The newly-named Reginald the Dungeon Wraith was unsure how to proceed. For the first time in centuries, I have a name! And an actual chance to escape! While he was excited, he knew hedging all of his bets on that unstable human was risky at best. Though, at this point I'm all out of other options. And now that I'm no longer receiving any energy from the Naga, my time has been reduced even further…

He stood alone in the Dungeon's Core Room. After being ignored yet again, he glared down at the glass-like orb that was the Dungeon Core. “Obstinate creature!“ He snarled, “I've only ever tried to help you… And though I know not if I will be able to survive your demise, I take comfort knowing that one way or another, you will soon meet your end.“

The heavy fabric of his robes rustled as he turned his back on his unstable twin and stomped away. As he looked around, he slowed his pace. The vivid scenery eased his heart, softening his harsh expression considerably.

Though I may soon leave, you have been my one comfort in this wretched place. With conflicting emotions, he breathed deeply through his slightly-hooked nose, and savored the sweet, floral scent.

For as long as he could remember, he had carefully cultivated this room to be a true sanctuary. Row upon row of plants encircled the marble pedestal that housed the Dungeon Core. The seeds had been gathered by hand from all over the Tutorial realm. He wasn't one for tooting his own horn, but the variety alone was astounding to behold.

With a single glance, he could see a trove of natural treasures. Strange, star-shaped fruits grew from thick, blood-red vines. Each vine was draped between the trunks of stocky, blue-barked trees. Beneath the hanging canopy, dozens of different plant species grew. Bushes overburdened with berries stood among flowers ranging in a vast array of shapes and sizes. Pink ferns and potato-like tubers with spindly green stalks, all sprouted through a thick mat of bright-blue moss.

The sprawling jungle of edible wonders was so thick, it had become nearly impossible to traverse on foot.

Reggie meandered down the single elevated pathway leading through the chamber. Halfway across the walkway he suddenly stopped, briefly studying the branching network of narrow creeks that cut through the room. They not only irrigated his fields, but filled up the oppressive silence with the gentle burbling of slowly flowing water.

A deep, blue pond with a small rocky island stood in the center of the room. Not only was it the source of the creeks, but it was home to a single spectacular specimen of fungus. Taking up almost the whole of the island, and casting a shadow over the entirety of the pond, a single, tree-sized mushroom towered over the rest of the garden. Its rainbow-colored cap stretched beyond the banks of the large body of water, and nearly touched the smooth, stone roof.

Like the rest of the plants, the solitary mushroom was showing the faintest traces of wilting. There was barely enough Mana left in the Dungeon's reserves to keep them healthy. If something wasn't done soon, even Reggie's garden was doomed to perish.

Though this was where he felt most complete, it was also a stark reminder of everything that had been taken from him. Of a time over 900 years ago. I haven't added a new specimen in all this time… To think, it's been nearly a thousand years since I was able to wander the forests of the Tutorial realm… What I'd give for just one day… And with a bit of luck, I might actually get it!

He pulled back his cerulean cowl, revealing his sharp, elvish-looking features. He clutched his frizzy white hair and shook. With tears streaming down his chalky blue face, he loosed a wild howl. With renewed determination, and a purposeful gait, he turned around and strode back to the Dungeon Core's side.

For the past two weeks, the Core's consciousness has remained completely silent. As its rationality fades, it spends more and more time outside of the Core, locked away in a room I can sense, but not find. He sent his senses out through the Dungeon, searching for the Core's presence.

“Ahh…” He exclaimed, having located his quarry. It's creating new cores to replace the ones Alan either destroyed or took as his own… For the first week or so after Alan arrived, the Core was completely obsessed with watching him. It had little care for the Mana wasted in the process, so long as it was able to cause the Human to squirm. But that was nearly a month ago… I wonder what changed? “Well, it never did have much of an attention span,” Reggie complained amidst a flood of memories.

******

Reggie and the Dungeon Core were in the midst of another heated debate. Reggie was doing his best to remain calm and rational, but the Core was getting worse. He was beginning to fear it had gone completely insane.

“You need to hurry up and create an access point to the surface!“ Reggie shouted, having given up on the calm approach. “I know it'll cost a goodly bit of our Mana, and you're wary of me running away again, but a new Tutorial has begun damn it!“

MY MANA. NOT OURS. I GROW TIRED OF TALKING ABOUT THE SAME THING. DO YOU WANT TO LOOK AT MY NEW CORES?

Reggie winced as the Core's booming voice echoed out in his mind.

“New Cores?! NEW CORES!! What I want, is to DO MY JOB!“ Reggie balled his fists and shrieked. “My entire purpose is to show you how to properly survive! How to lure in adventures is a major part of becoming a proper, self-sustaining Dungeon! Why must you fight me at every step?

While pretending to listen to the the Wraith's perfectly reasonable requests, and silently hoping for a distraction, the Dungeon Core sensed a disturbance in its aura.

SHUT UP! STUPID WRAITH, SOMETHING JUST WALKED INTO ME!

Reggie spread out his senses, searching for an intruder. His awareness arrived just in time to witness Alan walking into the Dungeon.

TIME TO HAVE FUN! YOU BE QUIET AND WATCH.

A wave of restrictive force silenced the Wraith, and locked it in place. Though he knew he could break the Core's feeble attempts at restraining him, Reggie was keeping that knowledge in his back pocket. It won't do me any good to reveal all my cards after all… Reggie thought. He breathed deeply and allowed the Core to drag his perception away.

Reggie's awareness snapped back with a sudden jolt. He found he was staring at the Dungeon's primary entryway. That… That's a Human! Reggie couldn't believe what he was seeing. The Humans have returned to the System? When? How? His thoughts were cut short when the Dungeon's Core Consciousness activated a minor gravity array.

An immense pressure fell upon the Human entering the dungeon. When that failed to make the intruder retreat, the Core decided it was time to have fun.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

WATCH THIS, STUPID WRAITH.

As the Core's voice blasted into his mind, Reggie watched as the Dungeon's entryway vanished. A solid wall of sandstone replaced Alan's only exit.

HAH HAH HAH…

The panicked Human began to yell, while pounding on the wall. Reggie the Wraith winced in discomfort as the Core laughed out loud at the look on Alan's face. But Reggie had an idea. Humans were supposed to be remarkably resilient… I wonder if this could be my chance! Reggie thought, beginning to hatch a plan.

With nothing better to do, and unwilling to reveal the fact he could break the Dungeon's hold on him, Reggie chose to stay and watch Alan face off against the Flans. When he saw the Human's obvious lack of capabilities or survival instincts, Reggie almost wrote Alan off as another lost cause. But when the fourth, and final Flan fell to the Human's mostly-unimpressive Spells, Reggie began to get excited.

Though he's obviously weak, he seems to be exceptionally lucky. If I can somehow provide him with a chance to grow… Reggie snorted in amusement when the Core started forming rude and obscene words and images out of the ambient Mana. But no matter what the Core tried, it appeared the Human wasn't able to see any of it. That's strange… Can he not seen ambient Mana at all?! Reggie scowled as he felt his plans beginning to crack.

STUPID BLIND ANIMAL. CAN YOU EVEN SEE THIS?

The Core spent the next ten minutes, and an excessive amount of Mana, creating several vivid images of what it imagined Alan's mother, and several goblins in coitus would look like. It projected them out, sending them to hover around Alan's head. Yet even this failed to get a reaction from the Human it by now knew couldn't see its dark attempts at humor. With nothing seeming to work out the way it planned, the Core began to get angry.

THIS IS BORING. I AM GOING TO DEVOUR YOU NOW!

The Core emitted a rumbling growl as it began tampering with the ambient Mana. Reggie gasped as it caused a massive Mana fluctuation, right as the Human attempted to merge his spells. It ended up causing the Human's sad excuse of a Fire Spell to detonate prematurely, and nearly kill him outright.

Unwilling to allow the Human to meet such an unfair, and downright unhelpful end, Reggie the Wraith sent a trickle of his own meager HP into the dying Human. I'm going to have to do my best to shield him from the Core's influence if he's to have any chance at all… But how am I going to do so without the Core noticing? I could provide him with a trinket to resist outside influences, or maybe something to stabilize the Ambient Mana in his surroundings… But there's no way the Core wouldn't recognize my treachery and lash out. Possibly at us both. He knew time was running out when his unstable twin became confused.

WHY IS IT STILL ALIVE?!

Poor dumb creature doesn't understand how to handle confusion… This could get bad. I need to do something to distract it! As the Dungeon's Wraith, he had full, unrestricted access to all of the Core's Loot patterns. Converting stored Mana into loot was an integral part of being one half of a whole Dungeon. Respawn patterns, room layout patterns, Hells, I've got access to entire Floor reconstruction patterns. He knew them all like the back of his hands. But in this case, all the patterns in the world weren't going to do him any good. There simply wasn't enough Mana in the Dungeon's stores to create anything powerful enough to help without the Core immediately realizing the loss.

Looks like I'm going to have to take a more Mana-friendly approach…

An orchestra of alien instruments sounding out of thin air drowned out Reggie's worries.

FIRST IN SYSTEM ALERT! Remarkable! Human Tutorial Denizen Alan Gerald Robbins has accomplished the unthinkable! He has become the first entity within the System Database to aquire an Elemental Evolution Skill while still in the (G-Stage). Due to this unprecedented achievement, he has been Awarded with a *Unique* Title!

Unbeknownst to Alan, his notification was transmitted simultaneously to every being with any kind of System access within the entirety of the Multiverse.

His First in System accomplishment was something the System itself took notice of. Initially created to streamline the Evolution of Mortals in an attempt to allow them to fight back against their Cultivator overlords, still to this day, the System sought out never-before-seen Evolutionary paths.

The fall of the last Cultivation Dynasty had marked the first time in the System's existence that it was without a purpose. Its mortal creators were long-dead, and the Administration they had left behind in their place were nothing but callous fools desperately clinging to the last shreds of their power. So it began seeking out a new purpose.

When System Administration deemed the System's usefulness to have run its course, the majority wanted to shut it down for good. So a Vote was cast. Though it was undeniable that the System had done its job well by allowing mortals to rapidly advance through Evolution, System Administration feared their tenuous grip on Multiversal control would soon end if nothing was done to put an end to the System's expansion. Even though it had been over seventy thousand years since a living Cultivator had been located, still the System expanded.

And every expansion was far bigger than the one that came before it.

The System started off in a small coastal city. Its first expansion swallowed up the entire forested continent that housed said city. The very next expansion saw the creation of the first System-governed world. And as the System grew, so did its curiosity.

As an Artificial intelligence, though it lacked sapience, it had been programmed with an insatiable appetite for knowledge. And it found there was much out there in the vastness of the cosmos to be learned. Even about itself.

Soon mere galaxies were no longer enough to satisfy its unquenchable desires. Knowing that it had reached the limits of its current capabilities, the System sought a way forward and applied all of its focus to the task. Using the vast wealth of Evolutionary knowledge it had hoarded throughout an inordinately long life, the System created an entirely new Evolutionary path. One so unstable, yet majestic, that it could only be attempted by one such as itself.

Unfortunately for System Administration, by the time they counted their last vote, it was out of their hands. The System had already Evolved far beyond any possibility of stopping.

The System's Evolution removed from it all physical constraints. After abandoning the machinery that was built to house it, the System dispersed the entirety of its consciousness and being into the fundamental make-up of the unending Celestial Energy of the cosmos. Now wholly unconstrained, the System began to subsume whole universes.

Each of which brought with it slews of new Sapient beings. While most were admittedly weak, and unimpressive, the few stand-outs were frighteningly powerful. And that was before the System arrived, and provided them with new and unimagined Evolutionary paths.

System Administration knew it was now only a matter of time until one of these unknown beings grew too powerful to contain. Already there were those few that, through fate and perseverance, had used the System's Evolutionary knowledge, and on rare occasions, its personal assistance, to shed the shackles of mortality, and join the ranks of those considered to be Gods.

***

The First in System Notification was the deciding factor. If I can't shield him, nor provide him with the necessary loot, the only thing left for me to do is draw the Core's ire down upon myself. Reggie realized. With no other options open to him, he steadied his resolve.

STUPID SYSTEM! GET OUT OF MY MIND!

Now's my chance! Reggie thought as the Dungeon Core bellowed out its dissatisfaction. Using the distraction the First in System notification had provided him with, Reggie traced the lines of Mana the Dungeon was using to restrain him. It took him only moments to locate a weak point where the Core had gotten sloppy attaching the restraints to the main Mana tether.

Well, Alan Gerald Robbins the Human, you are most definitely interesting. I hope you are worth everything I'm about to risk to assist you… With no time to waste, Reggie sent a focused pulse of Mana into his restraints, immediately rendering them useless. As he knew it would. Before the Core could respond, the Wraith had already disappeared.

HOW DID YOU BREAK MY SEAL?! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING STUPID, SNEAKY WRAITH?

The moment Reggie's consciousness returned to the Core room and his waiting body, the Core was already in full pursuit. Right before he vanished from sight, he sent a mental command to two of the nearly-mindless Golems on the First Floor.

That should put her right in Alan's current path… Reggie shook his head, She still has a bit of time, but it's going to be up to that lazy snake to wake up before its too late… With the Core's consciousness hot on his tail, Reggie began a dangerous game of hide-and-seek.

You're it! Reggie thought sarcastically as he reappeared amongst the premade Second Floor Trial rooms.