When any living being experiences a large amount of electricity entering their body, the muscles rapidly contract, typically causing the organism’s body to seize up and rendering them immobile. While it is a normal enough reaction for most things, people would rarely consider that mana is capable of having the same effect.

The skeleton soon became familiar with the concept as his grip tightened on the sphere, his body physically refusing his will to let it go as the vast amounts of mana and pain coursing through him near paralyzed him as thoughts and words that were previously alien to him entered his brain rapidly, cutting through any thoughts he may have had about his current situation like a freshly sharpened knife through air.

Minutes seemed to stretch on for an eternity, but in brief moments of clarity, he could make sense of a bit of the knowledge being pumped into him. The “crystal” was, in fact, a dungeon core of the crystal subtype, and was absolutely brimming with an excess of mana. Mana that found an outlet via him, he realized. Dungeons drained and filtered the mana, purifying it and releasing it back into the world after removing any blemish from it.

That was as much as he could pick out before the pain surged like water through a broken dam, and just like that…

It was over. He snapped to attention as soon as the sensation had ended as he tried to compose himself, performing the closest equivalent to blinking that he could as he tried to compose himself, but that was proving difficult as he held his head, in at least mild pain from the occurrence. He attempted to recall basic information that pertained to him as his mind swirled; he woke up in a forest with no recollection of who he was or what he was, but he knew that he was currently a-

“Skeleton,” he said hoarsely, the words practically forcing their way out. “The supporting structure of an organism's body, and an undead monster that is commonly found in war zones and graveyards, created from lingering desires, a necromantic casting, or both.” He stopped speaking, mildly concerned about what happened. How did he recall all of that? He surely didn’t learn that on his own as all he knew before was that he was a skeleton; he didn’t know the definition of the word.

It was during this state of confusion that he noticed the crystal ball, the dungeon core, was missing from the pedestal it sat on, and yet the orange glow remained. He was quick to notice though, that the glow did not coat the room in the same manner as before. Only the top and bottom were as bright as they originally were, everything else in the middle cast in an odd shadow, and then it clicked. Peering down into his breastplate, he noticed the core, pulsing slowly and rhythmically, akin to a beating heart. For some reason, he found it rather soothing to look at, but that didn’t make him forget the fact he’d absorbed a dungeon core, and he wondered if it would have any effect on his status.

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The screen blinked to life in front of him, causing him to jump back slightly before leaning in to inspect it, and this time… “It’s changed.”

Name: Not Selected

Species: Undead (Skeleton)

Class: Dungeon Master

Subclass: Knight

Level: 42

Dungeon Type: Cavern

“…Not selected?” He stared at the screen incredulously, mildly annoyed as his right hand shot out at the window in an attempt to strike it, only to phase through it like it wasn’t there. “What does it mean ‘not selected’! I don’t even remember my own name, and now I’m supposed to select one? How am I even supposed to select a name, just say ‘I choose this word as my name?’”

Confirmation: You have selected “This Word” as your name.

Yes/No

The skeleton relaxed, his anger rapidly dwindling as he looked at the screen, until he had mostly given up. “I’ve been dead for gods know how long, I fall into a dungeon, and now I have to pick a name.” He sighed, tapping the button to deny the change as he racked his brain. “It would be nice to have some way to be addressed, so maybe…” He picked through his brain, trying to think of a word that actually meant something. He didn’t want a meaningless word as his name, or even worse, an innocuous sounding word that meant something horrible.

After a few moments of consideration, his body shifted slightly, and if you for some reason studied body language, perhaps you would see amusement in his posture. “I choose Ossus as my name.”

Confirmation: You have selected “Ossus” as your name.

Yes/No

He tapped yes as he relaxed even further, feeling strangely at ease. Before, when he was meandering through the forest, he felt unsettled even before he touched that fake plant. He felt weak, exposed, something odd considering his apparent strength, but after absorbing the core, he felt like he could take on an army. Not literally, of course, but he did feel absurdly strong. And then his joy rapidly diminished as he considered: how would he get out? Yes, the dungeon belonged to him, but he sincerely doubted anyone would be unlucky enough to fall into the pit like he did. Unless he was able to make a staircase-

Terraforming Options

Slope

Raise/Lower

Curve

Well this damn thing was just full of surprises, wasn’t it?