Hello everyone this is my first time writing so please point out any errors I made and I hope you will enjoy it!
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“So, this is how it all ends…”
“Can’t believe I ended up falling for something like that….”
“Oh well, there wasn’t much left to do anyways….”
“I wonder how she’s doing.…”
“How things could have gone had this day gone differently.…”
Then the darkness came and the man lost all of his senses.
He was known as the Sage Emperor. Although he wasn’t among the top cultivators, he was still both well known and respected. He reached his limit when he reached the Emperor Realm. His own talent wasn’t that good to begin with, and if it wasn’t for his own vast knowledge of cultivation and some lucky encounters, he never would have made it as far as he did. His mastery of the road of cultivation was so high that even those more powerful than him would seek him out for advice.
The Sage Emperor knew that he had reached the end of his journey in the way of cultivation, so he devoted himself wholeheartedly to his studies. Cultivators with all sorts of backgrounds, from lonely rogue cultivators, to the disciples of the largest sects, and even those who had already reached the peak, came to him. This gave him access to techniques and cultivation methods that many could only dream of.
Because of the large number of people that came to him for help, no one dared to offend him for fear of the rest of the world’s retaliation. The Sage Emperor lived in peace, teaching and learning for a thousand years. While it may seem like a perfect life, the truth was that he was very lonely. The people that came to him only came for their own benefits. The disciples that he taught were not his own disciples, and those stronger than him would never see him as their equal.
Gradually, he began to explore ruins and tombs, hoping to find some long-lost techniques or cultivation methods to study, because only when he drowned himself in learning could he discard all of his emotions. However, while exploring an unknown ruin one day, something went wrong. He had reached the last chamber and saw a giant crystal at the entrance. The crystal was shaped like two square pyramids connected at the base. What was interesting about the crystal though was that it was floating slightly above the ground. Curious, the Sage Emperor walked up to examine the crystal when he suddenly felt a powerful force emanating from the crystal. He could feel just how dangerous the power was and knew that if he didn’t leave immediately, he would die. But he could also sense that there was something odd inside the crystal, and that caused him to pause. The feeling he got was that if he didn’t see what it was inside the crystal, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
In that instant, he made a decision that would change his fate. Instead of using one of hundreds of methods he had to escape, he stood there and, using his divine sense, dug deep into the crystal. He knew he was racing against the clock as he had only seconds before the energy destroyed him. There were many restrictions placed around the mysterious object inside the crystal, but, with his knowledge, he easily broke through them all. His divine sense then surrounded the object.
At the same exact moment, the energy from the crystal was finally released and it exploded forth. Because he was there so long, there was no way he could escape the blast. Just as a blinding light washed over him, the Sage Emperor saw what the object that was inside the crystal was. It was a very simple book, and it was titled, “The Dungeon Master’s Manual”.
Slowly, he regained consciousness and tried to look around, but everything around him was dark. He then tried to move, but found that he wasn’t able to feel his body at all. He immediately attempted to activate his Qi, but quickly found that he had none. None of this, however, caused him to panic. It was not like his thousand years of life counted for nothing. He quickly began to cultivate in an attempt to replenish the Qi in his body and repair it. He immediately noticed that something was different. While the natural energy in the area was fairly dense, it felt quite different compared to the energy he was used to. It began to feel even stranger as he cycled it through his body.
Since he didn’t have any other plans at the moment, he continued to absorb the natural energy in the surrounding area. It felt like his body was a parched desert absorbing the water left by a rain storm. After continuing for some time, a change finally occurred. As if triggering something that had lied dormant, there was a sudden flash of blue light. The room he was in suddenly became visible. He could see that he seemed to be inside of a small cave underground. The room wasn’t very big and had no entrance or exit, much like a sealed cultivation cave. The odd thing was that he could feel the entire room as if it were a part of him.
Curious, he carefully concentrated on that feeling and then he suddenly became the room. His point of view shifted into a third person view as he looked at the entire room. What he saw stunned him. It was a small cave, as he previously felt, but what was inside the cave where his body should have been was not his body at all, but, in fact, a crystal. It was much like the one that killed him, only smaller.
It took a long time for him to recover his senses. When his mind was clear, he carefully examined the crystal and muttered, “Is this why I can’t seem to move or feel my body?”
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He began to carefully examine his new crystal body and noticed that it still felt empty somehow. He pondered for a bit, then began to cultivate. He quickly noticed that the surrounding energy entered the crystal and the crystal began to fill up. After analyzing it for a while, he came to the conclusion that whatever his new body was, it lacked this mysterious energy. He also noticed that his cultivation technique seemed to speed up the natural absorption process a lot. He thought about how he couldn’t see or feel anything before, but after absorbing enough of this energy, he was suddenly able to see this small room.
“Maybe once I completely fill up the crystal, something will happen….” With that thought in mind, he calmed himself down and began to cultivate again. The energy swirled around the room before rushing toward him. The crystal began to slowly fill up.
When the crystal was full, another change occurred. He suddenly felt like he had control over both the crystal and the entire room. This was a strange feeling, so he decided to test it out by attempting to use the newly gathered energy to dig into the wall. He could feel the energy leave him as he dug one meter into the wall. What shocked him was that he could feel that the space he was in control of had increased as well. Then he tried moving his own body, and, to his delight, the crystal moved as well.
“So, my guess was correct. After gathering enough of this energy, I seem to be able to unlock abilities, though I still have no idea where I am or what exactly happened to me.” Thinking that, he suddenly realized something. “Hmmm, this view almost feels similar to when using divine sense. I wonder if I can examine things.” With that, he focused on the crystal and was surprised when information popped into his mind.
Status
Name: ???
Race: Dungeon Core
Mana: 74/100
Level: 0
“What is this!?”
The information shocked him. In the past, he was able to use divine sense to scan things and people, but the information resulting from it was never this clear and was up to himself to interpret.
“The information in my head is so clear, though I have no name and I’m a what now?” Startled, he scanned himself again, double checking the information appearing in his head. “A Dungeon Core? Well, this sure took an interesting turn. I seem to have reincarnated, but not as a human. Instead, I’ve become a Dungeon Core…”
“Well, ignoring the race for now, this mana thing seems to be an indication of how much of this strange energy I’ve absorbed. From what it shows now, around 50 was when I gained sight, and at 75 I gained control of this room. If this trend continues, then something else is bound to happen when I reach 100/100.”
“I have no idea what this level thing means, but the zero is a clear indication of how weak I currently am. No matter what, I must gain enough strength to at least protect myself. Guess the only thing left to do is gather this mana for now.” He then began to cultivate. He could feel the mana surge toward his new “body” as he cultivated.
He could tell that the crystal hosted his soul and that he would die if it were to be destroyed, but he also had this odd feeling that the room was also part of his body.
80, 85, 90, 95, 99...100!
Right as he hit 100/100 mana, a voice entered his mind.
“You’ve reached the requirement to level up!”
“You are now level 1!”
Status
Name: ???
Race: Dungeon Core
Mana: 100/150
Level: 1
“Now forming your dungeon fairy!”
Suddenly, a ball of light appeared before him and he felt all the mana he had gathered drain from him, making him feel weak. He knew that if this continued until he was back to zero mana, he would fall unconscious. Considering the situation, it wouldn’t be very good if he did. He also knew that he couldn’t stop it, so he immediately calmed his mind and began to cultivate like crazy to absorb enough mana to counterbalance this mana drain.
This went on until what he felt was about 100 mana had been drained away. It seemed like it was about to be over, but the light suddenly intensified and the mana drain intensified with it. He was shocked at the sudden turn of events, but considering how long he had been alive for, he didn’t panic and continued to absorb mana by cultivating. This lasted for a long time. After what he determined to be a total of 500 mana had been drained, it finally stopped.
The intense light faded and the shape of a little person appeared from within the blinding light. Once the light was completely gone, he could see a girl. She was a bit small for a normal human. She wore a red dress and had long, red hair. She was beautiful. Her looks alone would have definitely attracted a lot of attention in a crowd. When taking into consideration her very small stature and the wings on her back, the attention she would attract would cause a riot.
“According to the voice, this should be my dungeon fairy? I wonder what that is… I hope I’ll finally have some answers,” He muttered as he stared at the little fairy
The fairy slowly opened her eyes. She stared at the crystal before her and said, “Hello, my name is Alice, and I’m your dungeon fairy!”
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Edited by: mossclaw64
Edited by: The super secret and mysterious masked editor... from space!
Edited by: The General