《The Wrath of The Demon King》 Prolouge: Death and Rebirth "Everyone, be careful! It''s down to half-health, prepare for a raid wipe attack!" A man with distinct silver hair and eyes, a sword covered with runes in each hand, and majestic silver armour marked with patterns of a phoenix spitting fire on each shoulder barked orders at the thousand members of the guild "Phoenix Rebirth," a tense look on his face. [Ysgird, the True Immortal King] (Eternal Being, Level 500) 599,987,452/1,200,000,000 ''It''s been around half an hour now... hmn, we should be able to get it done this time. 1,000 members out of 1,200 still alive... good. We can do this. We may never have gotten this far, but we can do this.'' The man thought to himself. Above his head floated a namecard, reading . Underneath was a variety of information, such as his level (495), his status in the guild (Leader) and his class (Spellblade). He jumped backwards, flying behind a tank-class player, crossing his two blades for a brief moment before the runes lit up and a tremendous bolt of black lightning hit the boss, a damage indicator of [-156,752] appearing above the bosses head for a brief moment. Now, the boss'' health was at 599,830,700. The boss'' aura suddenly rose up, an oppresing feeling falling onto the entire raid party. It shouted, "Mere false immortal scum! You will pay, pay for this trespass, this vile attack upon my land, my race! Face the move which I, Ysgird, personally created! One not gifted to me by the gods!" It pushed its hand down onto the blade it wielded, taking a stance that radiated enough power that mana itself, a gaseous substance, condensed into solid cubes and swirled around it. It burst out into laughter. "Hahahaha! Strongest member of the group who has come to face me, prepare to face your demise!" The oppresive aura emanating from the boss focused itself on Silver. His face contorted as he shouted, "Quickly, layer defensive spells and immunity spells on me! It''s a single-target attack, against the one ranked highest on the damage rating leaderboards!" But it was too late. His shout was interrupted by the roar of the boss, the scream of: "Let the immortal beings become mortal once more!" A de-buff showed up on every player''s screen: [Debuff afflicted: Mortality.] Double death penalty, double loot drop and log-in prevention upon death (14 Days) have been applied. As Silver went to cast his immunity skill, the solid mana cubes coverged into the boss'' blade, jets of orange and blue flame bursting out from it. Then, it was as if time itself had stopped. The players could still see, think, communicate. Yet they couldn''t move or use skills. Turning into a blur, the boss disappeared from sight as the players regained access to movement. Ysgird, the boss, was stood in the same stance, now behind the raid party. However, all Silver saw was darkness. He didn''t wake up in his bed at home. He didn''t see the "You died!" screen. There was simply... nothing.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The raid party all turned around, facing the boss again, as it spoke, "My very own skill proved a success. I dub this, Immortal Bane. The one known as Silver has died. Not one of your false Immortals fake deaths. A true death." Its hideous face twisted into a sadistic smile.
Outside of the game, it only took a little while for the truth to be discovered. "Man known as Silver killed in his bed while-" "Caused by the hit game Chronos? Questi-" "Death of Silver, guild leader of Phoenix Rebirth, sparks the question - Is Chronos as safe as made out to be? Mor-" The family of Alexander Silver all looked at the TV in horror and sorrow. Christine Silver, Alexander''s mother, burst out into tears immediately. Sean Silver, Alexander''s father, just barely managed to keep his composure. Alexander''s roomate, Taylor, was the first to find him dead. The scene of death was horrific to say the least, the headset stained in blood, his corpse mangled, walls partially painted red. It was very unlike the death he had suffered ingame. Taylor only barely managed to keep her composure while calling the ambulance, before she simply burst into tears on the phone. The response from the developers was swift, and the game shut down nearly instantly. They hastily apologised on the news, and said they would do their best to compensate this loss with whatever they could. The public was shocked, especially considering Chronos had become part of their daily lives, many finding jobs ingame that could earn them more money. At first there was outrage, but then only dejection. Internet trolls, of course, mocked Silver''s death, but the response they recieved for this was so calamitous that they found it in themselves to reflect on their past actions, regret their words and make an apology that outshone the developer''s in the public eye.
Meanwhile, in a gap between worlds: [Powerful entity detected. As such, entity will be given chance to reincarnate. Opti-] The voice was cut off by an immediate shout of "Dungeon Master!" Silver formed out of the misty darkness that was the gap between worlds. Finally, it seemed he could achieve his wish of controlling his own dungeon. While he had owned his own city within Chronos, he didn''t feel like it would be the same as having the apocalyptic power of a Dungeon Master, despite all his previous power. He seemed surprisingly composed for someone who had recently died, but in reality, he had forgotten most events of his life. Even his personality that was full of heroics was largely wiped, his only memories being of how to fight and his wishes. The voice sounded out again: [Very well. You have chosen "Dungeon Master." You will now be placed at an appropriate location. Please remember, you can change the location of your Dungeon when you can maintain human form and move to a suffice location. Note the following commands, as they will be essential to your new life: "Shop." "Build." "Stats." "Minions." "Guardians." "Summon." "Form Body." These commands will be engrained in the back of your mind so you may never forget them. You may go now.] Silver nodded at no-one, and turned into particulates of light. He did not control this process, and he had no idea what happened, but all he knew was that he, finally, had reincarnated to become a Dungeon Master! Chapter 1: New Life The Forest of Grey was one of few forests that populated the world linked to Chronos. And located here was a rip in space itself, which was the sole gateway to Chronos, undiscovered by the population of this alternate world. The forest was a majestic type, filled with dozens of types of trees, plants and animals, and was 15km from beginning to end. It was surrounded by a ring of mountains taller than skyscrapers, the only entrance being a treacherous valley between the two tallest mountains at the northern sector of the ring. However, nature was not the sole danger in this location. Magical beasts of the highest order, beings such as dragons and demons, populated the mountains. Most of these beasts were proficient in battle, some hostile, some docile. Magical dangers other than beasts also littered the mountains, with winds that could cause one to fall into endless illusion and ever-changing gravity being the most common of the dangers. As such, mana was an abundant resource in the mountains, with the air having mana dense enough that its colourful gaseous form could be seen and almost every resource being infused with mana. It goes without saying that these mountains are extremely valuable. Albeit having some of the most dangerous areas on the planet surrounding it, the Forest of Grey itself was actually a very peaceful place, devoid of all but the weakest magical beasts. Human civilisation was stable inside the forest, with the outer regions having many flourishing villages and the inner region being a popular place for budding adventurers. There was a somewhat safe passage from the forest''s villages through the mountains and into the outside world, however it was scarcely used. Within the core region of the forest, the undiscovered spatial rip suddenly expanded, dark clouds spreading out from it as waves upon waves of mana rocketed out. This phenomenon lasted for a scarce few seconds as the rip closed, albeit it was noticed by many. A short while after the rip closed, the loud booming sound of an explosion rang out, the core region and much of the inner region of the forest being completely flattened. No living being died, they were only launched out into the outer regions, their landings cushioned somehow by an unknown force. In the epicentre of the explosion, a spherical, opaque barrier, 500m in area, was present. One brave soul went up to the barrier after some time had passed, and touched it. Contrary to expectations, he was only blocked from passing through it, and not harmed in any way. Many humans and animals watched this barrier closely, a messenger using the road to the outside for the first time in months to report the situation.
Inside the barrier, a crystalline orb laid on the ground, directly in the centre. Unsurprisingly, this was Alexander Silver, who had just reincarnated into a Dungeon Master. ''I can''t see... or hear, move... nothing. This must be how it starts out, my new life. There were lots of commands... it''d be best to try one before anything else. Let''s see... [Form Body]'' A shrill sound, not dissimilar to a bell, rang out, before a voice spoke: "Unable to achieve command. Determining reason... Reason acquired. The minimum requirement to use this command has not been met. Minimum requirements include: 1 floor constructed, one Guardian-Class monster produced, Dungeon classified as Rank: E. Please try again once you have met the minimum requirements." After another bell-like sound, no more noise could be heard. "So, there''s minimum requirements. Mhm, not out of expectations. Another command next... [Stats]'' Suddenly, a screen appeared in the air, much like a character-profile from a game. [Basic Information] Name: Alexander Silver Moniker: Silver Title: None Race: Dungeon Master Level: 0 Class: None [Statistics] Health: 10/10 Strength: 1 Agility: 1 Dexterity: 1 Intelligence: 1 Resistance: 1 [Sub-Statistics] Magic Attack: 1 Magic Resistance: 1 Physical Attack: 1 Physical Resistance: 1 Speed: 1 Cooldowns: 100% Skill Strength: 100% [Immunities] None [Skills] None "Exactly like Chronos, huh. Doesn''t have everything there yet, but it''s a familiar display. [Stats]" The window closed up, alongside another bell-like sound. "[Minions]. [Guardians]." Nothing happened this time. Silver assumed that it was because he neither had minions, nor any "Guardians" yet. He didn''t bother with the command [Summon], as it was self-explanatory and he didn''t see the need to use it until he had his bearings and had developed something stable. "Next... [Shop]" Following yet another bell-like noise, a notification box similar to the one that appeared when he had tried to use [Form Body] appeared, reading: "Unable to achieve command. Determining reason... reason acquired. Minimum requirements to use this command have not been met. The constructions [First Floor] and [Demon King''s Hall] have not been constructed. Please try again after minimum conditions have been achieved." Another bell-like sound rang out, and then the notification box closed. "Ah... understandable. It seems this voice also changes its speech patterns sometimes... heh, that''s interesting. Well, only one more command... [Build]" Unlike previous commands, with the sole exception of [Stats], [Build] had been successfully activated. Unlike the bell sounds from ''notifications'', a sound not dissimilar from swift turning of a book''s pages was heard. A single light blinked in front of Silver, the text "Demon King''s Hall" also blinking underneath, in a redder, more noticeable tone. There were five strands, separated by 45 degree angles, that spread from the top-most sector of the circle. They were an unnoticeable grey hue, and the ends seemed to be cut-off, incomplete. Then, after a few moments, a voice rang out in Silver''s head, "Please select what you wish to construct through the command [Construct], following on with the desired objects name. Objects have a set appearance when first constructed, however this can be changed simply and easily through the sub-menu of [Build], called [Adjust]. Each object has between 2 and 10 items following them, unlocked after constructing the object. These items can sometimes be objects, but there are also extras that can be unlocked, including menus, convenience (E.G splitting menus into sections to easier access them, I.E [Stats] may be separated into [Basic], [Statistics] and [Skills], while [Form Body] can be separated into different menus that allow you to more accurately adjust the body you want, I.E [Gender], [Age], and so on." Following a few moments of pause, Silver spoke again. "R-right. Alright. So... [Construct "Demon King''s Hall"]... that sh-" Silver''s speech was cut off by the voice. "[Core Skill: Observe] has temporarily been activated for this command. Please select where you wish to build through the command [Create]." Abruptly, the darkness that filled Silver''s vision disappeared, a plain grassland with few flowers and trees surrounding him. The opaque barrier that surrounded him lit up the area, the occasional ripple from humans outside touching the barrier interfering with the lighting, making it seem quite distorted at times. Unlike the human eye, he could see all around him, which disoriented him for around a minute before he got slightly used to it. As someone who achieved level 495 in Chronos previously, he could easily adapt to different situations, especially considering most his memories that remained came from his time in the game. On the ground, there was a golden, blinking cuboid of light, 100m in length, 40m in width and 30m tall, taking up a large portion of the available space in the dome. "Well, it''s already in a good position, in the centre of this dome... I presume I''ll be moved out of the way?" "Correct" "Okay... good. [Create]." A loud booming sound could be heard for a brief moment, a spatial tear appearing underneath Silver, moving him to an area 50m away from the construction site. Useful, considering he was currently an immobile orb. Without delay, mana from the surrounding area condensed into visible gaseous form. It swirled majestically, dancing around the air while some strands purposefully separated and spread into the cuboid. As this process occurred, a building much like that of the Roman''s Pantheon was slowly but surely constructed. The process itself took 10 minutes, but to Silver it felt like mere seconds. If he still had a face, his jaw would be on the floor. As the process finished and the Demon King''s Hall was fully constructed, his joy slowly disappeared following the words of the mysterious voice in his head. "Extra statistic added to the [Stats] menu: Mana. Reason: Mana consumed from use of [Build] command. Due to construction having finished, [Core Skill: Observe] has been deactivated." The lush lands and majestic hall were swallowed up by darkness once more. However, the blinking light produced by the [Build] command seemed to remain, but instead of one blinking light, there were now 5 blinking lights, and one solid light. Unsurprisingly, the solid light was the Demon King''s Hall, now solid to signify it had been constructed. The five new options stemmed from the previously incomplete threads of light that spread from the Demon King''s Hall light. Specifically, these options were: "Magic System," "Specific Stats Menu," "First Floor," "Guardian One," and "Skill Production System." Silver''s ''eyes'' metaphorically lit up. "This... system, really knows how to treat a dungeon master well. You get all this stuff right off the bat? The First Floor is to be expected, and the Specific Stat Menu is just there for convenience, but the others are so useful! Oh... I should get the Specific Stat Menu first, actually. It''d be nice to not have my vision cluttered whenever I use it. Uh... [Construct Specific Stat Menu]?" Nothing happened, other than the voice saying "Incorrect command. Correct command for extras is [Unlock]." "I thought that sounded wrong. [Unlock Specific Stat Menu]." "Command accepted. Specific Stat Menu has been unlocked. Activate?" "Whew, so simple? That good. Activate!" "Understood." After that, information started appearing. There were 5 separate areas of interest. In the top left corner of his ''vision'', there was a red bar and a blue bar. The red bar appeared to be full, and had the numbers 10/10 next to it. From common sense, Silver deduced this was his "Health." The blue bar however, was only around 11% the length of the red bar, a grey bar extending out to match the end of the red bar, with the numbers 11/100 appearing next to it. Once again, from common sense, Silver figured it was his "Mana." However, the other areas of interest weren''t so simple. In the bottom left corner of his vision, there was a golden box with a slightly blacked out centre, decorated with a shield. Nothing appeared here. In the top right corner, there was another box, albeit decorated with golden sword, held by a weathered hand, wind seemingly whipping around the blade. Additionally, there was also some simple runic patterns adorning the blade, and also some chips in the weapon here and there. Inside the box, there were five values, all of them being "1" specifically. Silver assumed this was his statistics box, where stats such as strength and agility were held. In the bottom right corner, there was yet another box, decorated with stars and the three primary weapons: A sword, bow and staff. The values "0" and "None" were present, a grey bar extending out next to the value of "0". This was simpler to work out as his level and class. Finally, at the bottom centre of his vision, there was 10 boxes, each silver and empty, an exception being the tenth box which was filled and engraved with a + style pattern. They were surrounded by a solid, circular golden pattern with two blades sticking out from each side. Almost any person who played MMOs would recognise this as an "Active Skills" area.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "Ah! So similar to Chronos. Albeit, the box with a shield is new. That must be the immunities area. Well... one more thing to do before I can get started with my first floor. Wait- actually, two things. First, however, comes this. [Unlock Skill Production System]." Following the mana bar nearly bottoming out, the voice rung out again. "Skill Production System unlocked. Activate?" "Yes!" "Understood." The menus created by the [Build] command disappeared alongside the sound of a book closing, while a new menu opened up, accompanied by the sound of a sword clashing against a shield. Here, there were three lights flashing, specifically: [Core Skill: Observe], [Core Skill: Auscultate] and [Core Skill: Sense]. All three skills had a branch of light similar to the incomplete ones from the [Build] menu. "Assuming this is true to Chronos'' system, I''ll have to unlock each of these skills before I can unlock the next path. So, the first skills I get are sight, hearing and feeling. Simple enough. I presume it''ll cost mana to unlock these like everything else... and I suppose there''ll be minimum requirements too. Skills are essential, after-all. Well, let''s try this then. [Unlock Core Skill: Observe]" "Incorrect command. Correct command for skills is [Learn]." Silver grumbled in his mind. "Fine. [Learn Core Skill: Observe]." "Insufficient mana. Mana required: 50. Current mana: 7. Mana recovers at a steady rate of 1 point per 20 seconds. Process can be sped up to 1 point per second if concentrating. Mana capacity can be improved as you level up. Speed of absorption, however, will improve marginally less. I.E, you will gain 100 mana per level, but only 0.01 mana regeneration per second per level. Rate can be increased through the intelligence stat, at a steady rate of +1 point per 20 seconds per point. Mana stores will also be increased by 10 per point." "Ah..." In other words, Silver would have to wait for 860 seconds (14.3 minutes) before his mana would naturally regenerate to the amount he needed. If he focused, it''d only take 43 seconds. However, as all mage classes in Chronos would tell you, focusing is much harder to say than do. To achieve a ''Focused State'', a player had to completely clear their minds, and only focus on the mana around them, blocking out everything else from sight to sound. Of course, there were many counters to this absurd system, in the form of ''Mana pills'', ''Mana potions'' and ''Mana cubes''. Mana pills released a condensed, gaseous form of mana into the player when consumed, which restored 1% of their total mana. These were cheap and easy to find, and typically taken in bulk. Mana potions, a liquidised version of mana that was drunk, restored 10% of mana, however these were much more expensive to create, involving a high-levelled mage with the alchemist subclass forcibly liquidising the mana around them. Solid Mana Cubes were ultra-rare, high-end items that all mage players wanted. These restored 100% of players mana, granted the buff ''Wisdom'', which boosted intelligence by 5% for 10 hours, and permanently added 500 mana to a player''s maximum limit when ingested. Typically, each cube cost more than ten times the amount of the highest ranked health potion, which granted similar effects but for statistics such as health and resistance. This cost was due to the state of mana. Gaseous mana could be anywhere between extremely thin mana, typically unnoticeable, while the most dense form was noticeable to the eye. This is because it was condensed down nearly 100 times. Liquid mana is far more dense, being 1,000 times more dense than the most dense gaseous form. Solid mana, unfortunately, did not follow the pattern, and was, in fact, unimaginably dense, the amount of mana in it incalculable. This lead to it being a lucrative resource that was extremely difficult to produce. As such, the typical value was so astronomical that even the third strongest guild in Chronos, "Phoenix''s Rebirth," Silver''s previous guild, only had around 500 cubes to distribute between tens of thousands of players. And of course, Silver had none of these resources at the moment. So, he just patiently waited the 14 minutes. Due to his previous class being a "Spellblade," he only had minuscule amounts of experience with the "Focused State," albeit he could still achieve it occasionally as his class did have some spells to be used. After his mana count hit 51, he repeated the command. "[Learn Core Skill: Observe]" Following his mana bar nearly bottoming out again, now flashing slightly, the voice spoke again. "[Core Skill: Observe] has been learnt. This skill, due to its status as a Core Skill, will activate passively and not consume any mana. This skill can be levelled up to increase the distance at which you can see, the detail in which you can see and other additional effects involving the eyes. When the [Form Body] command is used, this skill will be temporarily deactivated, allowing you to see through your proper eyes." Following this, a burst of colour radiated outwards, Silver now being able to see for 250m in the radius around him. He couldn''t see perfectly, but it was better than seeing nothing. After waiting for 14 minutes again, Silver learnt [Core Skill: Auscultate]. He could now hear, albeit everything was still quiet, as if muffled by a pillow. Finally, after another 14 minutes, he learnt [Core Skill: Sense]. Now, he could feel the wind against his crystalline orb body, and also the grass in which he was laid. However, these senses were slightly dulled, so he couldn''t feel everything as he could with a human body. "Alright, lets see what we unlocked from that now, shall we? [Skills]" Following the typical noise, a dark cloud appeared in front of him, three solid lights and a single blinking light now present. Under the blinking light, the words "[Skill: Telepathy]" could be seen. "Ah. I can''t actually talk, can I? I can only think. This will be useful. However..." Underneath the light, there was a minimum requirement present. Specifically, Silver needed to reach Level 1. In this body, he had no idea how to do this. As a dungeon master, his only method of gaining experience was through killing. Inside his dungeon. That was the most efficient way, anyways. Adventurers obtaining rare items or spending long amounts of time in the dungeon also granted experience. But these were extreme methods. Rare items are expensive to create, and the amount of time spent before any experience is gained is usually a week. "[Skills]. [Build]." With the [Build] menu open, Silver stared at two options. [Magic System] and [Guardian One]. In the end, he decided on [Guardian One]. It''d be nice to have contact with a person, after-all. "Unlock [Guardian One]." Of course, Silver had waited 28 minutes for his mana bar to fill before attempting this. "Guardian One unlocked. You may now customise your first Guardian''s appearance to your liking." Dark clouds surrounded Silver as his mana bar completely bottomed out, and now there was a floating silhouette of a human body in front of him. "Okay... so. Lets go with this. Female. Appearing between 20 or 21 years of age. 5"7'' tall. Thin, flat-chested, extremely pale. Golden hair, and eyes, normal pupils. Hair is short, only half-way down her neck, however it also covers a little bit of her face. Eyes are large, slightly naive tone, and also darken or brighten depending on mood. Out of battle, shirt is black, slightly too long. Trousers are white, once again slightly too long. In battle, shirt has a metal chest-plate that doesn''t restrict movement. Yeah, that should be right." The floating silhouette in front of Silver had changed based on every one of his commands, and matched perfectly with the image in his head. "Confirm appearance?" "Confirm." "Understood. Appearance confirmed, locked. You may now customise your first Guardian''s personality to your liking." "Alright. Around highest-ranking members of the dungeon, such as me and other dungeon masters, she is polite, respectful, albeit always the first to speak. Around other Guardians or when it is a celebration of sorts, she shows her more tomboyish and playful side, often making jokes, and she is also far more sociable. Around low-ranking members, such as typical monsters, she is aloof, prideful of her status however she will help the lower-ranked members if they need it. She''s not particularly malevolent, but can still kill if needed, considering she is a creature of the dungeon after all." There was no change in the figure other than a little cheerful smile now being present. "Confirm personality?" "Confirm." "Understood. Personality confirmed, locked. Finally, you may now name your Guardian, set your Guardian''s race and class, and also choose whether to allow them to distribute stat points on their own." "Hmn... She''ll be called... Chrysoberyl, like the rare gemstone. Chrys for short. As for race... let''s go with the Ancient Storm Dragon. Basically a dragon made of wind, lightning, rain and storms. That is the correct race, if my faded memory serves me well. Keep her human form though, give her the ability to transform into that true form if she needs to. For her class, a Lightning Knight is correct... if I remember rightly. Let her distribute stats on her own." "Understood. Chrysoberyl, the Lightning Knight, shall be created as Guardian One. She may be assigned to any floor, or be assigned to be your personal Guardian. Please select between these options." "Personal Guardian. Ancient Storm Dragons are some of the strongest beings I know, afterall." "Understood. Chrysoberyl has been created." "So fast?!" As the dark clouds around Silver dissipated, he could clearly see the person... no, being, he had just created. Chrys seemed confused, looking around hastily, her mind seemingly wandering all over the place. She soon spotted the little crystalline orb on the floor that was Silver. With a shout of "Aha!" she picked Silver up, and looked down at his orb-like form. She spoke, in a surprisingly light and friendly voice. "So, you''re the Dungeon Master, hmn? This form, this crystalline orb... it''s like the vast planet itself. Unfathomable in power. I understand that you should not be able to speak yet, I was... informed of that, when I was created. Worry not, I can easily gain you anything you need. If my knowledge is correct, you should only need one level before you can speak to me! Yay! That''s easily achieved!" Silver, naturally, could not respond to her, and she ran off while holding him. Currently, Chrys had set it so all experience she earned went to Silver (A natural skill of all minions and guardians), and she simply went around doing a few mediocre tasks, such as killing weaker animals and producing weak items, quickly gaining Silver the level he needed to talk. When Silver levelled up, after around 5 minutes had passed, his mana bar filled up again as the number besides it changed to 200/200. The number besides the health bar changed to 20/20, while the values in the statistic box all increased by one, a plus sign next to all of them, indicating Silver could add one additional point. In Chronos, the amount of pluses next to a value specified the amount that could be added to it. If, for example, there were four pluses next to the strength value, but five next to resistance, strength could be increased from 1 to 5, while resistance could be increased from 1 to 6. While each stat point was fairly irrelevant, only increasing the respective value by 0.01% (Strength = Physical Damage + Resistance, Agility = Speed, Dexterity = Skill Cooldown + Power, Intelligence = Magic Damage and Resistance = Physical + Magical Resistance), points were easily earned and easily stacked. Before selecting a class, every level added 1 point to every stat, and also allowed for an extra stat point to be distributed. After selecting a class, each level would add 10 points to every stat, and grant 4 extra points, and that was for the weakest classes. As for classes like Spellblade, each level added 30 points and granted 8 extra points. Silver, naturally, placed this point in intelligence, his mana bar extending slightly more as the values next to it changed to 210/210. The first thing he did after this was unlock [Skill: Telepathy], draining 110 mana. It was an active skill (Meaning he could activate it at will) that cost zero mana, due to it mainly being a convenience skill. "[Skill: Telepathy]. Chrys, can you hear me?" Chrys jumped, surprised by the sound of Silver''s voice suddenly appearing, as if it was her own thoughts. She was especially surprised at the sound of his voice. She thought he would sound like some wizened elder, but no, he sounded young, like somebody who had only recently reached the age of 18. "Y-yes! I can hear you, loud and clear, sire!" Silver cringed slightly at her saying sire. "Do not use such words as Sire to address me, Chrys. Hear my name, and remember it well. I am Silver. Leader o- no, previous leader of the almighty guild Phoenix''s Rebirth. You are created in the image of my old vice guild leader, from head to toe, so I do not wish to hear an old, good comrade refer to me by ''Sire''. Even if she isn''t the real one. Understand?" "I-I-I... understand... Silver." "Good. Very good. Now, it is time to begin. [Build]" With a little chuckle, Silver looked at the brightest flashing light he could see after using the [Build] command. "Ha... hahaha... it''s finally time." Chrys looked confused, but didn''t question Silver. She couldn''t see the menu after all. Then suddenly, his voice rang out in her head. "[Construct First Floor]." Chapter 2: First Floors Foundations "[Construct First Floor]" As the blinking light in the middle of the build menu flashed for the last time, a tremendous wave of gaseous mana shot from behind Silver into the ground. His mana drained to zero, but the amount that was actually flying into the ground was far more tremendous than his max mana stores of 210. If he had to put it into numbers, he''d say the amount was somewhere in the millions. Even max level mages from Chronos couldn''t achieve this amount, and they couldn''t even come close. If Silver remembered rightly, a level 495 mage with 3500 Intelligence could only achieve at max 84,500, of course excluding any artefacts or equipment, and also the ridiculous curve in strength after level 100. The Demon King''s Hall shook for a moment, before it turned back into motes of light, a temple of stone taking its place. It wasn''t similar to anything on Earth, it really did seem like some kind of dungeon entrance. Its stone walls were decorated by golden patterns of what seemed like gods and demons, broken pillars scattered all around. However it was covered by moss and vines, giving a derelict look to the building overall. Inside, there was simply just stairs that were slowly being formed, and also a square, stone box to the side of the building. Chrys carefully carried Silver as far down the stairs as she possibly could, stopping at an underground area the size of a city. The roof of this area was complete, stalactites hanging from the roof, and what seemed like glowing water dripping down into a sea of such material. Silver involuntarily gasped. He knew what this was. A humongous wave of mana, forming an entire city-sized dungeon floor. It was quite terrifying, as even a max-levelled player could have never have seen such a spectacle. The mana would have automatically been formed into a cube if this much was produced. Maybe even two. Just this cave alone would have been worth millions due to having been bathed in such glorious amounts of mana.
Outside of the opaque barrier, all hell was breaking lose. One of the mountains that surrounded the Forest of Grey had completely lost any sense of mana. Dragons had fallen to the ground, no trace of magic inside of them, and all magical materials there had lost any worth. This was noticed practically immediately by the messenger on the route to the outside world. Considering the danger of the route, a powerful person was sent, named "Fritz." He had a reputation in the forest as a person who had entered the mountains and survived, so it was simply common sense to send him, who knew the mountains well, compared to another person who was more expendable and might not make it outside alive. As he knew the mountains, he could tell when something had happened to them. He instinctively knew that the situation had just got worse. Muttering something, Fritz''s body flashed with a pale yellow light before he sped up, running far faster than he previously was.
It took two hours, but the mana wave finally settled, and a new floor for Silver''s dungeon was formed. It appeared like a simple cave, but the density of the mana in the surroundings was far, far higher than that of the outside world. A magician might even find it more comfortable to rest in this environment. On the flip side, warriors would find it more difficult - afte rall, they drew power from a different source, the sole exception being Spellblades, who could use both forces of power. The Demon King''s Hall was set in an area far in the distance, surprisingly surrounded by a variety of weak monsters. Perhaps it was simply something to help protect the dungeon while it was still being formed. Silver took note of Chrys'' expression of wonder. It seemed that she had a proper conscience, and wasn''t just bound to following his orders. She was walking around at the moment, occasionally reaching out and inspecting areas of the cave, and sometimes bottling any liquid mana she could find. "Chrys. A question, if I may ask." Chrys jumped a little, and then looked down to the little silver orb she was holding. "Y-yes?" "Do you possess your own conscience? Can you make decisions on your own? And -oh, apologies for startling you." Chrys was simply nodded quickly, loudly repeating the words "It''s fine, it''s fine." "Ah. That''s good. I''m glad to hear that you can atleast make your own decisions. [Skill cancel: Telepathy]. Haaaahhhhh... this is so nice. I won''t have to spend time on making sure she did everything ordered, she''ll just report on her own, and maybe even go beyond what was asked. Useful, useful..." As Silver had cancelled his skill, Chrys couldn''t hear him at all. She bottled up a little more mana, then started to walk over to the Demon King''s Hall. It took about five minutes to get there, despite the immense distance equal to half an average city. This just proved that Chrys was immensely powerful. "Dragons have always been the best companions. They''re strong, and loyal. She could walk such a distance in such a short time. Worthy of being the personal guard of the Dungeon Master. Soon, though, I''ll be able to walk around myself. I only need to get my dungeon to E-Rank. Shouldn''t take too long. Just need to form the first floor now. [Skill: Telepathy] Chrys. I''ll be focusing all my effort on the construction of this floor for now. If you can, find a way to get past the barrier. Investigate the situation outside. Location, surrounding species, intelligent life, mana density. All things I need to know. Got that?" "Y-yes! I''ll get it done immediately!" Chrys ran off. Silver watched over her from behind until she ascended the stairwell. "[Skill cancel: Telepathy] Alright, lets see. [Build]." Dark clouds shrouded Silver''s vision, and 5 opaque lights accompanied by 9 flashing lights appeared. With the sole exception of the magic system, all the flashing lights were attached to the first floor. Specifically, they were: [Shops specifics], [Minions specifics], [Traps], [Treasures], [Evolution], [Monster Naming], [Second Floor] and [Sanctuaries]. "I shouldn''t mess with these just yet. I need to organise the first floor''s layout and theme. How do I do that?" A bell-like noise rang out. "The command is [Rebuild]. This can be used for anything from floors, to the very layout of the dungeon itself." "Perfect, thank you. [Rebuild First Floor]." Silver''s vision suddenly shifted to a birds-eye view of the floor. He could see everything, including areas where random monsters that weren''t of his creation would pop-up. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source."Hmn. So. We can''t have anything too hellish for the first floor. I should probably leave ideas like sky-castles and concrete forests to floors past the 10th. It would likely be best just to start with some kind of jungle." Silver''s vision suddenly shook as mana began to rise from the ground. It appeared that when in this birds-eye view, he could simply change anything by thinking about it. This could be very useful. He started to erect walls, separating them into 3 major sections, which took up 20% of the total space each, and 10 minor sections which took up 4% of the total space each, leaving just barely enough room for the Demon King''s Hall. These walls were not made of rocks, but rather a type of extremely sturdy plant, the type that no sword could cut through without enough training. With each section cordoned off from each other, Silver started to separate them into groups. There were 2 groups with 1 major section and 4 minor sections, and 1 group with 1 major section and 2 minor sections. He decided that the smallest group would be the most difficult, and relocated the Demon King''s Hall into the centre of the major section. There were little hidden passages everywhere, leading into small rooms that could contain treasure, or possibly be a horrifying trap. Of course, there was little chance of being killed on this first floor. Silver had decided to make every enemy non-lethal, with the exception of the floor guardian. "[Summon]" Abruptly, his vision was replaced with a purplish haze, and a platform stood in front of him. There were several buttons, each corresponding to something, examples being race or age. However, when these buttons were pressed, nothing happened that was of any worth, instead a simple [Error] message hanging above them. "Ah. I get it. This is a way to summon creatures of my own creation, as well as mix and match them, making new species. Interesting. Ah, blue button. That should do something." Silver ''pushed'' the blue button, and then a little circular mould appeared in the air above the platform. "Aha. So... three major sections. Two mini-bosses, and the floor guardian should suffice. Lets see... maybe a goblin lord would work? They''re only level 60 if I remember rightly. Should be easy to deal with for the slightly stronger denizens of this world. Unless this is a situation where level 30 is seen as the level of gods. Hmn... shouldn''t be the case. Let''s get going..."
Up on the surface, Chrys was looking around, inspecting the barrier. She occasionally touched the barrier, and it seemed she could actually pass through it. This made her wonder,"Why hasn''t anyone made it through the barrier?"She walked through the barrier properly this time, and then looked around the area. It was a forest surrounding a plains area, surrounded by a ring of mountains. She began to speak her thoughts out loud, a trait she shared with the person she was modelled after. "This area is so beautiful... but it''s not better than the inside of the barrier. It''s calm in there. I might have to fight out here. Hmnnnnnnn.... [Stats]." Surprisingly, the bell-like sound also rang out for Chrys, though it was of an oddly lighter tone. [Basic Information] Name: Chyrsoberyl Moniker: Chrys Title: Dungeon Master''s Personal Guardian (+100 to all stats) Race: Ancient Storm Dragon Level: 95 Class: Lightning Knight [Statistics] Health: 4150/4150 Spirit: 13240/13240 Strength: 374 Agility: 374 Dexterity: 374 Intelligence: 374 Resistance: 374 (Due to all stats being balanced, cooldowns on all skills reduced by 2%) [Sub-Statistics] Magic Attack: 454 Magic Resistance: 890 Physical Attack: 1,256 Physical Resistance: 1,042 Speed: 256 Cooldowns: 98% Skill Strength: 110% [Immunities] Lightning - Full immunity Fire - Partial immunity [Skills] [Storm Sword], [Typhoon Blade], [Black Sceptre], [Shield Wall]... Chrys was quite powerful for someone of her level, especially her title. As she had not hit level 100 and reached the true power curve yet, she couldn''t actually be considered astronomically powerful. There were many things in her arsenal that boosted her power tremendously, such as her immunities, so she could atleast battle against a level 100 for a short while. Even a single level was a massive difference in Chronos, and the same applied to this new world. Suddenly, she heard a shout. Mumbling "[Stats]." to close the window, she moved her golden eyes to look at the being that was shouting at her. It was a male human. Her face twisted into that of disgust for a brief moment before returning to her usual smile. When this boy arrived in front of her, she stared in confusion. This was because she couldn''t understand a single world he was saying. After getting spoken to for around a minute and a half, she got agitated, and ''lightly'' pushed him out of the way. In fact, this ''light push'' sent the boy flying a few metres away. He sat there, staring at Chrys for a while, who returned the stare, before he started to laugh and run off. It seems he thought of her as a normal denizen of the world. She suddenly raised her blade, mubling under her breath, and sliced out. The boy collapsed, dead. "First. Clear the area for the Dungeon Master. Then, measure the mana density in the air. I''ll give him a perfect report when I get back, hehe-- hahahaha...." Chrys shot off. It only took a few seconds before the killings started.
"All done." In front of Silver, who was currently on a podium in the Demon King''s Hall, was a Goblin Lord. Goblins on their own were already a foul sort, but the lord accentuated it to the next level. His stink was rotten and his face brutish. However, this would likely make a good first mini-boss for the newbies, as learning to fight while fearful was essential. "[Skill: Telepathy]. Goblin Lord. Go to sector 2. [Skill cancel: Telepathy]" The lord grunted in understanding, and stood up, wandering to sector 2. Silver was watching him go, when suddenly, a bell-like noise rang out in his head. "Dungeon has now been classified as Rank-E. Requirements: One Minion, Guardian, Floor and Dungeon Master alive and intact. All requirements achieved." Silver''s eyes suddenly shone. He immediately shouted "[Form body]!" In a matter of seconds, his body from his time in Chronos was formed, down to the t. The silvery white hair and eyes, and the majestic paladin''s armour that he used to wear, all here. None of the armour had its effects from Chronos though, such as the chest-plate having "Physical damage nullification - 40%. "So. I have my body back now. Good. Finally, oh, finally, I can walk on my own and plan things properly! Great!" Chrys returned down the stairs to see Silver in the middle of laughing manically, her blade being stained with blood. She only listened for a short while, but stayed to watch this new body of Silver''s. "Finally, hahaha! I can move, talk, go outside!" "Perfect!" [Basic Information] Name: Alexander Silver Moniker: Silver Title: None Race: Dungeon Master Level: 1 Class: None [Statistics] Health: 20/20 Mana: 35/210 Strength: 2 Agility: 2 Dexterity: 2 Intelligence: 3 Resistance: 2 [Sub-Statistics] Magic Attack: 1 Magic Resistance: 1 Physical Attack: 1 Physical Resistance: 1 Speed: 1 Cooldowns: 100% Skill Strength: 100% [Immunities] None [Skills] [Core Skill: Observe], [Core Skill: Auscultate], [Core Skill: Sense], [Skill: Telepathy].