Gods, beings of immense power capable of altering reality. Despite the sheer number of different entities capable of calling themselves Gods, only the weakest and the strongest of them actually do so. There are three types of Gods: Local Gods, which are limited to a single plane of existence and have power over multiple worlds. High Gods, which are limited to a single dimension and have power over multiple planes. Outer Gods, also called True or Real Gods, beings that are capable of surviving within the True Void that exists between dimensions.
An Outer God is able to exert their influence over all dimensions, across all of reality.
* Number 17 of Unity in an explanation to a subordinate
Eternal Dungeon POV
I carefully maneuvered my mana in swirling patterns, gently coaxing the runes to take form. I had learned thirty tries ago that Aether mana, and really all mana, became harder to control the smaller you went. I needed to go really small in order to get the fine details of this rune formation to fit.
The number of attempts I had made on this probably reached triple digits, but I had intentionally stopped keeping track of the exact number so as not to demoralize myself. It was better if I just focused on the work and left the more numerical side of things to Wyla. I was pretty sure she was keeping track, if for no other reason than to mock me for it later.
Wyla had wanted me to just give up and use the system knowledge but I had refused. She then spent several hours trying to give ‘suggestions’ which forced me to shut her out so that she didn’t give away the answer. I was determined to figure this out myself.
I had already figured out the theory and applied it on a larger scale to great effect. I had needed to add more layers to my runes to get more effectiveness out of them. Basically I had to put runes inside of my runes.
It was complicated and tedious, but when combined with a special set of dungeon rules I could expand a space thousands of times more than before. It also had the added benefit of giving me even greater control of the time dilation and spatial vectors within the area.
The problem that I ran into was that to practically apply my new knowledge I needed to be able to ‘draw’ the runes in a very small font. Which translates to manipulating mana at a microscopic level. Seeing things that small is no problem for me since I perceive with my aura, but manipulating mana at that level is a different beast entirely.
I had spent days (from my perspective) practicing with smaller and smaller ‘fonts’ of rune writing. Practicing until I was certain that my mana manipulation could consistently work on the smaller scale. It was during my endless practice that I learned that even I had to take breaks from it.
The mental strain built up and trying to exert such fine control over mana only amplified it. I was forced to stop and do something else every dozen hours or so. Wyla informed me that a normal mortal would’ve probably fried their brain by now, but that’s little comfort to a god like me.
I need to hold myself to a higher standard if I ever want to reach the same level as the administrative entities I’ve seen. I’d bet my soul that those executioners I met could control mana a hundred times better than me on an even smaller scale than the one I need to work at.
That’s why I need to work a thousand times harder and with as little help as possible. The more I can learn on my own, the less reliant I am on the system's help. I can do this.
* * *
After a total of two months of subjective time I have finally done it! I managed to perfect my control of mana at the microscopic level. The last fifty practice sessions were all spent slowly and painstakingly mastering my control to the same degree that I normally operate at.
In order to maintain my focus I had been neglecting everything else. I even had to suppress my system notifications because of my own reminders that kept pinging me. One of the few times I regretted adding so many extra features to my system.
“Wyla! I’m done!” I shout to her after reopening our connection for conversation.
“Finally. I was beginning to think that I would never see you again, your mind lost in an infinite spiral of trying to make the mana smaller and smaller.” She responds in an exaggerated tone.
“Yes, yes. I’m sorry for neglecting you for so long. How did things go during my absence, also how long was I gone for?” I ask.
“Things are fine, for the most part. You were lost in your experimentation for three days in real time. Fortunately our dungeon is mostly autonomous in its day-to-day functions so I don’t think anyone noticed.
The main issue is that the Guild has already made its announcement about opening up the dungeon and people are starting to gather. If we don’t get started on the sixth floor soon we might now have time to finish before the dungeon gets flooded with new people.
Oh, also you should check your system notifications.” Wyla informs me.
I process everything she just told while absentmindedly reactivating my system notifications.
Level increased to 10 (New Perks available)
Notice: You meet the requirements to ascend. Do you wish to proceed?
Requirements? Ascend? I didn’t think I would be able to advance until I reached level 11. Well, I guess it's fine to do it early so I should just accep- wait. I should probably check with Wyla first.
“Hey Wyla, the system is asking if I want to ascend should I say yes?” I ask her.
“You already meet the requirements?” She asks in a surprised tone.
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“Well the system says I do, so yes.” I respond.
Wyla makes a thoughtful noise and seems to get lost into her thoughts at my response.
“Wyla, can you answer my question before wandering off to wonderland?” I say in slight annoyance while prodding our connection.
“What? Oh right! Ascending will likely put you out of commission for a few days so you should probably set everything up for the next floor first. Also please tell me when you plan to ascend so that I can prepare accordingly.” She says.
“Got it. I’ll get started on the groundwork for the next floor. You’ll probably need to help me if we want to get this done anytime soon.” I tell her.
Wyla mumbles her agreement and I shift my perception downwards. I’ve already dug out a large space, only slightly bigger than the second floor’s base space was. The space is big, but the spatial enhancements I have planned will make it truly enormous.
“You start on the top and I’ll start on the bottom.” I tell Wyla as I move my perception to the floor of the space and begin enchanting.
This is gonna take awhile.
* * *
“That took WAY TOO LONG!” I yell in exasperation as I finally relax my mind. Hours and hours of endlessly creating the same patterns of mana over and over again. I was barely able to keep myself focused by constantly chatting with Wyla. I even started practicing proper attention splitting without using the normal mental crutch just to have something else to do.
I can safely say that from now on I’ll be leaving this kind of work to Wyla since she is far more suited to it. Not only did she finish faster than me, but she also enjoyed it. Which is something I will never understand, but at least one of us had fun.
Now it's my turn to have fun. I’d been planning my sixth floor for a while now and now I can actually start bringing my plans to life. The spatially expanded space in front of me is about the size of the British Isles, a space more than large enough for my plans.
Unlike the previous floor set in which the 2nd through 5th floors are each their own floors connected to one another, the sixth floor will contain all the content of what would’ve been floors six through ten. In other words this one floor will be the size of five floors put together and will need to contain the content to match.
The amount of mana I generate every second along with the amount I have stockpiled is easily enough to start work on this massive project. Especially since I don’t have to worry about anything else thanks to Wyla agreeing to finish up the fifth floor for me. Also the fact that the Adventurers haven’t even beaten the fourth or third floor yet means I likely have a few weeks to work on this.
I start by creating a massive continent in the middle of the floor and then surrounding it with an ocean. I plan on using the deep ocean as the borderlands for this floor and performing the same trick I did on the fifth by making the walls warp you to their opposite counterparts, thus simulating an endless ocean that always leads back to the central continent. Part of the reason I did this was so that if I ever need to expand in the future it's as easy as changing where the warping walls take you.
With my base layer down I then begin to shape the land. I make sure that the baseline elevation of the floor is made like a dome so that the center of the floor is the highest point with the edges being the lowest. This way the water will always flow back towards the ocean just like in a real environment. My goal is to simulate an actual world as much as possible.
With my baseline done I begin to fill in different biomes. Creating weather both magical and mundane in order to create both common environments that one might encounter normally as well as more unique ones that I doubt exist outside my dungeon. I see no reason to not have both after all.
Even with time acceleration it takes several days for the weather alone to shape the landscape into well defined environments. I cheated slightly by creating thin mana barriers that would cause the different biomes to transition to new ones more abruptly than what would be natural.
The end result is verdant forests directly adjacent to barren deserts and freezing icelands. I also ensured that the terrain starts out natural towards the center and becomes gradually more magical in nature the further out you go. I also made the mana density follow suit in order to further simulate the conditions outside the dungeon.
A normal dungeon would’ve struggled to stop the mana density within themselves from evenly distributing, but my True Dungeon status allows me better control. Even still, I found the uneven distribution to be uncomfortable at first and I only got used to it by the time my terraforming was done.
Now with all of that complete it was time to start adding some proper life!
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World View
The region around the Eternal Dungeon several days after the Adventurer Guilds’ announcement.
The Adventurer Guilds’ announcement had reached the eyes and ears of many people. Those more local to the Brahm Viscounty got the news first and were the quickest to begin making use of it. Merchants flocked to Brahmstone and the Adventurer Guild made a killing selling plots of land around their outpost to them.
Many mercenary groups and other less well established guilds also began to move towards the region. Dungeons that were open to everyone weren’t uncommon, however ones without an entry fee or exit tax were impossibly rare. It was simply common sense to monetize entry into a dungeon simply due to how useful they were.
A Dungeon was a source of limitless wealth and experience, to the point where they became the first targets of rival nations anytime they thought they could get away with destroying them. In fact it was the Adventurer Guild that managed to finally put an end to the most egregious dungeon killing.
Everyone knew that the Adventurer Guild always took regulating their dungeons seriously, which is why the announcement had come as a shock to everyone. From the lowest commoners in small villages to the Royal families of nations. The announcement had drawn massive amounts of attention to the region and to the dungeon.
The Secret Hand of Vicrost, a counterintelligence agency of the crown, had been working non stop to try and suppress knowledge of the strange dungeon that had appeared in their nation. However now the Adventurer Guild had thrown all their hard work into the trash. It took the agency completely by surprise as they had never expected the Guild to so freely give out even the most basic information on the dungeon before conquering it, much less open it to the public.
Meanwhile rival agencies of the other countries were in a frenzy wondering how they hadn’t managed to get a single word of this dungeon’s existence until the Guild had announced it. Many heads would roll and many officers would be replaced. Already several foreign interests began to reach out to local contacts in order to gain any sliver of knowledge they could.
To the West, a man who refused the title of King out of pride was smiling. He had received advanced intel on the situation weeks in advance thanks to the hard work of his newest subordinate. He had never forgotten his creed and made sure to reward the ex-corsair handsomely with a cushy job, a large bonus, and ample free time.
The chaos caused by this new dungeon and all those who would be fighting for it would make the perfect cover for his latest plan.
And far, far beyond the mortal world an outer god watched in amusement as the threads of fate shifted. He was strong enough that anything he truly desired could be taken by force alone. However it was in his nature to plot and scheme, to him a game was no fun without rules.