I awoke some time later to the mental shouts of Faellen. Likely not much time had passed, as the portal to the Wyld was still open and fine. What wasn’t fine, my Dungeon instincts screamed at me, was the hole in my Core Room’s wall where the portal used to be.
Note to self, don’t mess with my Core Room. The Dungeon part of my self was screaming at my to fill it in as soon as possible, but I really didn’t see a point in doing so. If all went to plan, I would be abandoning this place anyway, so why bother with rebuilding it.
I once again reached out to the sheet of stone with the portal on it and dragged it over to my Core. This time without any hiccups along the way, for which I was quite thankful, as the pain I had just experienced was something I didn’t want to repeat.
Unfortunately, it would seem that fate had it out for me. As soon as I brought the portal close to my crystalline surface, that same sense of wrongness overtook me. So, I prepared myself, steeled my nerves and threw the chunk of stone (and thus the portal) at myself.
With no direct control of the portal, I wouldn’t be able to stop it – even accidentally or by instinct – but that was on purpose. The moment my core touched and passed through the portal, all I knew was pain. It was a good thing I did what I had and let go of the portal, because otherwise I would have flinched and pulled it back.
The moment seemed to go on for an eternity, extending beyond aeons and into infinity. I think I even passed out a couple of times again, but the pain woke me back up, keeping me in a perpetual state of torture.
It was hell.
But fortunately, only a temporary hell. At last, the whole of my core passed through the portal and the pain vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
The next thought I had, about what a mistake I had just made, came at the same time as a notification from the System. I didn’t have much time to focus on either, as my mind locked itself into a state of panic.
The reason? Well, the mistake I mentioned was leaving my Dungeon. Without it, I was powerless. I could not see, I could not control, I could not create, and I could not destroy. My only hope was that I could establish a second Dungeon. Or that my non-Dungeon abilities still worked outside of my domain.
“Dungeon! Hey, Dungeon! Are you alright?” I heard Faellen ask, but the sound was distant, muted. It would seem even my Bond with the fairy was lessened without my Dungeon’s domain.
“Quick tell me something, anything. Without your support the Portal is closing and I have to know I should bring you back or if you’re alright,” my fairy assistant urged.
“Alright,” I barely pushed though our Bond, “Domain. Gone. No. Dungeon.”
“Okay, alright, that’s not too bad,” it said with a sigh of relief. “We can help you make a second one. For now, try to check your System. Hopefully the safeguard still works.”
Confused, but now calming down thanks to Faellen’s assurances, I began to take stock of my situation. One by one, I went through each of my Dungeon Abilities, just to confirm what I already suspected. Or rather, what I felt deep in my core.
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After confirming I indeed had lost access, I checked the System. I appear to recall getting some notifications in the middle of all that chaos.
User is crossing a dimensional threshold
Destination: Wyld
Contract detected...
Warning: Wyld is an inhospitable place
Approximate length of safe stay: 7 days
Detected Truth: Nameless
Recalculating…
Approximate length of safe stay: 7+ days
The first thing I noticed was that something seems to have changed about the System messages not even halfway through. It’s hard to describe, but they almost seem more… alive? I’m not sure
(Author’s note: the change is symbolized through the green text. In-Universe no colour change has occurred)
Be that as it may, the message continued.
Warning: System only has a weak presence in the outskirts of Wyld
Venturing deeper into Wyld severs you from System support
Warning: going against the Wyld’s laws may have sever consequences
It is recommended to observe the rules of hospitality
…
Just behave
...That last message was different again. Somehow. Almost less… mechanical, this time. Weird, very weird things going on right now.
Alright, anyway. Faellen was right, my Truth (still don’t know what that it) does allow me to stay here longer. A shame that I don’t know how much longer, but a week should be enough anyway. I would hope we’ll be out of here by then.
Next up, can I establish a new Dungeon. I open the Creation sub-menu to see, and am thoroughly disappointed. While the button has reappeared, it is also greyed out. Who knows how much time until in becomes available. Or if it even needs time, and not some special condition.
I lie there for a little while, unable to do anything. Once or twice I try to call out to my assistant, but no answer comes my way. Worst of all, with no way to sense the world around me, I can’t even tell how much time has passed. It almost reminds me of my time in the void, only the presence of my Status assuring me that I haven’t returned there.
And then, a new set of notifications appears before me. These one missing the strangeness.
Imminent portal closure
Warning: Link to Dungeon to be severed
Special circumstances met…
User qualifications met…
Issuing Special Quest
Quest: The Same Boat [Special]
Description withheld
Objective: Wait [10] seconds
Reward: ???
Wait, what? Hold on! This seems outrageously suspicious! And yet, my cry of outrage was ignored and the Quest competed itself.
Quest: The Same Boat [Special] (complete)
Congratulations! The System is grateful.
Reward: Secondary Aspect
You have gained a Secondary Aspect!
Secondary Aspect: System
New Ability gained!
Something deep within me shifted, and continued shifting. I couldn’t tear my attention away from it. Then I noticed I’m passing out again. It wasn’t the painful passing out, like when I damaged my Core Room, or the passing out I experienced when Levelling-Up.
Just before the lights went fully out, I heard the voice of a familiar fairy, “Dungeon, it’s bad news. Something is wrong with the Wyld here. I don’t think we can stay here.”
----------------------------------------
...
Stabilizing claimed area.
Stabilizing Dungeon.
Dungeon Establishment complete.