the Horrors that would resign within it or the Stars that showed Death for those who provoked it. It awoke to a screen in front of it,


    [Dungeon Core detected, Monster Schemas offered, Error, Reincarnator status detected raising Rarity of options, Error abnormally High Luck stat detected, raising Rarity of options, select four:


    Option One: Blood Reaver Mantis, Rarity: Exotic


    Option Two: Star Mane Lion, Rarity: Exotic


    Option Three: Light Runner Antelope, Rarity: Exotic


    Option Four: Bloodborne Wolf, Rarity: Exotic


    Option Five: Giant Bloodborne Cricket, Rarity: Exotic]


    The Core instincts pushed it to choose; knowledge of the options flooded its mind, and beyond the mere words, it saw power. The Mantis would hunt its foes relentlessly and with powerful blood magic ,would empower itself, enhancing its already powerful physique combined with a potent venom that rotted the blood and flesh of its targets; the Lion would be a pack hunter leading a small pride to hunt, using, teamwork and stellar magic, to paralyze, vaporize and rend its foes, the Wolf was like a combination of the Lion and the Mantis, it lacked the stellar magic if the Lion and venom of the Mantis, but it made up for it with stronger teamwork, the Antelope and Crickets could be strong and they were fast. Still, they were for the main monster, so it selected, the Lion, the Wolf, the Mantis, and the Antelope.


    Another Screen appeared, offering more schemas, more power


    [Select Four Plant Schemas:


    Option One: Supreme Aether Grass, Rarity: Epic


    Option Two: Greater Assassin Death Vines, Rarity: Epic


    Option Three: Stellar Acacia, Rarity: Exotic


    Option Four: Gaseous Shriekers, Rarity: Rare


    Option Five: Corpse Flower, Rarity: Uncommon}


    [Decoration Schemas Granted: False Sun, False Moon, False Stars, Torches, Treasure Chest, Precious Gemstones]


    [Trap Schemas Granted: Spear Trap, Pit Trap, Needle Trap, Snares, Pendulum Trap, Compactor Trap]


    Unlike the monsters, the decision for the plants was much easier for the Core, the Corpse Flower wouldn¡¯t stand a chance in its Dungeon, and the others were so much more useful; the Aether grass and Stellar Acacias would be the Floors backbone, serving as food and shelter for his monsters, the Assassin Death Vines would be a silent killer ensuring that only the strongest and most intelligent would survive, and the Shriekers, they an alarm system if someone decided to invade his Dungeon. With its schemas selected, the Core focused on its surroundings. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    It saw that it was in a vast cave compared to itself and noticed new schemas that it had not selected: Traps and Decoration Schemas. The knowledge that it gained told him that they were best used together, and so the Core began to build what would become the deadliest Dungeon in the world.


    It tugged on its schemas, and before it stood a pack of fifty wolves and five hundred Mantises.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Core howled in rage again, as the Mantises eliminated the Wolf pack for the fifth time in a row; the Core underestimated the Mantises¡¯ need for blood and flesh, the wolf pack was the best prey for the Mantises, it didn¡¯t help that compared to wolves the mantises were only the size of the wolves hindleg, so with their smaller size and greater agility, they would murder the wolves every single time, they met, however there was an upside to this the wolves were slowly becoming more resistant to the venom, which the Core decided to dub Bloodrot.


    While the Core was attempting to balance the two monsters, it discovered something, a wondrous thing called Dungeon Orders, with it the Core instituted two orders, One, if an invader attacked the Dungeon, all of its creations would fight the intruders and not fight each other, the effect of this order ends once the invaders are dealt with or are not on the floor anymore, Two, predators may only attack their prey animals if the preys numbers are sufficient. It was odd how the Core knew all these words and what predator and prey were; the Core simply decided to chalk it up to the System that provided its Schemas to it.


    The Core noticed the Mantises continued to attack the wolves, so there was no chance of the problem going away at that moment. Although according to its Schemas, the Vines produced a highly nutritious fruit, but it was a deadly trap that lured prey to its death by sharp thorny vines; perhaps that would help. The Core expanded its sight even more. The cave was roughly a square and was around five miles available for use; strangely, it was a perfect cube with the Core at the end. More importantly, there was a way in, a small entrance around five tall and five feet thick, which led into a tunnel that opened up into the floor; if something went through right now, the Core did not think it could stop them. It placed six shriekers within the tunnel to ensure that I would know if something came in.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Core was ecstatic, for it had discovered how its False Sun, Moon, and Stars worked. It simply placed them at the ceiling of its cave. Bright light illuminated the cavern; even better, it could put them in a cycle with each other: every twelve hours, the False Sun and False Moon would emerge with the Sun setting in the west and rising in the east and the Moon and stars only appearing after the sun had set, it was beautiful to the Core since it meant that all its other monsters could finally be added to it since it had run into a frustrating limit that all the different monsters it had required a day-night cycle.


    The Core added its Aether Grass, Stellar Acacias, on some of the Acacias, especially the ones close to the entrance. It placed the Assassin Death Vines with their bright red fruit and deadly spiked vines that dangled around the precious fruit, the wolves which had to sustain themselves off their battles with the Mantises, perked up at the sight of the blood-red growth, and finally, it created a herd, two hundred-fifty antelope, and pride of fifty lions, one of them was much bigger than the others, and it felt more intelligent, and it would be the pride¡¯s leader.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Eidolon was wounded, but they knew that everything would be okay if he could obtain control of the vast amount of pure mana in the distance. Even a basic trap could kill it now, but it could only hope. He was a scout of the Endless Empire, and soon, he would be free.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Stars had aligned to form a new constellation, one that would be known as Styx. A new dungeon had been born somewhere in the east, but soon, the world was forced to fight to contain it and its rampage of destruction.

 Chapter Two

    The lion pride over the past star cycles, which was how long it took for the stars and sun to do a full rotation, had asserted its dominance over the floor, and the antelope herd had created food for the wolves and lions. Still, the herd was growing too slowly. They got fifteen new members every single star-cycle, the wolves and lion would kill around ten each star cycle, and the mantises would kill one every few star-cycles, but they were non-factor, the Core had capped their growth at only five-hundred members, so it wanted them to reach that soon, the lions were capped at one-hundred, and the wolves were capped at two-hundred, the Mantises were capped at their current population because they were already dangerous enough in their current number. The Core decided it wouldn¡¯t interfere for now and decided to focus on the terrain, raising five hills around thirty feet tall and one hundred feet wide; it also created small ponds at the top of each hill just in case he needed them.


    The Core also looked over their trap Schemas and decided to begin placing them down. First, in between the six shriekers, it placed three spear traps and a pendulum trap at the end of the tunnel, it was a large swinging ax that was always in motion, next at the base of three Stellar Acacias with Assassin Death Vines, the Core placed three chests which were filled with basic gemstones, which glittered red, yellow, green, some were even transparent, the Core also placed needle traps in the locks of the chest.


    However, it found another screen when it installed them inside the lock, [Needle Trap detected, would you like to use Greater Paralytic, a poison which paralyzes the one who triggers the trap, Greater Poison, which will give the one who triggers the trap a deadly illness, or Bloodrot, which will rot the flesh and blood of the person who triggers the trap]


    It chose one for each chest, and the one with Bloodrot it decided to leave empty until it found something to fill it. As it hovered over its newest creation, it decided also to place a pit trap in front of the entrance, and it was still possible to get out but close enough that if something were running, it would fall into the pit and skewer on the spikes at the bottom, which were how it obtained a Schema, it had reached out and touched it for lack of a better word, and it gained a schema for [Iron], a soft, moldable metal, that could be useful in creating obstructions and traps, a good find.


    However the traps found themselves tested sooner than expected, as something charged in, it was floating and wore armor that looked hard and impenetrable, however strange mist emanated from it head, and held a sword and shield, the shriekers screamed a cry of terror, and the spears flew, most bounced off the armor but some flew true and struck it in the head, but continued wounded but alive, it dodged the ax, and simply floated over the pit trap, then the mantises attacked, they jumped and sunk their blades into the strange beings, two of the mantises lept in unison sinking their deadly blood magic empowered blades into the invader, it fell and with it both of the Mantises began to change, and the Core obtained new Schemas, [Schemas Gained, Adamantine, Sword, Shield, Greater Stellar Eidolon (Epic), Spacial Ring, Class Schema Gained, Martial Spellwalker Titan (Epic), Spell Schemas Gained, Stellar Bolt, Stellar Shield, Dispel Magic, Detect Magic, Counterspell, Bladeward, Ghostwalk, Skill Schemas Gained, Leadership, Combat Mastery, Bone Forging, Organ Forging, Soul Forging, Muscle Forging]


    The Core was happy with the new schemas, especially for the new monster and the New Categories, Spell, and Class Schemas. From what it could tell the new knowledge now flooding its mind, it could grant Spell, Class, and Skill schemas to a specific monster to elevate them to a higher position, the Ranks were, Mini-Boss, Boss, Raid Boss, and Core Guardian. They were much stronger variants of their current monsters and needed to be slain to get closer to the Core. The Core Guardian grew in strength with The Core, but The Core could only have one at a time; even one would be enough for now, and therefore, realized that any kind of boss¡¯s death temporarily meant that they would always grow stronger.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    The Core immediately gave all the Lions [Stellar Shield], [Detect Magic] and [Combat Mastery], [Graceful Movement], and the Forging Skills. The other Spells and Skills would reserved for the leader of the Pride, who, in addition to the other skills and spells that his pride mates received, I gave him the Schemas for [Dispel Magic], [Leadership], [Stellar Bolt], [Bloody Fury], [Deathly Fury] and [Martial Spellwalker Titan] Schemas, another Message form the Screens appeared¡­Wait, where did the Fury skills come from? Thought the Core. Suddenly, a new screen appeared before it.


    [Bosses created, Species: Blood Reaver Mantises, Name: The Twins of Chaos, Pluto, and Hades, Classes: Bloody Wrathful Reaver (Legendary) and Bloody Deathless Reaver (Legendary), New Class Schemas Obtained, Skill Schemas obtained, Rend, Bloody Fury, Deathly Fury, Graceful Movement, Bloodied Bladestorm, Surprise Attack, Forsaken Blood, Respective Skill Schemas obtained]


    [Boss Created, Name: Starbreaker, Species: Star Mane Lion, Class granted, Class changed to match user, New Class Schema Obtained, Steller Godforger Titan (Mythic), Boss raised to Raid Boss]


    [Raid Boss Changes: Skill Granted, Stellar Roar, Forging Archetype skills merged into Godforging, Graceful Movement, Bloody Fury, Deathly Fury merged into Stellar Battlefury, Skills upgraded: Stellar Shield ¡ú Supreme Stellar Wall, Stellar Bolt ¡ú Supreme Stellar Lightning, Dispel Magic ¡ú All Magic Must Die, Spell and Skills Granted: God Ward, Aegis, Stellar Smite, Respective Schemas Gained, (WARNING, THESE SKILLS CAN ONLY BE GIVEN TO RAID BOSSES)]


    That was surprising for the Core, but upon reading it and finding out that the bright light that the two Mantises had been enveloped in was a sign that they had been elevated to Bosses, the Core immediately granted them the Schemas for Forging Skills, [Detect Magic], [Counterspell], [Bladeward], [Ghostwalk], and [Combat Mastery]. This was amazing, with a Raid Boss, and two bosses there was no chance of something getting through my defenses, this was amazing!


    +++++++++++++++++


    The [Priestess] was troubled, for the stars had aligned in a troubling way. The Constellations King, Fatebreaker, Forge, and Skeleton all appeared connected to her sight, forming a vast network that, according to her Skills, spelled Death and Fortune. The fact that the Dungeon Constellation had also appeared just a week prior meant that a new dungeon had been formed; her skills told that it was an Orichalcum-ranked dungeon, at least, maybe even an Adamantine ranked. Usually, a newborn dungeon would be Silver Ranked at best; to be this strong was unprecedented, and it brought her to another she had arranged a week ago, an Eidolon Scout.


    The [Martial Spellwalker Titan] Eidolon she had sent out to enslave the newborn dungeon hadn¡¯t returned yet with the Core, which meant they had likely been slain. The Dungeon was probably populated with rare, deadly monsters, and if it ever decided to move past its halls¡­, She didn¡¯t think the world would survive, so they had to wipe it out now.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Little did the Priestess know that she had just given the dungeon some of its most potent weapons and that prophecy in Stars would be her fault. The Endless Empire would meet its end soon, all thanks to her.

 Chapter Three

    The Dungeon was busy. It hadn¡¯t anticipated its new Twins of Chaos''s effect on the Wolf Pack. Immediately after achieving Bosshood the Twin it slaughtered the Wolf Pack, leaving only ten survivors, the survivors were granted, the Schemas for the Forging Skills [Combat Mastery], [Detect Magic], [Counterspell] and the strongest one, a large female wolf, was granted the [Leadership] schema. To ensure that the Mantises weren¡¯t wiped out, I gave them [Detect Magic], [Counterspell], [Bladeward], and [Combat Mastery]. The reason that I didn¡¯t give them the forging skills was because they already had Bloodrot, and they had two bosses on their side, it didn¡¯t want to wipe them out completely.


    The Lion Pride, however, had eaten in over three-star cycles. Instead, the Core felt that they were forging their bodies and souls. Already, the Core had to bury the waste dozens of feet below the surface so that it didn¡¯t cause the Lions to die from the high toxicity. Hell, it had even found a hidden spring that, upon further inspection, flowed outside of his Dungeon. It decided to dump the waste in the spring and hope for the best. However, it hadn¡¯t been completely pointless.


    [Schemas Gained, Cave Fisher (Uncommon), Stone-back Toad (Common), Juvenile Lunar Bear (Rare), Giant Bat (Common), Darkmantle (Uncommon), Rottouch Fungus (Common), Cave Tetra (Unranked), Axolotl (Unranked), Giant Cave Trout (Common), Snail (Unranked)]


    [Ecology Schemas granted, Basic Ecology Schemas]


    It was a welcome surprise that the Core immediately used. The Axolotl and Cave Tetra were placed in the ponds. Since the tetras were extremely sensitive to vibrations in the water, the Core wasn¡¯t too afraid of them being eaten as a snack. As a precaution, the Core added a small cave around a foot long and a foot wide that the creatures could hide in until night, and then the Core spawned them in.


    The Tetras had no eyes, the second the Core created them there in their tiny caves, they stayed in there, the Axolotls however could see and were content to lie at the bottom of the pond. Next, the Core made a large lake in the middle of the floor, it was fifty feet deep at the very bottom but the banks were populated by thirty-five cave fishers, large arachnids with twin claws, a large durable carapace, and a stinger containing a mild paralytic. It also added a large school of cave trout and it added fifty Stone-back Toads, and it added snails to clean up waste and excess plant growth, they all looked pretty good at deterring things from entering the lake, where the Core decided to bury itself at the bottom of.


    Finally, using its new Ecology Schemas, the Core placed special microscopic animals that were essential to the development of its ecosystem, it seeded the important ones all over its floor to help its plants and ponds, and then it placed a variety of plants in the floor to diversify it and added lots brambles specifically to attempt to slow any invaders, then for the finishing touches he added freshwater kelp to further obfuscate its location and make easier for the trout to survive.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    In the hills, the Dungeon created medium-sized caves, and in four of them, he placed, the Lunar Cave Bears, which the Core decided to recognize as mini-bosses, upon his desire for them to be mini-bosses, the white light that signified their change glowed around them. Seven other caves were populated with the Darkmantles, which would smother any who attempted to find rest in the cave, wrapping their black tentacles around the invader¡¯s neck and slowly choking them to death. In the rest, it decided to add giant bats, which would disorient the invader long enough for the big threats to kill them, and on the ceiling to the entrance, Rottouch Fungus now grew, causing rapid necrosis in any creature they ensnared in their grasp. Seeing that it had more defenses if an invader entered my Dungeon was nice.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Dungeon looked in trepidation as the Lunar Cave Bears had finally emerged from the promotion to mini-boss, then the screen finally appeared, [Mini-Bosses created, Specuis: Juvenile Lunar Cave Bear, Mini-Boss Name: The Lunar Traid, Classes: Lunar Warforged (Epic), Lunar Shadowclaw (Epic), Lunar White Magus (Epic), Class Schemas granted, Spell and Skill Schemas granted, Lunar Warforged Physique, Lunar Claws, Fear Aura, Lunar Berserker Style, Unending Momentum, Lunar Shadow Blink, Lunar Shadow Clone, Assassinate, Lunar Heal, Lunar Cleanse, Lunar Empowerment, Lunar Guardian, Aspect of the Moon]


    The Core realized that if the Bears encountered even the weakest member of the Lion pride, they would be wiped out. Even with their ability to revive, this was still unacceptable, so the Core gave them the Forging Skills. It was happy with this, so it moved on to something still bugging it: the empty, trapped chest. Moving over to it, the Core placed Adamantine Armor, an Adamantine shield, an Adamantine sword, and finally, a Spatial ring.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Jonathan Wington was a Mithril Ranked Adventurer. He was part of a group of twenty adventurers, mostly Gold Ranked, but they also had five Platinum Ranked people so he wasn¡¯t the only competent one on the mission to enslave a newborn Dungeon Core. According to the [Priestess], the Dungeon was at least a Mithral Ranked threat despite its age of Newborn. Frankly, he thought that ridiculous, but he didn¡¯t question the [Priestess] and her judgment, and most likely, there would be some pretty decent loot, and if he could keep the Core, then his wealth would skyrocket, there would be so much that he could do, there was hope, hope for a better life. Although he did have to make sure that that crack job researcher didn¡¯t kill himself


    Virath Moonberry hoped to appease the new Dungeon by giving goods that it could use to bolster its defenses. He took stock of his inventory, had the pelt and head of Greater Earthrunner Cheetah, a dried moonflower, a few moon-berries, a Borer beetle, the seeds of a Manatree, and finally, the skeleton of a Stymphalian Vulture. With these, he hoped to create a help to gain the trust of a burgeoning mind and maybe influence the Dungeon. If this fails, he thought, my theories are wrong, and there is nothing but bestial instincts behind a core.

 Chapter Four

    The Core was still trying to balance his floor, dominant predators, even though it had given the remaining wolves skills, even the Forging Skills, but with their low numbers, the Twins had swept in and killed another wolf, although thankfully there had been a natural replacement for it in the form of two pups, the Core was tired of the Twins constant attempts to wipe out the poor wolves, so the Core had decided to rectify it and gave the Alpha Bloodborne Wolf the [Lunar Warforged] Schema and hoped that it would change as it had for Starbreaker,


    [Boss created, Species: Alpha Bloodborne Wolf, Boss Name: The Blood Alpha: Fenris, Class Changed to Match User, Class: Bloodborne Warforged Alpha (Legendary), Spell and Skill Schemas Granted, Bloodborne Warforged Physique, Bloodborne Claws, Fear Aura, Bloodborne Duelist Style, Unending Momentum, Aspect of Bloodborne, Rapid Adaptation, Limitbreaker, Bloody Empowerment, Didn¡¯t¡¯t Hear No Bell, Skill Upgraded, Leadership Alpha¡¯s¡¯s Control, Forging Threshold reached, Forging Archetype Skills to form, Alpha Bloodborne Warforger, Respective Class and Skill Schemas Obtained]


    The Core was ecstatic as it sensed that Fenris was just a step below Starbreaker, just barely a regular boss. Something was at the edge of its vision: a group of invaders. Convenient, thought the Core, for it had just created a deadly defender.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Jonathan Wington and his team had spent the past three days trekking through the deadly wilderness, shortened by a month than a teleport circle connected to one of the border towns, when finally he saw a large source of pure mana. ¡°There it is, the Dungeon, my new life.¡± He was going to enslave the stupid thing and attack right now with his group. ¡° ¡°Well then, shall we attack¡±!¡° ¡°Yes!¡± shouted the adventurers.


    It took a few minutes to get to the entrance, but when he got there, the mana was overwhelming. The fact it was this powerful meant it was already a Mithral ranked threat, which meant it at most had around two Bosses with Epic classes and around three Mini-Bosses with Rare classes. Maybe if the Core had been extraordinarily lucky, a Raid-Boss with a Legendary class, also the bosses would be far away from the entrance since that kind of death was reserved for dungeons in Orichalum-ranked dungeons and above. Still, he could expect the entrance to be heavily trapped.


    As Jonathan entered the dungeon though a horrible shriek of terror rang through the air, Crap, it has Shrieker fungus, if it has the Gaseous variety then I¡¯ll be in danger. Right as Johnathan looked to the side, he saw a floating purple eye, fungus, Well I¡¯m screwed, he thought, because that kind of Shrieker was only found in Orichalcum Ranked dungeons or above, if that was there then- suddenly a blinding pain shot through his side as an arrow pierced his armor, then an acrid stench wafted over him, he looked up as black tendril descended from above, Rottouch fungus, not lethal but debilitating, very intelligent placing, you get distracted by the shriekers, shot by the arrows, then taken by the fungus for a slow, painful death. Most People would die, but I''m not like most People!Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Suddenly the tunnel erupted in flames. Johnathan activated a Spell¡° ¡°Raging Flame, Cleanse this place,¡± he chanted ¡°[Blaze Storm¡±]¡± Everything was burned away the shriekers, the fungus, the spores that would have been released, the moss, everything had been burned to ash¡° ¡°That was a good trap, but also the bosses are probably going to closer to the entrance then, move it, now!¡±.¡± The Adventurers quickly ran into the tunnel, though not before Johnathan cast [Shield] on them. One of them ran forward and triggered more arrow traps, and they weren¡¯t harmed besides a minor bruise. Still, it was close, and then the pendulum ax at the end of the tunnel chopped one of the Golds in half. ¡° ¡°Holy Mother of Gaia Julian¡¯s¡¯s dead, his class was [Steel-Forged Protector], Rarity: Epic¡±.¡± Crap, there goes one of them, and he was our tank.


    He froze the ax and then fired a [Fireball] into the ground in front of the entrance, it passed right through an illusory floor and exploded¡° ¡°Pit Trap, do we have any Earth Mage¡±?¡± While I could do it myself, it was better to keep my cards to my chest if the dungeon was watching, which most certainly was, considering we were the first to enter this place. One of the Mages created a stone bridge over the trap, and then the first monster appeared, a blood-red mantis with a gleaming red shell, black eyes, and dripping claws. A quick look at them immediately placed them as a High Mithril Threat or a Low Orichalum threat. Then, someone was unfortunate to be slashed by the monster; blood spurted into the air, and his hand melted off, sloughing off large chunks. Then, the rest of the body, except for the bones, quickly followed. The blood curdled almost like it had rotted. It was definitely a Mid Orichalcum threat. ¡°Sarah¡¯s dead, her class was [Summoner], Rarity: Rare, we need to leave¡±!¡±


    Johnathan activated another Spell¡° ¡°Primordial Winds, help us escape from our folly, [Wind Blast].¡± The blast sent him and the group flying through the entrance, sending him and the group dozens of feet away from the entrance. Johnathan was the first to get to his feet, and he watched as the dungeon restored itself, now that he was paying attention with his [Mana-vision] the shriekers and Rottouch fungus had already restored themselves¡° ¡°Anyone missing¡±?¡± He shouted, and a forlorn and shocked voice answered behind him¡° ¡°Kagura, his Class was Psionic Rune Echo Samurai, Rarity: Le¡­Legendary¡±.¡°


    ¡°WHAT!¡± Shouted Johnathan¡° ¡°We had a Legendary, and he¡¯s now dead; actually, how do you know everyone¡¯s class and Rarity¡±!¡± He marched over to a thin, scrawny man, and he stammered out ¡° ¡°One of my s-skills, [Knowledge Finder],  it lets me f-find knowledge that I don¡¯t know, and allows me to t-take knowledge when from the d-dead, in this case, your c-classes.¡±


    Interesting, but he doesn''t know about my class, so don''t make him swear an Oath.


    ¡°Warn the empire; we need Orichalcum-ranked adventurers.¡± Johnathan stared at the dungeon''s death trap. Gaia, help us."


    +++++++++++++++++


    But Gaia would not help them for, none of the gods would help them, for their fate was to be slain by the Dungeo.n

 Chapter Five

    The Core was shocked at how effective his defenses had been. Just one mantis had been enough to drive off the entire horde of invaders, and he had gotten three new class Schemas, new monster Schemas, and some plant Schemas, all from someone whose pack they had abandoned when the first mantis attacked. It immediately got to work making some new monsters, it created a small island in the middle of the lake, and then it created a Mana Tree in the center of the island, it rapidly grew, terminating at around two hundred feet in height, and it had hundreds of branches and was perfect for my purpose.


    It created a vast flock of Stymphalian vultures, around five hundred of them. With their metallic feathers, they were a perfect deterrent against those who attempted to enter the lake. They would be my last defense if Starbreaker were slain. It was comforting to the Core that it had a safety net against invaders.


    Then the Core moved on to a more pressing concern, now that he had the Schemas for Moon berries and Moonflowers, he needed to place them in the Dungeon, but there was only one place where he could place them, the dens of the Lunar Triad, it was strange but also quite welcome since the Triad only ate the cave tetras, and if they could get past the Prid, then they would feast on the Cave Fishers and Cave trout, so the Core placed Moonberries around the entrance to the cave and Moon Flowers at the top surrounding the ponds. The final change was to create its final Mini-Bosses, using its new Greater Earthrunner Cheetah Schemas, it made five of them and designated them Mini-Bosses, the screens followed its wishes, and the Floor was completed, [Mini-Bosses created, Specuis: Greater Earthrunner Cheetah, Mini-Boss Name: The Earthen Quintet, Classes: Earthen Strider (Rare), Earthen Clawknight (Rare), Earthen Defender (Rare), Earthen Magus (Epic), Stone Lord (Epic), Class Schemas Granted, Skill and Spell Schemas granted, Stone-Shape, Stone Bolt, Earth Wall, Earth Dome, Monolith, Stone Meld, Tectonic Carapace, Earthen Leader, Roar of Wrath, Inspiration, Battle Sense, Crown of Gaia, Stone Sentinel, Parry, Earthen Stance, Charge, Strength before Death, Taunt, Stalwart Guardian, Natural Armor, Tough Hide, Adrenaline Rush, Heavy Blow, Earthen Claws, Claw Mastery, Bestial Wrath, Earth Stride, Tracking, Keen Senses, Trail Blazer, Stealth]


    That was perhaps the most Schemas the Core had ever gained in such a short amount of time, it was already causing its mind to hurt, but the reward was amazing, thirty Schemas gained, not counting ones from the Raid earlier, this be so helpful in creating for bosses but for now the Core that this Floor was complete.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Harry, a [Carpenter], was surprised at how productive greed was. The outside of the new Dungeon was a flurry of activity. Artisans were hastily creating buildings, merchant were hawking their wares, and multiple adventurers were helping create a Guild Branch. Since a new Orichalcum-ranked dungeon had been discovered, it had attracted various nobles and a few bandits. The Camp had already dealt with three attacks in the last week. However, the noble¡¯s guards had easily repelled them, but it wouldn¡¯t take long before one of the more notorious [Bandit Bosses], like Three Mind Evan or Storm King Valoth, attacked. That¡¯s why he was currently helping erect a temporary barrier; it would help against monster incursions and low-level [Bandits]. Still, it was better than nothing. Suddenly, a commotion erupted in front of the dungeon entrance, and it was a group of newcomers. His [Value Sense] told these were a collection of Coppers, Silvers, and an Electrum-ranked Adventurers, Idiots, a group of Golds, Platinums, and Mithral¡¯s all nearly died in there, they won¡¯t even get past the entrance.


    The Adventurers had a confident swagger, which told him maybe they wouldn¡¯t die in there. Still, unless they have multiple people with Rare classes or higher, then they don¡¯t stand a chance, but if they succeed¡­¡± The sheer amount of loot that they would bring out would be incredible.


    +++++++++++++++++ The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The Core was done with the Floor; it had created a potent defense that safeguarded him, but there was the chance that someone would get past Starbreaker and that someone with a powerful class would move to slay the Core. Hence, the Core wanted to go deeper to ensure that by the time Starbreaker was slain, they would find nothing but another entrance; the next Floor would be a maze filled with twisting tunnels and fatal traps; it would perfect it so that invaders would be trapped in the shifting Maze. The Screens heard his wish, [Floor Completion acknowledged, desired Floor type acknowledged, Calculating Performance, Calculation complete, Performance, Phenomenal, Reward: Floor type given, Shifting Spacial Dungeon, Traps Schemas Granted, Averian Fire Trap, Acid Pit, Lava Pit, Decoration Schemas Granted, Puzzle Lock, Trapdoor, Door, Archetype Schema Granted, Statues, Monster Schemas Granted, Space Walker Kobold (Rare), Mimic (Common), Space Walker Minotaur (Epic), Gelatinous Cube (Common), Animated Armor (Common), Spacial Laughing Skull (Rare), Spacial Boneclaw (Epic) Spacial Vampire Mist (Rare), Spacial Mephit (Uncommon), Space Walker Goblin (Rare), Giant Rat (Common), Willo-O-Wisp (Uncommon), Bloodborne Giant Cricket (Exotic), Archetype Schema granted, Skeletons]


    The Core was blindsided. The Screens acknowledged his belief that the Floor was complete; the Core was happy and quickly looked where the Maze was now. It immediately started making changes. First, it made the first room always the same. Then, it started trapping the room to the point that every surface was a trap to trigger. First, it surrounded the ladder that dropped down into the room with the Averian Fire Traps.


    The only place that wouldn¡¯t be blasted with the fire was behind the ladder, with an arrow trap and a lava pit. If invaders survived the flames and arrows, they would meet a fiery death in the pit. The room was around fifty feet wide and seven feet tall and was filled with monsters and more traps. First, the Core created fifty Spacial Mephits. They were small, winged creatures with spiked ears, short slender hands, and long pointed noses; they had swirling stars around them, suitable for disorienting invaders; then, it made the entire ceiling arrow traps. Next, the Core decided to make a corridor filled with Gelatinous Cubes, then it placed twenty-six Animated Armor with thirteen on each side, above the cube it placed more Mephits.


    The room after the corridor was filled with five Spacial Vampire Mist, with twenty giant rats scurrying around beneath them; it was here, though, that the Core remembered one of its first Schemas, the Giant Bloodborne Cricket, after placing three of them in the room the Core directed its attention to the territory of the Mantises and immediately created around five hundred, it felt a slightly more challenging to create them but the Core dismissed it as a figment of its imagination, it was embarrassing that it had taken so long to make one of its first Schemas, it decided to work off the embarrassment, it created another corridor that was trapped, the entire ceiling was again just arrow trap with fire traps lining the whole corridor, not the most creative but it would suffice for now.


    In the next room, the Core discovered how its Skeleton Schema worked. It found that it could create the skeleton of anything that had entered its Dungeon or that it owned a Schema of. It had decided to make a room filled with the shambling beast.


    Two Spacial Boneclaws led the horde. Under their command, they had ten Lunar Cave Bears skeletons, five Spacial Minotaur skeletons, and fifteen Flaming skeletons. They were just human skeletons that had so much power running through their weak bone that it manifested itself as ghoulish green flames covering their bodies, and finally, floating above them were three Flame Skulls with malevolent red eyes and blazing green fire covering them. They were the only ones capable of casting spells. The Core had seen them creating glowing green hands that could grab opposing invaders, launch hundreds of deadly needles composed of pink energy, create a magical shield capable of blocking most attacks, blur themselves, making appear to shift and waver in the air, could create spheres of glowing flame to entrap an enemy and finally launch a deadly ray of fire. They were one of the Cores¡¯s more versatile monsters, though it was known that many of the monsters on the first Floor also had innate spells.


    TheCoree decided to clone one of its earlier corridors and copy it over. Though it replaced the Mephits that floated over the Cubes and Armor with three Flame Skulls, there was still so much work to do.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The [Lich-King] Arlorn Blodroth was planning a detour to a new dungeon that his [Spy] network told him had formed. He had around ten subjugated already, but it would be fun just giving it a Red Dragon skeleton and seeing what would happen. It would be fun to provide a few powerful Schemas, More chaos, and more power, and eventually the world will fall.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Lich would have his wish fulfilled as his empire burned around him.

 Chapter Six

    Johnathan, the first Mithral ranked Adventurer to enter the dungeon now known by decree from the newly appointed mayor as the Crypt of the Forsaken, was dramatic, but considering his delve into the place showed him that it used a Mid-Orichalcum ranked monster as regular cannon fodder, it was accurate, who knew how many beasts it had down there, but more importantly, the crown had sen backup, earlier a group of ten Mithral Ranked adventurers, all with Epic rarity classes had ridden into town one day, each was handpicked by the Emperor to help me in this task, the next delve would more successful, maybe they would get past the entrance this time, but the was already difficult, the second floor would horrible to get through, he could feel that in his soul, but getting past the entrance was already hard, better to worry about it later.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Core was still finetuning his dungeon. There were seven rooms and three corridors to fill, but first, it decided to buff some of its new monsters. The first thing it needed to do was buff the Boneclaws to anoint them as Mini-bosses. The Screens gave them some exciting classes and a new message,


    [Soul Energy found, Rune Echo Class found, Summoner Class found, Class Schemas changed, Echo Runeblade (Epic), Astral Echo Summoner (Epic), Skill and Spell Schemas Granted, Summon Echo, Legion of One, Take Potential, Echo of the Fallen, Resonate, Echo Blade, Runic Mastery, Blade Master, Blink, Elemental Runeblade, Elemental Mastery, Bladestorm, Runic Strength, Runic Sigils, Summon: Siege Monster, Summon: Astral Being, Summon: Monster, Contract, Exploding Summons, Unsummon, Life Drain, Sleep, Zap, Reflect, Weaken, Necrotic Wave, Skill and Spell Schemas Granted]


    They were extraordinarily lethal and combined with their minions, would harrowing foes to face. The Echo part was interesting upon looking into the SchSchemat had obtained another Monster Schema. It was the [Soul Echo] with a rarity of Varies; it had obtained after it had looked at the Flame Skull flames and an Echo that the one Boneclaws had summoned and then looking at the when activated to Schema create one, a new screen it had never seen before blinked into existence in front of it.


    Soul Echos detected, Cataloguing slain sentients, Echo List provided, please select Echoes, Julian ¡°Iron Heart¡± Smith, Class: Steel Forged Protector (Epic), Sarah ¡°Gold Tongue¡± Neneth, Class: Summoner (Rare), Kagura ¡°Honour Born¡± Toriyama, Class: Psionic Rune Echo Samurai (Legendary)]


    The Core immediately selected all of them, and another screen popped up,


    [Wandering Bosses Created, Select Floor, First or Second}The Core decided to select the Second as the First already had many deadly monsters. It was already lethal enough. TheCore felt its energy go to the Second. When it directed its sight toward the floor, it saw the ghostly appearance of the echoes. They had no facial expressions, they wore the armor and clothes that they had had on in their final moment before death; despite their appearance, the Core felt that they were still as strong as an echo they were an excellent addition to the floor. However, the Core needed more. There were still corridors it needed to fill, and right was about to do that, another screen popped up, [Wandering Boss created before floor Ten, Select Reward, Schemas or Boon or Stat Enhancement]. It seemed it had been rewarded for making the Echoes, the Rewards, a no-brainer for the Core. It selected Schemas. [Reward selected, giving Schemas, Flying Sword, Smothering Rug, Manticore, Chimera, Purple Worm, Hydra, Banshee, Spectral Terror, Wraith, Death Tyrant, Jar Brain, Revenant, Juvenile Basilisk, Sorrowborn (Forgotten), Sorrowborn (Resentful), Sorrowborn (Lost)]


    TheCore had so many ideas for these new monsters. First, in one of the seven rooms, it placed five Revenants and three Spacial Vampire Mist. In another, it put two Chimeras with three heads, one of which appeared to be a lesser version of a Stellar Lion. The other head was an animal with fur and two horns; the other was a scaled beast with fire emanating from its mouth. It had a strange scaled beast for a tail and two Manticores, which looked like a Stellar lion except with fiery breath, leathery wings, and a stinging tail similar to a cave fisher tail; in that room, Core also placed a group of twenty Spacial Mephits.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    In one, it placed a Death Tyrant, a strange floating skull with a singular red malevolent eye, and ten floating orbs of magical energy surrounding it. Instead of forcing the Purple Worm to stay in one room, it allowed it to move between rooms, adding a factor of chaos to an invader¡¯s attempt to enslave the theCore. Two Rooms had three Spectral Terrors, a Banshee, and ten wraiths each. Incorporeal enemies were so interesting, and the Core hoped they would help deter invaders and slay any in the process. The Core placed a hydra and twenty-five Space Walker Kobolds in the next room. Upon being placed in the room, the Core noticed that strange magic permeated the air, red lightning leaped from the Hydra to each of the Kobolds, and they felt that the Hydra and Kobolds were more powerful than before, but that when they were slain, their collective power would diminish.


    In the final room, the Core simply placed ten of each Sorrowborn, five Spacial Vampire Mist, a mimic, and one Spacial Minotaur; it did have to make a new dungeon order saying that the Spacial Vampire Mists couldn¡¯t eat the Minotaur; it considered there hunger a worthy sacrifice for the Minotaurs. Finally, it designated the Death Tyrant, the Hydra, the Minotaur, and the Purple Worm as bosses. The Screen gave one of its largest screens yet, [Bosses Created, Species varying, Classes given, Species: Death Tyrant, Name: Felbris the Fallen Dreamer, Class: Reality Bender (Mythic), Species: Hydra, Name: Golzalam the Bloodbringer, Class: Undying Draconic Warlord (Legendary), Species: Spacial Minotaur, Name: Orthalian, Soldier of Forsaken, Class: Forsaken Spacial Death Knight (Legendary), Species: Purple Worm, Name: Barukan the Endless Devourer, Class: Greater Absolute Vemonous Devourer (Mythic),


    Skill and Schemas Granted: Time Manipulation, Space Manipulation, Matter Manipulation, Elemental Manipulation, Psionic Manipulation, Soul Manipulation, Mana Manipulation, Supreme Manipulator, Psionic Tentacle, Psionic Wave, Mage Bolt, Charm Eye, Paralyzing Eye, Slowing Eye, Necrotic Eye, Telekinetic Eye, Sleep Eye, Petrification Eye, Disintegration Eye, Death Eye, Sealed Until Awakened Once More, Draconic Fury, Elemental Sweep, Swirling Windstorm, Elemental Wave, Paralyzing Breath, Battle Roar, Inspire, Vicious Stance, Tactical Mind, Whirlwind, Crush, Final Frenzy, Counter, Healing Factor, Space Bender, Penetrative Strike, Deflect, Halting Blow, Guardian, Immovable, Forsaken, Life Drain, Mist Form, Imposing Figure, Unholy Word, Battle Fury, Unholy Smite, Unholy Strength, Redundant Schemas removed, Devour, Soul Devourer, Mind Devourer, Envenom, Tunneler, Poison Immunity] [Raid Bosses Created, Barukan the Endless Devourer, Felbris the Fallen Dreamer, Power sufficient, no changes]


    There were so many new schemas, but the Manipulation skills seemed the most powerful. Felbris¡¯s Sealed Until Awakened Once More would only allow it limited amounts of power once an invader found him, but the longer Felbris was unsealed, the stronger he would get. Eventually, after around ten minutes, Felbris would access all his eye skills, and after thirty, he got access to all his manipulation skills.


    For Barukan, his growth was seemingly endless, as his Devour skill meant that once he slew his opponents, he would gain their skills and have their physical might added to his. Mind Devourer allowed him to gain the spells and intellect of his slain enemies, Soul Devourer ensured that enemy souls would be destroyed and assimilated in Barukan¡¯s making his soul stronger against attack. These beings would eventually surpass Starbreaker, but they hadn¡¯t been tested. TheCore was bored of just ogling over his new bosses and decided to finish the last three corridors.


    In one, it got creative; on each side, the Core placed thirteen Animated Armors, arming each with their Flying Sword that could attack on their own. On the floor, the Core placed a long Smothering Rug that reached the end of the hallway, and then the Core placed three Spacial Vampire Mists. In the second, the Core replicated its previous design but placed a shelf above the exit. There was a Jar brain, and the Core surrounded it in stone. The Jar would disorient any enemies a fatal mistake in its halls for the final one. The Core decided to add one Juvenile Basilisk. It appointed it a Mini-Boss, [Mini-Boss Created, Name: Arc, Class: Petrifier Tempest, Skill and Spell Schemas Granted, Petrifying Stare, Petrifying Claws, Flight, Poison Breath, Relentless Tornado, Stoneborn, Fire Stinger, Intimidate, Cunning Opputunist]


    To ensure it wasn¡¯t immediately overwhelmed by one invader, the Core added five Animated Armor to each side of the hallway. Everything was filled out for now, but there was still so much to do. The Core reviewed all entrances into a corridor and room as a finishing touch and added Iron Doors with puzzle locks. The Core created another corridor and moved itself to the room. It was careful to add a trapdoor as the entrance to the second. The corridor leading to the rooms was heavily trapped with Arrow Traps on the ceiling, a lava pit at the beginning and end of the hallway, an acid pit in the middle, a pendulum trap at both ends of the hallway, and finally, fire traps on the walls, it was effective for it purpose, the Core ensured that it would always be at the end and that it only when all other rooms and corridors were cleared would the path to it open up. TheCore decided to stop editing the Second floor and see if any incursions would be made soon.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Each of the Primordial forces now bent to the wrath of the Core. The World now shook in fear.

 Chapter Seven

    Johnathan was going into the Crypt of Forsaken again with ten Mithril Ranked Adventurers, including himself, fifteen Platinum Ranked Adventurers, and one Gold. He was confident that they would find and slay the first boss. The Gold was the [Scholar] from the first mission; the only thing they had brought him was so they could have an accurate fatality number. Five of the Platinums were a [White Magus], another were [Scouts], the final five were a mix of warrior classes, they were glorified [Guards] essentially. The Mithrals were the real threat; there were four magic classes, including him, three Warrior-type Classes, and then finally, there were three [Paladins]. The High Priest had sent some of their elite warriors to help the kingdom, though Johnathan suspected they wanted to [Hallow] the Core so the Church would have control of it but that was a matter for another day, for now, they could only hope to get to the first boss.


    As Johnathan entered the Crypt, he immediately shot a [Fireball] into the entrance to destroy the Rottouch Fungus and the Shriekers, he was to burn everything away, he got the Rottouch Fungus but the Shriekers activated before they burned away, ¡°The monsters know we¡¯re here prepare to fight.¡± The Pit Trap and Pendulum were much less effective now that they were there, one of Platinums cast [Shield] and another cast [Stone-Shape] to bridge the gap. However, we were ready for the Mantises. Instead of one this time, though, ten of the blights creeped out of the shadows and attacked, the battle was quick and fierce, but the [Paladins] made quick of the monster with the help of me and some of the other wizards, the flames, ice, earth, lighting, and light, and water, held down the Mantises. At the same time, the [Paladins] destroyed them with their [Holy Magic]. It didn¡¯t come without sacrifices. One of [White Mages] had their arm sliced off by a Mantis that had escaped the bombardment. It took all four of them, with the help of the [Paladins], to make sure that he didn¡¯t die the same way as the [Summoner] from the first Delve, still though he was maimed and would need help for everyday life¡ªa worthy Sacrifice.


    They finally stepped through the entrance and were blinded by the light, it was as bright as the mid-day sun, but as they recovered from the light, he saw at least five hundred of the damned things, their gleaming red shells cast the world in a strange ruby light, they were hunting what appeared to be giant crickets, with black shells and ruby eyes, Johnathan could tell that the Crickets were Peak-Mithral ranked threats. Still, here they were, lambs to the slaughter. Two of them looked more powerful. They had a thin aura of power and magic to them. One of them looked at him, and then it glowed red and shot forward with blinding speed. He cast [Identify] as one of the [Paladins] blocked with a heavy tower shield. The message made his blood run cold, [Boss Identified, Species: Blood Reaver Mantis, Name: The Twin of Chaos, Pluto, Class: Bloodly Wrathful Reaver (Legendary), WARNING MID-ADAMANTINE RANKED THREAT DETECTED!] He cast [Identify] again at the other whose claws were someone already in someone¡¯s chest, [Boss Identified, Species: Blood Reaver Mantis, Name: The Twin of Chaos, Hades, Class: Bloody Deathless Reaver (Legendary), WARNING MID-ADAMANTINE RANKED THREAT DETECTED!]


    They had found the bosses, and Johnathan knew that they would die soon, both of the Twins had Legendary classes, they were the equivalent of a Raid-Boss. Jonathan snapped out of his stupor; they were on the back foot, and one of the Paladins was dead; he cast in quick succession Spell after Spell. He chanted in his mind as his voice rang through the battlefield, ¡°[Fireball], [Firestorm, [Flame Strike], [Fire Bolt], [Flame Pillar], [Burning Hands], [Circle of Hellfire], [Inferno]!¡± He wasn¡¯t yet though, ¡°[Tempest], [Tornado], [Wind Wall], [Air Bolt], [Tribulation Lightning], [Cloudkill], [Whirlwind], [Tribulation Storm]¡± To commoner he was would have looked like a god raining his divine punishment form the skies, but no matter how times he hit those damned Bosses they lived, they live through Lightning, they lived through his strongest tempest, they lived through his divine flames, the [Paladins] slowly fell through their onslaught, he was last mage of any kind still alive, and the warrior was already, Johnathan decided right there and then that he wouldn¡¯t die there, that he would live.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    One of the Mantises lept through the storm of magic, its claws sank into his flesh, bone snapped, but he refused, he wouldn¡¯t die, ¡°I am a [Supreme Arch-Elementalist], I WILL NOT DIE HERE!¡± The System answered his call, [Skill Granted, Improbable Will]. He refused to die here; he refused to fall, but he needed to leave so he could live to fight another day; he ripped the claw out of his chest and lept back; his new skill was fighting the venom. He looked for survivors. There were three others, two [Paladins] and the [Scholar], ¡°[Windwalk],¡± he shouted; in a single fluid motion, he glided forward and grabbed the Scholar, then he cast another spell, ¡°[Life Hook].¡± The two [Paladins] had a ghoulish green hook latch on to them. Jonathan barreled forward, ¡°[Wind Blast].¡± They were launched to the entrance, and he cast [Wind Blast] again. They barreled out the entrance right into a crowd of onlookers. They saw the two [Paladins] covered in ichor and blood; they saw a gaping wound in his chest, and they saw the [Scholar], unharmed but scared. They saw the grim look on all their faces. They were afraid.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Core was sad because while his bosses had slain most of the invaders and had gotten him multiple new Class Schemas, they hadn¡¯t killed everyone there, which meant that their existence would become common knowledge, but new Class Schemas would be fun to play around with, they could see an application for the [Paladin] schema, it went to Golazalam¡¯s room and gave five of the strongest Spacial Kobolds, the [Paladin] Schema, they promptly had their classes adjusted for them.


    [Mini-Bosses created, Species: Spacial Kobold, Mini-Boss Name: The Paladins of Order of the Hydra, Class: Spacial Draconic Paladin, Class Schemas Granted, Skill and Spell Schemas granted, Holy Magic, Hydra Healing, Draconic Smite, Draconic Healers, Hydra¡¯s Roar, Hydra¡¯s Blessing, Hydra¡¯s Favor, Shield of Faith, Searing Smite, Hydra¡¯s Brand, Blinding Smite, Halting Smite, Banishing Smite, Thunderous Smite, Hydra¡¯s Mantle, Hydra¡¯s Weapons, Hydra¡¯s Circle, Holy Weapon, Redundant Schemas Removed]


    Perfect, the Core had already salvaged something from this Debacle. It watched as the chosen Kobolds changed. They gained an Adamantine sword, whose hilt was forged like a Hydra head. This Adamantine Shield bore the searing visage of the hydra, and they gained Adamantine armor, which was red and scaled, and their helms were shaped like hydra heads. It was perfect. The magic bond that the Core felt from the Kobolds intensified with their passing. It was perfect, and the Core was happy with what it had done, for they were already more lethal. The Core realized that their bon bond ensured that the Kobold didn¡¯t have to eat, but the Core made it so that they would get twenty-five dead Light Runner Antelope would appear every day, they rejoiced at the sight of the food and of their new champions.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Fate watched from her loom, cold and callous, but she saw an imperfection in her weave. Someone had defied her and had their very Fate change, but she would not interfere, for all were fated to die soon.

 Chapter Eight

    %^&T)N scrambled around, trying to find exactly how badly he had screwed up with the new soul. It had been a mortal month since he lost it. It was supposed to be a normal soul crossing, and he was supposed to take a resentful dying soul, wipe its memories, and then implant it in the mortal world as a Core of some kind, preferably a dungeon Core. He had been placing the standard restrictions, ensuring that it could only have starting monsters up to Epic, adding System guidance, basic Core abilities, the desire to aid humanity, and normal balancing procedures.


    Then it had happened, an incursion by the Rot, %^&T)N shuddered just thinking about it, in Chaos following it %^&T)N had realized that the soul, with its memories wiped and soul converted to Dungeon form had escaped. Still, without a full connection to the System and no restrictions, now that it was in the Mortal realm, he could only hope that he wouldn¡¯t be recreated for this mistake. Hopefully, the Core didn¡¯t get that strong so soon, and %^&T)N hoped it didn¡¯t have any traces of its past life. If it had already reached sentience, well he would almost certainly be recreated.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Core was frustrated with the invaders. They had been invading it for the past week. The parties had been going in groups of thirty and reaching the Twins multiple times. Every time they did encounter them, they would promptly be slaughtered. The Core didn¡¯t get many new schemas since the invaders seemed only to bring on one or two people with new classes, and every time the Twins got close to them, they would retreat outside. The Core had realized that Barukan could go between floors when he had erupted out of the ground and killed a whole party. The Core had immediately removed any traces of his passing; it was helpful, and Barukan had already gained multiple new skills and spells, but they had become even more alert since that incident.


    They were gaining knowledge about the Twins, its traps, and the direction to the second floor, and, most disturbingly, they had caught a glimpse of Fenris. Thankfully, she had immediately retreated upon seeing, so they only had a quick glimpse of her, but the whole situation was spiraling out of control. Where had Barukan been when that party had entered? Thankfully, they hadn¡¯t gotten close to anything else, but with their progress, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they found Starbreaker soon. Of course, they would immediately be wiped out when they saw his regal majesty, but if even one person survived, the Core shuddered at the thought of them finding out about his strongest defender.


    The second floor was growing. The Core had decided to make an enormous room right before the hallway that led to it, and it had decided to fill it with the Spacial Goblins that hadn¡¯t decided to use in any of the previous room''s hallways, it gave them enough room to build a small village since it intended for them to settle in there permanently, the core gave them Stellar Acacias and also gave one of them the Schemas for the Psionic Rune Echo Samurai class, Leadership, Combat Mastery, Dispel Magic, Detect Magic, Counterspell, Bladeward, Battle Fury, Psionic Wave, and Final Frenzy, it had chosen one which was strong but also displayed more intelligence than the others for its boon, it hoped that it would create a strong society that coils effectively guard it, the Screen decided to inform of his newest boss, Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    [Boss created, Species Space Walker Goblin, Name: Haglubiyet, the Whispering Shogun, Class changed to match user: Class: Psionic Rune Echo Shogun,


    Skills and Spell Schemas Granted, Echo Form, Echo Army, Psionic Nature, Psychokinesis, Limited Precognition, Spectral Whisper, Psy-Smash, Runic Empowerment, Rune Creation, Runic Sight, Samurai Style, Redundant Schemas Removed, Schemas upgraded, Leadership ¡ú Shogun¡¯s Command, Legion of One ¡ú Legion of the Unbroken One, Take Potential ¡ú Seize Potential, Echo of the Fallen ¡ú Requim to the Fallen, Resonate ¡ú Echo Resonance, Echo Blade ¡ú Harmonic Echo Blade, Runic Mastery ¡ú Runic Grandmastery, Combat Mastery ¡ú Combat Grandmastery]


    It was the strongest and smartest, and it would lead goblins against invaders. Although the Core added a new rule that Barukan couldn¡¯t enter the Hydra¡¯s and Goblin¡¯s rooms, the goblin had a new set of adamantine armor. The helmet was black with a golden V at the top, the armor was made of wide overlapping plates, and the legs were protected by large adamantine plating. Finally, the face had a metal battle mask over it. It was beautiful and deadly, perfect for the Core¡¯s purposes. The boss of this room would be a strong one, and it would decimate any of its foes. Oh no, more invaders, thought the Core as it saw the newest group of invaders enter its halls. Never mind Barukan¡¯s there.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Johnathan was currently fighting for his life against what looked like a Purple Worm, which were Mid-Adamantine threats at the best of times, considering he hadn¡¯t cast [Identify] yet, he was afraid of seeing a Peak-Adamantine threat, or something even higher than that, if that existed, he cast [Identify], the Screen returned, [Raid Boss Identified, Species: Purple Worm, Name: Barukan the Endless Devourer, Class: Greater Absolute Vemonous Devourer (Mythic), WARNING LOW-OBDURIUM RANKED THREAT DETECTED!]


    If he got out of this alive he would try to get some Adamantine-ranked adventurers here, because this dungeon had a boss that was somehow a rank above Adamantine, according to myth Obdurium was the result of when an ingot of Adamantine had all impurities removed, then was forged anew in the Plane of Fire, and cooled in the blood of Ancient Dragon, it was thought to be the Rank past Adamantine but to see one before him, he was Peak-Mithril ranked adventurer, to something in the Obdurium rank he was a gnat, a struggling worm compared the radiance of the sun, thankfully they had a new trick up their sleeves, everyone pulled out a shining white crystal, they crushed them and suddenly they appeared right outside the dungeon, Jonathan ran to guild office to inform of the newest boss they had discovered.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Core was confused, how had those adventurers escaped Barukan, one second they were in front of their inevitable death, and the next second they had vanished in a flash of white light, it was infuriating since knowledge of one of the Core¡¯s strongest bosses had escaped, which meant that stronger invaders were coming, which meant that it needed to create better defenses.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Taken, Forged, Released, the Core''s defense broke its invaders, Fates Weave showed an inevitable end, Chaos would reign, and the world would fall into darkness

 Chapter Nine

    In the brilliant white capital of Valorica, [High-King] Arthur Pendrakon was currently discussing one of the most important decisions he could make, whether to summon [Heroes] to deal with the new High-Adamantine Dungeon that had been reported in the western waste, One of the [Bishops] from the Church of Mechkron ¡°My Liege if we are to summon [Heroes] than I believe one from a Technological World trapped by War would be ideal for destroying the dungeon, they would already have the training, and if they bring along any advance weaponry we can have our [Artificers] reverse engineer them to strengthen our nation!¡± Another one this time from the Church of the Light and Flame proposed a different option, ¡°I suggest we summon elemental heroes from the Plane of Light and the Plane of Fire, with their class, we can use their dependence on their element to force them to follow, then we can return them to their Elemental Plane.¡±


    The third [Bishop] from the Holy Order proposed another option, ¡°Your majesty I ask that we summon teenagers, around twelve to fifteen summers old, we can indoctrinate them, ensuring their loyalty to the Church and kingdom, as for the world I propose a mana-starved world so that we may be able to teach them, and potentially undermine them if they attempt to rebel.¡± Each of the [Bishops] had provided good points but Arthur immediately dismissed the Holy Order¡¯s proposal, he wouldn¡¯t rip innocent children away from their families and the previous [High-King] had nearly been overthrown by [Heroes] of that type.


    Elementals were known to be problematic when summoned and there was no guarantee that they would survive a day on the Mortal Plane, so they were out of the question. The Church of Mechkron had the most sound idea, it provided a way to ensure that Arthur considered semi-moral, and the technology they would bring could help gain an edge over the Endless Empire or the Khanate.


    Suddenly a [Messenger] burst through the door, he was a thin scrawny man with white hair and brilliant blue eyes, they sprinted up to Arthur, ¡°State your name, class, and reason for being here.¡± ¡°My liege¡±, said the messenger ¡°I swear upon Class, Skills, and Levels that my name is Orthon Waxon, my class is [Messenger], and I come bearing a guild report from the Eastern Razorclaw Mountains, may I share it?¡± Arthur was surprised that he had used an Oath to authenticate himself as a messenger but it was helpful since an Oath if broken would strip the user of their Class, Skills, and levels, ¡°Speak Orthon, what message do you bear?¡± The [Messenger] shared a system message and three screens that immediately shocked him,


    [Raid Boss Identified, Species: Purple Worm, Name: Barukan the Endless Devourer, Class: Greater Absolute Vemonous Devourer (Mythic), WARNING LOW-OBDURIUM RANKED THREAT DETECTED! Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    [Boss Identified, Species: Blood Reaver Mantis, Name: The Twin of Chaos, Pluto, Class: Bloodly Wrathful Reaver (Legendary), WARNING MID-ADAMANTINE RANKED THREAT DETECTED!]


    [Boss Identified, Species: Blood Reaver Mantis, Name: The Twin of Chaos, Hades, Class: Bloody Deathless Reaver (Legendary), WARNING MID-ADAMANTINE RANKED THREAT DETECTED!]


    [Hello your Majesty, my name is Johnathan Wington, and I was part of a party sent by the Endless Empire to subjugate a newfound Dungeon, now dubbed the Crypt of the Forsaken, however, we found that we were outmatched, we initially believed the Dungeon to be High-Orichalcum, however on each of our delves we discovered that dungeon bosses are at the lowest, Mid-Adamantine threats, and the highest, Low-Obdurium, we were forced to change the threat level to Peak-Adamantine. We have secured permission from the Endless Emperor to propose joint custody of the dungeon town, as it borders both our nations we hoped for your help in subjugating it.


    Best Regards - The Endless Empire]


    A Peak-Adamantine ranked dungeon, which was a grave threat in the best of times, with a Low-Obdurium ranked Raid-Boss, it was no wonder that they had asked for help, the last time a dungeon of that rank was found, it had led to the Great Cataclysm, a disaster that had created the Western Waste, and with a High-Adamantine and a Peak-Adamantine dungeon appearing so soon, they to summon the [Heroes] soon.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Yvonne was itching to go into the dungeon but it was too risky since the Guild had recently changed the Crypt of the Forsaken to Peak-Adamantine. She also knew that it had been two weeks since the Guilf had hired the [Messenger] Orthon Waxon. He was a well-known figure in the Endless Empire, known for being quick, reliable, and most importantly having connections with most nobility in all of the three Great Powers which were the Endless Empire, Valorica, and the Khanate. Combined with being relatively unknown to even the Kings and Emperors of the three Great Powers, well they had probably discovered something that could destroy them or something that could help them seize power, the next few months would be a doozy.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Mayor Callum Yorgen was terrified over the fate of the burgeoning town that he had control over, they had gotten so far over the last month and a half. They had paved stone roads, and large homes for a hundred civilians that lived here, they had received enough seeds and grain from the Empire to facilitate a vast range of crops for the next few years, and since they were next to a Dungeon it would provide a large array of goods, from gemstones, to monster parts, to even rare foods. By all means, Callum should have been happy to be assigned to such a goldmine, but he couldn¡¯t help but feel a looming shadow over him, the vast mountain that loomed over them held the dungeon, how long before monsters rushed out of its depths, how long before he would be force to watch as his life burned? He was determined to ensure that no matter what this town would prosper, and that of the dungeon attacked, that he would be the one to ensure that his citizens escaped. He was entrusted with the fate of this town, so he would do an amazing job with it. Today would be the start of his efforts.


    +++++++++++++++++


    His greatest fear would be proven true as lightning rained from the sky.

 Chapter Ten

    The Dungeon looked through its Second Floor, overall it was a near-perfect defense, it had a variety of monsters, multiple powerful Bosses, and deadly new beasts, with the Echoes wandering the floor it added randomness to the floor that would be helpful in throwing off am invader who had experience delving the Dungeon¡¯s halls. When it looked at its first floor though, it saw a few places that it could improve in, first, it added five banshee¡¯s to the first floor, and it hoped that they would wander the floor eliminating invaders that they encountered, it made them Mini-Bosses, [Mini-Bosses created, Species: Banshee, Mini-Boss Name: The Lost Ones, Class: Lost Screamer (Rare), Skill and Spell Schemas gained, Mind Screamer, Sonic Scream, Deathly Wail, Telepathy, Lost Whisperer, Disorienting Aura, Spectral Haunting, Incorporeal, Class Schema Gained]


    After the large blobs of text that the Dungeon had to with its previous Bosses, it was refreshing to just get a small window that showed some interesting skills and with decent combinations with his existing bosses, he gave the Disorienting Aura to Starbreaker, and as the Lost Ones spawned in Barukan emerged and ate one of them, Barukan turned a pale purple and the vast tunnels that Barukan had made in his wake and that the Dungeon had to remove every few hours, simply didn¡¯t appear, Barukan simply passed through the ground, as he breached the earth again, he turned back into his normal shade of violet he started to consume the earth again, the Dungeon realized that Barukan¡¯s Devourer skills had activated and he had obtained the first noticeably change from his skill.


    The Dungeon was happy and it also made a hundred Willo-O-Wisps then it created ten pit traps around the first floor, it coated the spikes at the bottom with Bloodrot then made another rule that Barukan couldn¡¯t get within five feet of traps so he wouldn¡¯t accidentally destroys, the Will-O-Wisp from what the Dungeon knew would lead invaders to the trap then would watch as they fell to their death, it was another method of elimination that would hopefully claim a few lives. It watched a Light Runner Antelope wandered away from the vast herd and fall into the trap, it already saw how useful it would be.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Barukan awoke, it was being of great power that would serve its master the Core, the one who had created its form and breathed life into him, the [Greater Absolute Vemonous Devourer] wandered savannah, above it sensed the vast herd of Antelope, to the south was the Pride, which with the help of the Vultures guarded the entrance to his home, the Second, the Cheetahs ran together across the vast plains, the Bears lounged in their caves, fighting the Vultures and Lions in defense of their caves, and Mantises hunted on their futile quest to sate their endless hunger. He had fully come into consciousness after his latest kills before he had before he had been at the edge, past his animalistic instincts and having small primitive thoughts but now, now the shackles of instinct were gone, now he could think, he could use the spells he had Devoured from the invaders he had consumed. Now he was free.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Starbreaker ran through the savannah, he was majestic with almost no equals in the Creator¡¯s realm, there were only two other beings that could rival his power, the Fallen Dreamer and the Endless Devourer. Out of them, he was the most powerful, he was like the stars that shone in the black ink of the night. He was a [Steller Godforger Titan], destined by name to break the Stars. Suddenly the Endless Devourer rose from the earth, the Devourer was weaker than him, Starbreaker could tell that there was a world of difference between him and the Devourer, he activated his Stellar Battlefury and readied a Stellar Smite, the power of Star ran through him, this battle would shake the savannah.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


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    The Mechkron priests stood huddled over a vast ritual circle, arcane sigils flitted through the air, the images of fantastical worlds and vast battlefields, suddenly an enormous amount of mana erupted out of the circle as the [Heroes] were pulled in, the vast portal appeared in the center as the fabric of reality shifted.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Legionaries were pushed back by the Horde, Praetor Prana knew this, ¡°Brother, I believe this will be The Bloodied Angels'' final battle,¡± he said to his centurion beside him. Behind him were his Battle-Brothers, clad in their mechanized suits, the large plating and red wings behind all served their true identities, they were the Bloodied Angels, servants of the God-King, he who sat upon the ancient throne, a hulking dreadnought appeared out of the mist, he knew that a former the Bloodied Angel Corian, who had been fatally wounded in battle was entombed inside, their half-dead body and conscious mind still serving the God-King even as his physical form was destroyed.


    The Anti-Matter missiles and deadly Deakon laser blasters all mounted on the Dreadouught streaked through the air, they hit the endless army of blasted insects. The Mini-guns mounted on the shoulders fired through the endless army of hordlings. But Prana knew that ultimately they would die. There were only five Bloodied Angels still alive and all of them were fighting here.


    ¡°Varius has the evacuation been completed?¡± The Centurion stopped shooting for a brief moment, he nodded an resumed the slaughter. Corian was the first to be overrun, the Horde streaming over but there was a flash of light as he vanished. Suddenly Prana¡¯s Goldlocker stopped shooting, Click, Click. He pulled out his Storm Gladius, and deadly warp lightning ran across the blade, the first hordling was quickly slashed in half, and the second followed its friend¡¯s fate but soon the main body of the Horde overran him. Suddenly white light surrounded him.


    His view changed, he was in a vast dark hall, standing above an elaborate ritual circle, Brother Corian was standing there looking through the room, and Varius and the other two Bloodied Angels were there. Ten priests with metallic robes and geared masks stood, and a man, clearly their Commander from his ornate armor and commanding presence spoke, ¡°Welcome [Heroes], follow me we have much to discuss.¡±


    +++++++++++++++++


    Mana pulsed through the land, as a swirling vortex of energy formed over the capital of Valorica, and Ancient beings awoke. In Storm Peaks, a mountain shifted as the Golem awoke, in the Western Waste, an Ancient Dragon stirred from his slumber, Golzan the Great now walked the earth once more. The [Lich-King] Arlorn Blodroth saw the vortex spinning, and he smiled, ¡°The Heroes have been summoned.¡± And deep beneath the earth, the Elder One sensed a shifting of the Tapestry of Fate, perhaps the world wasn¡¯t doomed as he thought.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Fate looked once more at her Tapestry, her Weave had shifted once more as Fatebreakers emerged.

 Chapter Eleven

    The Core needed a new floor but it didn¡¯t think that it was done with the Second yet, it wanted to keep building, but it also saw that it was sufficient, it wasn¡¯t perfect but with all the powerful bosses, deadly traps, and monsters, it was more than sufficient for now, it wanted another floor, this one was complete. [Floor Completion acknowledged, Floor Type Given, Calculating Performance, Calculation complete, Performance: Phenomenal, Floor Type Given, Ancient Azure Mountains, Monster Schemas Granted:


    Galeb Duhr, Supreme Azure Dragon (Bloodline: Creation), Supreme White Tiger (Bloodline: Creation), Supreme Black Tortoise (Bloodline: Creation), Supreme Vermilion Bird (Bloodline: Creation), Minor Flood Serpent, Minor Snow Serpent, Minor Earth Serpent, Minor Wind Serpent, Earth Mole, Supreme Stoneborn Monkey (Bloodline: Nascent Monkey King), Greater Stoneborn Monkey, Golden Crow, Phoenix, Dragon Turtle, Azure Kobolds (Bloodline: Guardian), Fierce Ghost, Kitsune, Qilin, Elder Tempest, Derro, Duergar, Gnome, Leviathan,


    Archetype Schemas Granted: Assorted Gu, Assorted Formations, Assorted Talismans, Assorted Pills, Assorted Spirit Herbs, Spirit Tools, Spirit Treasure, Spirit Relics


    Ecology Schemas Granted, Mana Vein, Qi Vein, Immortal Cherry Tree, Heavenly Peach Tree, Spirit Fire


    Treasure Schemas Granted,


    Assorted Mortal Grade Cultivation Techniques, Assorted Profound Grade Cultivation Techniques, Assorted Earth Grade Cultivation Techniques, Assorted Sky Grade Cultivation Techniques, Assorted Spirit Grade Cultivation Techniques, Assorted Heaven-Grade Cultivation Techniques, Assorted Mortal Grade Martial Techniques, Assorted Profound Grade Martial Techniques, Assorted Earth Grade Martial Techniques, Assorted Sky Grade Martial Techniques, Assorted Spirit Grade Martial Techniques, Assorted Heaven Grade Martial Techniques, Mithral, Gold, Silver, Copper, Tin]


    The influx of information that entered the Core¡¯s mind was intoxicating, but the new floor would be difficult to build, fortunately, the Core already had a starting blueprint to work off of. It pulled its attention to the Third Floor, what it saw excited it. Ten vast mountains reached up to the sky in a ring, surrounded by a vast sea, the land in the center had seven rivers, and multiple large hills, but underneath the land was a large tunnel, it surrounded by miles of rock, this was where the Core assumed it would spawn the the Earth Monsters.


    It created fifty Earth moles, which were around five feet long and three feet wide, they quickly began burrowing into the Earth creating small tunnels, when they had gotten five hundred feet away, the Core created ten Minor Earth Serpents when they tunneled away the Core created the Duergar, the Core knew what they looked like from the information the Schema had given it, but to see them in the flesh was disconcerting, they white hair and gray skin, piercing white eyes, and a faint aura of magic surrounded them, they had been created with pickaxes, dark black clothing, and a sword, they immediately began to follow one of the Earth Mole¡¯s tunnels, they enlarged the tunnel and began to follow the trail.


    On the surface, the Core created another mountain in the center of the ring, on it the Core at the top the Core placed a grove of immortal cherry trees, and a grove of heavenly peach trees, then it placed ten treasure chests, it set them to randomly generate a random technique, Gu, Pill, Spirit Herb, Formation, or Talisman. Then it began the most important part of this whole project, the new Veins that it had for ¡°Mana¡± and ¡°Qi¡±. It knew that the special herbs and plants that it could make needed, ¡°Qi¡± to grow, so it created hundreds of thousands of Qi veins, they were translucent with fragments of powers leaping off of them, they looked like the veins of some great beast. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    It connected each of them until every single one was connected, the amount of Qi it felt in the area surged, it could practically taste the energy that emanated from the air, actually, what was taste, how did it know that, Core shoved that thought away, right now it needed to replicate what it had done but Mana Veins instead. Soon a perfect replica of the Qi vein network stretched throughout the floor, Mana and Qi danced through the floor, and the Core moved on to the mountain, the Monkeys would be perfect for it.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Sun Wukong awoke from his chains, his armor was worn and tattered, Ruyi Jingu Bang lay on his lap, he was a Seven-Fold Heavenly Immortal, a Thousand Layer Body Cultivator, he had defeated the Dragon King Ao Guang, he had the powers of the 72 Earthly Transformations, he was a Buddha, a supreme being of heaven and earth. And he was chained, he knew the fates of each of his comrades, the Jade Emperor had been slain, the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas had been sealed away, the Three Sovereigns had been murdered, and the Five Emperors lay dead in the void, he had been the last of the Gods to be sealed he had fought for seven days and seven nights, in the battle his attackers had destroyed dantian, crippling him. He had fallen so very far from his peak. His bloodline had been hunted into extinction, at least that he had thought, but then he had felt a trickle of Karmic energy fall into his shattered dantian. That could only mean one thing, somehow the Stoneborn Monkeys had been revived. Soon he would be free. The Rot would be banished.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Supreme Stoneborn Monkey opened his eyes, and the first thing he could see was treasure chests, instinct took over and he rushed over to the chests, there were ten of them, it opened one of them, and inside the first was a manual describing a technique called the Earth Grade Dragon Vajra Fist inside, the next one had a Guandao sparkling with magical energy, its keen blade ready to kill, the next chest had golden armor with red accents, a red feathered crown, a red leather boots with ornate golden filigree. The next chest had another technique, the Profound Grade Nine Shadows Martial Technique, the next had a cultivation technique, the Heaven Grade, Seven Layer Immortality technique, the next had the Spirit Grade Stoneborn Giant Elephant Tempering technique, the next had useless herbs but the bounty was already enough. The Monkey retreated to a nearby cave, he noticed that hundreds of other monkeys had appeared, but they felt weaker than him. He would be their leader, their king. But he knew his master, his master was the Core.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Tik-Bit the gnome was currently building a clockwork, it had only been a few hours since the Core had created him, and the Core had placed them in a large hill that had a sprawling cave network and rich copper, tin, iron, gold, silver and mithril, it a bountiful place giving them enough materials to construct the Clockworks which were magical constructs, all gnome instinctually knew how to build the Clockwork Scout, Clockwork Iron Serpent, the Clockwork Bolter and finally the Clockwork defender. As the cog went into place, the Clockwork sputtered to life, [Clockwork Scout created], the screen confirmed what he already knew, now he just needed to replicate it. The Clockwork would be the first of many, they would be their grand army


    +++++++++++++++++


    Sun Wukong would be reborn, the Gnome Clockwork army would destroy the invaders, and the Duergar toiled away in their caves, waiting for the invaders to come.

 Chapter Twelve

    Johnathan stared down the Twins, this time he was in the company of ten Adamantine adventurers, five of which were from the Valorica, the threat of the dungeon was too great for the two enemies, so they had somehow agreed to a ceasefire in their endless wars, now they were going to probably be able to slay the twins for the first time in dozens of attempts, the Twins lept towards the Adamantine Adventurers and then the ringing of metal echoed through the air, and it took three strikes, three strikes to slay a beast that had sent hundreds of good people to their death, the sliced corpse fell to the ground, green ichor pooling around it. To Johnathan it was a miracle that the main attraction appeared, it had been a few delves since he had seen Barukan. The Worm began to circle them, his massive girth surrounded them, the people here were High-Adamantine, but they were facing a Low-Obdurium ranked threat, they could kill but some would certainly die in the process.


    Suddenly Mana began to gather around the Worm, Johnathan recognized the formation, it was the [Fireball] spell, but before he could [Counterspell] it, the Worm attacked. For the third time that week the teleport crystals saved them, in a flash of white light they were in the guild hall. ¡°Well, I need to tell the Guild that the Worm is a spellcaster.¡± He started running down the hall, bolting towards the Guild Office.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Elder Tempest, [Thunderous Guardian of the Mountain] was fighting the urge to smite this insolent beast where, he was its guardian, appointed by the Lord Dungeon to guard this place, and now the so-called Monkey King wanted to defy the Lord Dungeon''s desires, ¡°Now little one, the Lord dungeon created me with the intent to guard you, you have access to some of the most potent spirit herbs that ever been created, you can quietly gain power while the others fight.¡± The Monkey King looked up at the draconic face of the Elder of Elemental, at the hundreds of feathered white wings on its scaled body, and he asked one question, ¡°Who are the others and what are you?¡± ¡°Little one it is better that I show you .¡° The Tempest stopped a part of his ever-raging storm, below the mountain, war raged, the Tempest watched as the four symbols, the Vermilion Bird, the Azure Dragon, the Black Tortoise, and the White Tiger fought,


    ¡°I guard this place against their war, they fight because they want to test their limits, be glad that Lord Dungeon created me to guard you otherwise you would forced to choose a side. As for the others, the Azure Dragon has the complete loyalty of the Azure Kobolds, Flood Serpents, and Dragon Turtles, the Black Tortoise has the allegiance of the Duergar, Derro, Earth Serpents, and the Galeb Duhr, the Vermilion bird is the ruler of the Golden Crows, the Phoenixes, and the Wind Serpents. The White Tiger rules over the gnomes, and the Snow Serpents, and is allied with the Qilin. I am one of ten Elder Tempests, ruler of the skies over the cerulean ocean, I want to be out at sea, to rage freely with no consequences, but I must guard you, as Lord Dungeon demands of me.¡±


    The Monkey King looked over the war, at the massive amounts of power being thrown around casually, now he knew why Elder Tempest had appeared to guard them, they would have stood a chance out there, and so he asked one last question, ¡°I need resources that can only be found outside of the mountain, resources that can fuel my cultivation , I want to leave it, please Great Elder let me leave the Mountain!¡± ¡°Fine young one, but first gather your strength, and gain more techniques, then when you can scratch one of my scales will I allow you to leave the mountain.¡± Said the Tempest its voice booming through the air. The Monkey King knew what he had to do. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Deep beneath the earth, the Duergar fought the hordes of Clockworks, ¡°Damn it, do they have an infinite supply of metal, how are they able to keep building these damn things?¡± Hardain shouted, a Clockwork Serpent was sliced in two by his deadly soulblade, but for every single Clockwork he killed ten more would appear in their place, ¡°Hold on Hardain, they¡¯re sending the Despot.¡± said the operator over the psychic link. Just hearing that title sent shivers down his spine, ¡°You''re serious, they''re sending him in?¡± As if in answer to his question, the ringing of metal echoed through the chamber, God they really sent him.


    The despot had sustained a major wound in a battle with the White Tiger, but he had lived and he had augmented himself with Psi-tech, he could use spells, but most terrifyingly he could use both. the only Martial technique the Duergar had ever found, the Spirit Grade Seven Star Psion Avalanche, and a special Cultivation Technique that they had found, the Heaven Grade Tenfold Hundred Hateful Psion Fiendlord, and with the power of potent Psi-tech with him he was able to rival the Four Symbols in his power, of course, if they were to deploy him now, they would certainly be crushed by the other three factions working together. In an instant, the entire army of clockworks, just vanished as the Despot destroyed them in a single deadly attack. ¡°Gods, what we created?¡± Hardain said as the Despot moved forward, he ranback to the tunnel where the Despot had come from.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Core was not happy with how the Third had turned out, on one hand, it had used almost all its schemas here as there was more than enough space to support a lot of monsters that he had. On the other hand, a massive war was raging across it, but hey it was good combat training for the inevitable day that someone would find their way to Third, although it could¡­yes that was perfect, the Core created a spirit fire in the cave at the peak of the central mountain, the Monkeys had already found it, and the Supreme Stoneborn Monkey used it as his personal abode. After he placed the fire, the Core moved itself into the center of the mountain, the only way in was through a secret door in the cave. Good, more safety thought the Core, although, the Core decided to create four treasure chests inside the Supreme¡¯s cave, cycled so that it would spawn a random Martial Technique, and also made it so the corpse of Light Runner Antelope would spawn every three days. The Supreme hopefully share these gifts with the tribe.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Leviathan wandered the Cerulean Sea, she knew that there were nine others, but they stayed in their territory, they spread life through the sea, the eggs of creatures, and seeds of sea plants spreading through the ocean, they had an important role in the God-Core¡¯s plan, they knew that they were responsible for all life that spread throughout the roiling waves. She was content except there was always something nagging at her, like a Crystal Urchin that was stuck in her scales, something wanted her to use something inside of her. She was afraid but she knew that the War of the Landlocked would soon spread to sea. She was afraid, what if a rival attacked, what if the War would spread to the sea, but she wouldn¡¯t hesitate, she knew that if the others attacked she would be a roiling tsunami instead of a small wave. She drew on the Ancient power, as a rip in the Fabric of the Planes opened.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The War would stretch beyond the Land of Mountains, the Rip would lead to new opportunities and threats, and the Monkey King would shake the fabric of the war, soon the Third would change.

 Chapter Thirteen

    The Monkey King walked into his cave, he felt something change earlier, all creature felt that when Lord Dungeon changed something, but this time it felt closer almost like it on the mountain, when the Monkey King entered his abode, he saw three things, first were four chests, the same as the ones in the grove of Divine Fruit, there was also a dead furry creature, his Cultivation did require the consumption powerful spirit beasts, which were nonexistent on the mountain, and finally he saw the most important part of Lord Dungeon¡¯s blessing, it was an enormous flame, bright red in color, it was twice as large as him and most importantly was an important part of his Cultivation, the Seven Layer Immortality technique required a spirit flame of sufficient power to cultivate, it was a requirement to begin cultivating the technique, first he opened the four chest and was shocked at what was inside.


    They all had a single Heaven Grade Technique inside, they were the Millenium Shell of the Black Tortoise, the Heavenly Wings of the Vermilion Bird, the Ivory Fang of the White Tiger, and the Divine Breath of the Azure Dragon. He immediately grabbed them and hid them in an alcove that he had created when he had tested the Nine Shadows technique with his Guandao, then he began to consume the raw flesh of the animal carcass. As he bit into it he focused on the Blood Essence inside the corpse, as the manual for Stoneborn Giant Elephant Tempering technique, as the manual said, he focused on it, and began to channel the Blood Essence in his ¡°Meridians¡± which were a series of twelve channel location around is body, although before he began to channel the Essence into his Meridians, he removed his armor which was recommended by the manual before you began channeling Blood Essence into your Meridians. Then he began to channel the Essence into his body.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Oh my Schema what¡¯s on going now, though the Dungeon as a Screen with very unwelcome news appeared in front of it, [WARNING: A Spatial Tear to Plane of Water had been opened by a Leviathan on your Third Floor, Please select options do deal with the rift:


    One: Destroy, this will permanently close the Rip


    Two: Harmonize, this will allow for the being that come through the Rip to harmonize with the Core, allowing for cooperation with creatures, but they will not follow Dungeon Rules


    This Option has been allowed due to you exceptional performance:


    Assimilate: this will turn all being that come through the Rip to be converted in a dungeon monster that act as a normal dungeon monster, you gain access to their Schema, however if a monster is too strong the creature not be converted,  creatures on the other side will have an urge to go through the Rip]


    The Dungeon assessed the situation, Close looked great but he had a feeling that the leviathans would open another rift again, the Harmonize option was clearly the worst, the Dungeon knew that out of the three Assimilate was the best, so that was the option the Dungeon would pick. [Assimilate now active], immediately the Core gained three new Schemas, [Aqula Duhr, Boiling Brine Ooze, Crystallic Starfish]


    The Aqula Duhr, which was the water equivalent of the Galeb Duhr was the most useful, the Dungeon created hundreds of them to haunt to ocean, the Boiling Brine Ooze was a boiling aquatic version of the Oozes that populated the Second and Third, it created a few thousand since the Dungeon somehow knew that something would try to kill them soon, finally the Crystallic Starfish, it was at best a minor pest, at worst it would be a major pest. They had crystal spikes covering them, allowing for minor damage, however they  were functionally immortal since if you tried to kill them with normal weaponry they would split into five shards which would reform to become a perfect copy of the original starfish. The dungeon created three hundred of them. The Rip would be a good source of Schemas. Actually on the topic of schemas, it hadn¡¯t checked up on the First in a while.


    A few minutes later, the Dungeon watched as the Twins were effortlessly slain by a group of invaders, thankfully Barukan drove them off a few minutes later. It was glad that it had added a rule which replenished all monsters up to their specified limits after the invaders left since hundreds of monsters lay dead on the savannah.  They hadn¡¯t found Fenris yet but it was pretty certain that she needed an upgrade to. He gave the Twins, Starbreaker and Fenris the Stealth, Natural Armor, Bestial Wrath, Keen Senses, Harmonic Echo Blade, which was converted to Harmonic Echo Claw, Tactical Mind, Whirlwind, Crush, Final Frenzy, Counter, Healing Factor, Penetrative Strike, Deflect, Halting Blow, Heavy Blow, Parry, Adrenaline Rush, Unholy Strength, Charge, Strength before Death, Taunt, and Counterspell Schemas, although for Starbreaker Counterpell was useless. Hopefully the new buffs would actually give the Invaders some difficulty in their attempts. The dungeon decided to add Minor Wind Serpents and Minor Earth Serpents to First. Now the invaders would learn their lesson.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    +++++++++++++++++


    When Tym sliced the Twins in half as part of daily routine to eventually fight Barukan, the Twin that he was slicing, Pluto as the System called it, three things happened, one, it blocked with its claws, two, it used the Deflect and Parry skills, three, he didn¡¯t realize that it was High-Adamantine threat now. He was pushed back thirteen feet, the wizard cast [Disintegrate] but Pluto cast [Counterspell] and managed to block the spell, Pluto¡¯s brother Hades appeared, the warrior used Dash to block the attack but the beast used what appeared to be Crush, Penetrative Strike, Halting Blow, Heavy Blow, Adrenaline Rush, and Charge to halt the slice through the man¡¯s sword, arms, chestplate and Natural Armor, the hit cut deep into his flesh, thankfully Tym knew that he man had the [Greater Regeneration] passive which he knew would counter the deadly poison. Even though the man was dazed from Halting Blow, he still had enough sense in him to activate the teleport crystals, the others quickly followed.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Guandao struck the scale of Elder Tempest, the Nine Shadows Technique, backed by the Earth Rank Five Winds Technique and the Monkey King¡¯s enhanced physical form failed to scratch his scales. ¡°Little one you still have a long way to go until you can successfully scratch my scale.¡± The Guardian was amused by his charge¡¯s behavior, ¡°You probably found that technique in the chest in your village, correct?¡± ¡°Correct Great Elder.¡± Said the King ¡°Well then you should practice it under my raging winds, that technique looks like a Wind Qi technique, one that is meant to support your other techniques while still having considerable power, it''s strong enough that it will last you for quite a few realms.¡± The Monkey still hadn¡¯t tried to use the Heaven Grade Techniques it had access to manuals for but it was too volatile for someone who had only three layers of Body cultivation and no Qi cultivation to speak of. He did need to grow stronger.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Dungeon hadn¡¯t realized how powerful the Leviathans were in his quest to fill the seas, he found that ten leviathans was the optimal amount for the sea and that they actually held the eggs and seeds of different seas creature once spawned in, so his ocean was somehow filled with foreign life that he hasn''t introduced when had created the place, the Spatial Rip had  added so much diversity to his oceans, out the hundreds of sea creature schemas that he had access to, two had caught its attention, [Schema Gained, Trident, Harpoon, Sunken Ship, Ghost Ship, Triton, Mermaid]


    The Tritons and Mermaids the Core had created had made a village in a small outcropping hidden from view, it was perfect for more intelligent sea defenders, the Sunken Ship was just decor that the Dungeon could fill with loot, it didn¡¯t, but the Ghost Ship would haunt the seas launching harpoons and cannonballs at any interlopers, it created ten of them and populated them with Fierce Ghosts. It looked through its oceans. Hundreds of schools of thousands of different species of fish swam through the seas, the occasional predator, like a shark or squid consumed the bountiful food, the Leviathans were forces of nature that would consume to their heart''s content, the Ghost Ships would wander the seas, fighting anything that they came across and the Tritons and Mermaid would supplement its defense in the seas. Most importantly it was untouched by the war on the island, I hope they find out what¡¯s going on inside of there.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Oracle¡¯s rules of Dungeon Survival: Never make the Dungeon angry, never make a fight look easy, otherwise the Core will react¡­ harshly, always sustain a minor wound or three,  so the Core think you still have a Challenge. Never attempt to take a monster alive for the same reasons. Alway maintain death reports. Never bring along an undocumented member. Always protect the innocent from a Dungeon.

 Interlude

    The Core hadn¡¯t used all the schemas that had been given to him yet so he immediately decided to spawn in a thousand fierce ghost across the land, then the Core decided to spawn around a hundred Kitsune, then he spawned in a thousand Derro in the underground tunnels of the Earth. The Core then spawned some of its older Schemas, ten Manticores and Ten Chimeras were created in the east, a pride of Stellar Lions was created, and and another wolf pack was created in the west.


    Then he created a dark forest of some new trees, an Epic Option that he had found on the boot of a slain adventurer, Bloodwood Stranglers, and a Rare One, Grasping Screamers, which had drifted into the First after strong winds had occurred outside, a finally the Core added Gu, magical insects of deadly power, and a thick layer of blood-red mist. The Core then created hundreds Galeb Duhr all over the forest, adding fierce ghosts and kitsune to it. At the center, the Core created a Galeb Duhr, earlier it had discovered that the more energy he poured into a creation the more powerful it would become. So he poured in his power into his creation. Energy flowed from it, and the Core drew from its creations, the Bloodline of Creation, the Element of Water, a fragment of the power of each of its Raid Bosses. And a powerful Heaven Grade Cultivation technique, the Core¡¯s body began to crack, the Screen¡¯s appeared [Manual Creation detected, Race: Galeb Duhr, Elements of Water and Earth detected, Peak Grade Bloodline detected, Power Fragments detected, Heaven Grade Cultivation Technique, Estimated Threat Level: Unknown, Boss Rank: Unknown, Core Performance: Exceptional, Core Level: Third, System Assistance Granted] The pressure lessened.  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    +++++++++++++++++


    [System Announcement: The Dungeon, the Crypt of the Forsaken has created a World Boss, The Bloodied King of Water and Stone, Warforged Lord of Venom and Death, Devourer of Mana and Soul, Born from Creation itself: Goliath.]


    [Administrator 019-4 has awakened, Conditions have been met: Second Phase of System Integration has begun, the Horsemen have been released, let the Cataclysm of Fate Begin]


    +++++++++++++++++


    War, Famine, Pestilance, and Death, Fate¡¯s enforcers shall walk the earth when Cataclysm of Fate begins, [Dragon Seer] Ophidia, right before the fall of Dragon Gods and her death.

 Chapter Fourteen

    In his room in the Palace, the System Window hovered in front of Prana¡¯s face, he knew that the others in his legion saw it too, [System Announcement: The Dungeon, the Crypt of the Forsaken has created World Boss, The Bloodied King of Water and Stone, Warforged Lord of Venom and Death, Devourer of Mana and Soul, Born from Creation itself: Goliath.]


    [Administrator 019-4 has awakened, Conditions have been met: Second Phase of System Integration has begun, the Horsemen have been released, let the Cataclysm of Fate Begin]


    It had been three weeks since Prana and the others had been summoned to this primitive backwater world that was outside of the God-King¡¯s reach, their attempts to communicate through Corian¡¯s system were met with static. However this ¡°System¡± had given them new tools, their Goldlockers and Storm Gladiuses were unbreakable, and they had unlimited ammunition, their armor had been given the same treatment. They had access to the wrist-mounted Whistling Death missiles again. Corian¡¯s dreadnought was now even more powerful, with the ability to create deadly arms of an energy called ¡°Mana¡±.


    However the System was indifferent to their struggles, and now a new challenge had been thrown at them, a Cataclysm, according to the historians of this world there were three Cataclysm that would occur, the Cataclysm of Knowledge, the Cataclysm of Power, and the Cataclysm of Fate. The Cataclysm of Knowledge and the Cataclysm of Power had occurred one thousand and five years ago respectively. The Cataclysm of Fate had begun. Prana picked up his Goldlocker, and his Storm Gladius, the God-King was testing his resolve, he would not disappoint.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Core was ecstatic with his newest creation he was so much more powerful than anything he had ever created before, something about a new classification called World-Boss, a screen popped up before showing him his creation [World Boss, Goliath, created: Schema list removed, reason: too long] The Core was overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge that he received from screens, he was about to start celebrating when another screen appeared with his bosses name on it: [System Announcement: The Dungeon, the Crypt of the Forsaken has created World Boss, The Bloodied King of Water and Stone, Warforged Lord of Venom and Death, Devourer of Mana and Soul, Born from Creation itself: Goliath.]


    [Administrator 019-4 has awakened, Conditions have been met: Second Phase of System Integration has begun, the Horsemen have been released, let the Cataclysm of Fate Begin]


    Apparently, the Core¡¯s Name was the Crypt of the Forsaken, and his newest defender was a big deal to the System. Apparently, that was the Screen¡¯s name. The Core realized that its halls would be flooded with invaders soon.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Deep in system space, %^&T)N was crying in his office, first, his Dungeon Soul had escaped, and now that it had started the Second Phase, he would be recreated for this, he valued his life. He knew that he was a dead man walking any moment his recreator would walk up and then, he would know nothing, he would die, no even worse a better version of himself would be created and he would be forced to watch as the imposter took over his life The Man in the White appeared, %^&T)N was confused, the Man never appeared as an executioner, why was he here ¡°%^&T)N, come with me please, you¡¯re being promoted to regional manager for exceptional handling of this the World¡¯s integration.¡± Maybe this wouldn¡¯t be so bad for him. Or maybe this was a pretense to make recreation easier.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    +++++++++++++++++


    In the Dungeon it had created, The Core was curious over its new name, the Crypt of the Forsaken, it liked the name but it was too long, the other words didn¡¯t feel right to it, of and they were not names, that it was sure of, Forsaken, something about that stirred something in him, it felt just past his reach but, what his, were had that come from, Forsaken was something important to him it odd though, hatred and contempt stirred in him, but he just didn¡¯t know what it meant, he was clutching at straws, that again, he, the Core was a he, he knew what he was, his name would be Crypt. Something in the world changed around him, his mind grew clearer, I am Crypt, I am the ruler of this realm.


    Crypt brought his attention to his newest boss, Goliath, Crypt was awed by what he saw, a floating humanoid was where he directed his attention, Crypt looked at his form. Gleaming red armor surrounded red stone, flowing water ran between the cracks, Goliath was at least twenty feet tall, and glowing black eyes were in his helmet. The Elemental held a blood-red sword, it had a hilt shaped like a dragon skull, and its blade had images of blood and death on it, with a deadly aura of magic surrounding the edge, Crypt knew that anything that touched the edge would be turned to dust. The sword was enormous, almost as large as Goliath. It was a fine blade for his boss. Overall Goliath seemed incredibly powerful. He would be the Guardian of the Dark Woods.


    +++++++++++++++++


    In the middle of the First, Starbreaker was no longer the strongest, the Core had created a beast of a Boss, he knew just from the Aura that he felt on the Third that if he even tried to fight Goliath he would die. The Aura reached up to the First, he knew that it wasn¡¯t lethal for him and the others, but the invaders would feel it, as they got deeper they would feel the Aura of Goliath. Starbreaker could barely comprehend the power the Elemental wielded. Starbreaker had grown complacent, now he was paying the price. It was his fault he had grown so weak, it was his fault that he wasn¡¯t the strongest. So he would rectify this. Soon he would challenge the God of the Third and he would win.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Deep in the heart of Palace, Corian the Entombed, Corian the Dreadnought, felt the impossible, he felt the wood of the floor, he felt the fur of the cat in his [Mana-Constructs], he felt it, it should have been impossible since he was a half-dead entombed husk, but he felt with the strange sorcery that had been granted to him by the System. It was so hard for him to stay sane after he had been entombed but now he feeling. The announcement from the System was concerning, his brother would need his help in fighting the oncoming horde, but Corian knew one thing. He could feel the world again. Eons of pain, suffering, of deprivation vanished. He was still in pain, he was still entombed but now he would fight it, he would take back what was taken from him.


    Corian would fight alongside his battle brothers but now he had something he felt had been lost, something that had been taken from him. He felt once more. He was happy, he was free.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Storm is always approaching, and history always repeats, but one thing remains, bright in the darkness: the God-King has guided us here, we are to help this world and enact his will.- Praetor Prana, right before fighting a Beast Tide that threatened the world of Anaxis.

 Chapter Fifteen

    Crypt was watching the fifth group of invaders in this hour, attempting to kill the Twins and find his other bosses, it reached the point where Crypt was seriously considering murdering them all by sending Felbris or Barukan up here, thankfully Barukan was killing any stragglers who got close to center. Crypt was also mad since the groups were always the same, same Classes, same Skills, and even the same weapon, Crypt had gotten only twenty schemas out of these adventurers since came, hell Crypt had more use the goddamn dirt on their shoes, since would occasionally contain a brand new schema, usually a plant schema or if he got lucky with it, a fragment of monster schema, today though someone had screwed up.


    The fifth group had had a person, he had been a muscled, extremely important-looking guy with Supreme Elder Wyvern scale armor, a sword made from the claws of the same Supreme Elder Wyvern, had the fur of a Titanic Displacer Beast inside the lining of the armor with the head and claws built into the armor. To top it all off the Class of the guy was, [Bestial Stoneborn Berzerker] (Legendary). It felt so good to finally get a new Schema, that wasn¡¯t [Fighter] (Uncommon), [Wizard] (Uncommon), [Ranger] (Uncommon), or [White Mage] (Rare). Crypt immediately spawned in fifteen Titanic Displacer Beasts around the First, and fifty more in the third, then he spawned in ten Supreme Elder Wyvern on the first and one hundred in the Third, as that one was much larger than the First.


    And he could¡­ Crypt ripped his attention away from his ruminations, as someone teleported into the center of the Dark Forest on the third, they were accompanied by a full group of very powerful-looking invaders. He warned the Third, his Core might actually be in danger.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Goliath stirred as Lord Crypt warned the Third about a group of surprise invaders, they were in the Dark Forest, his Gu minion would slay them, but if they didn¡¯t succeed, Goliath picked his blade. Then they would face him in battle.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Koran was ecstatic, he had bypassed two entire floors, and now he was on the Third floor of the Dungeon that had started the Cataclysm of Fate, now he would claim it, and¡­ Koran was swamped by an aura of pure power, this was. Something flashed in the dark, and suddenly Koran was on the floor blood spurting around him, he couldn''t feel his body and what had happened, Koran realized something, there was an insect dragging him away, he couldn¡¯t scream, he couldn¡¯t feel anything. Everything went black.


    +++++++++++++++++


    ¡°Crap, the [Dimensional Rifter¡¯s] dead, I repeat Koran¡¯s dead.¡± Valarie was terrified of this place, a Rifter from the capital had come here and had proposed a way to sneakily gain access to the Third floor of the dungeon, it was the lowest that he could access, but with teleportation crystals, they easily escape if something went wrong. Valerie watched a Pitch Black beetle-like insect, dragged away Koran¡¯s head. Something had gone wrong. All suddenly a terrifying howl erupted from the right. Wolves with blood-red fur, and piercing yellow eyes erupted from the undergrowth, suddenly half the group vanished as giant moles dragged them down into the earth. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Valarie did the only thing she could do in this situation, she activated her teleportation crystal. Except a monster that looked like a dragonfly plucked right out of her grasp. Valerie ran toward some light she saw in the distance. She needed to escape. She broke into a mountain range, it looked beautiful, but that didn''t matter right now. She ran toward a nearby cave and threw down an invisibility ward in it. Then outside of the cave she created a decoy, and blew it up with magi-tech explosives she had one on. To monsters and the Core, it would look like she had died from the explosion. She could live for now, she had packed enough rations to last her a few months but right now she needed to avoid attention. Dungeon Code 53: if trapped in a dungeon await rescue, don''t pay attention to yourself, and never kill too many monsters.


    But why is the cave so warm? All of sudden the mouth of the cave closed. She was swallowed by a titanic monster. She fell and fell and fell, until she reached the boiling acid at the end. Everything melted away. There was nothing but bones left of her. Then even that was gone in a flash of blue light.


    +++++++++++++++++


    Crypt was really happy with how the Third had dealt with the adventurers. One of them had actually tried to hide themselves, and it had nearly succeeded, he had thought that she had ended herself in an attempt to deny him her schema, sadly though she had run into the mouth of a Dragon Turtle that was traveling through the island. Her Schemas we¡¯re now his. He had gotten ten Schemas this time, five for classes, two for monsters, and three for traps and treasure, the class Schemas were, [Master Arcana Thief] (Epic), [Stormborn Divine Justicar] (Legendary), [Dimensional Rifter] (Legendary), [Void Nullmage] (Mythic), and [Supreme Elder Giant Slayer] (Mythic), Crypt had access to more Legendary, Epic and Mythic Classes. The monster schemas were even more exciting, they were, [Void Null Golem] and the [Thunderblood Ogre].


    Void Null Golems were golems that were made of a mithril-adamantine alloy and powered antimagic and a mysterious force called the Void, which gave a destructive power that allowed them to destroy entire armies by themselves. Their antimagic would cancel all forms of magic and wizardry, Crypt was lucky the one he had found in the bag of holding was deactivated, otherwise, it would have devastated the Third, only the Bosses could have stopped it. The Thunder-Blood Ogres were deadly monsters, large and deadly, but quite stupid, they had an aura of lightning around them, combined with the fact they could turn into a bolt of lightning to attack their enemies, they would be good weapons in the war, Crypt created three tribes of them each seven-hundred ogres.


    The Void Null Golems were special, Crypt created a room on the second that invaders would have to fight to get the goblins, there were two of them there and they would be effective guardians of the goblins. Then Crypt placed one hundred of them on the third, they would wander the Third, being forces of nature none could control. The Treasure and Trap schemas were, Assorted Magi-Tech, Assorted Wards, and the Death of Magic trap, overall, today had been an amazing day for Crypt.


    +++++++++++++++++


    The Guild was in an uproar, an entire strike team of elite adventurers had gone missing in the Crypt of the Forsaken, the Rifter was dead, and the Chief of a local tribe had died attempting to enter the First floor. The whole thing was a bureaucratic disaster, with the Dungeon gaining a lot of new monsters for its use. Now there was another dead team and an angry tribe of Barbarians. The town was going to experience trouble in the near future.