A peculiar tingling sensation graced my hand. Holding my hand up, it seemed to be translucent and glowing green from the inside. The light spread up my arm! I felt a similar sensation on my left arm, then my feet… within a few moments, everything below my head was tingling and radiating a dazzling light. My head was the last to feel the tingling, as it crept up my neck my thoughts started to get slower… It was becoming… hard … to … focu-
The next thing that I remembered was the voice of the world speaking to me. This time felt different than other times I had been graced with her voice. Rather than the characteristically cheerful words, these felt somber, regretful even.
Your body was regrettably destroyed in the transportation process, looking for a viable target for the soul
Acceptable host found, initiating merger
Even though I heard the words enter my ears, the concepts were lost on me. My mind was still spinning from what I had just gone through. Again I could feel some sensation covering me, touching my arms and feet. The tingling made its way up past my neck and I los-
I do not know how long I was like that, but when I eventually was able to regain my senses, I found them… odd. My sight was non-existent as was my smell. But, my feeling of touch seemed to have evolved. It erupted around me in a circle a few meters wide. It was as if I was touching… everything, all at once. Every blade of grass around me and every clump of dirt. The rocks and the ants that climbed them. Even that moldy apple over there, all were within my perception.
Hold on a second! I tried to shake myself from the haze of new emotions and post-transportation grogginess, but found along with my sight I had lost my human body as well! Was the transfer a success? I was to be sent back to my younger self by Master Timon. He knew not how far I would be sent, but he predicted I would wake up in my own body wherever it happened to be at the time. However, I did not seem to be in my old body, or in a human body at all.
Quickly, I checked my status. The world gave every intelligent creature access to some basic commands, one of which was status.
Status
Name:
- - -
Race:
Ancient Dungeon
True Name:
Firren Twire
Level:
0
Gender:
- - -
Age:
E̷̴͟͞r̵̡̛̛r͜҉̶ó̷͜͞͠r̨͠
I stared at the screen for a second before understanding that message from before. Didn’t the world say my body was destroyed and it looked for a viable target for my soul? That should have been my younger self…. unless….Phillip! You idiot! I'm such an idiot for letting you do this!
Philip had given me a dungeon core right before I left! Not just any core either, the Ancient Dragon Dungeon core. The crown jewel of the kingdom. It was his proof of lineage and the stone that rested at the head of the throne. It was the lasting symbol of this kingdom and was even depicted in the flag. Because I brought it with me, rather than being put into my own body I must've been put into this dam dungeon core. Mother fu-
After fully accepting the information presented to me, I needed to know more. As an artifactor, I had learned of an advanced version of status that could be accessed by applying more concentration to the use of the skill. After a moment of intense effort, I was able to bring up the advanced window of the world.
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State Observe
Health:
1 / 1
Mana:
11301 / 1
Health Regen:
0/s
Mana Regen:
357 / s
Floors:
0
Rooms:
0
Inhabitants:
0
Fauna:
0
Dungeon Type:
Dragon
Dungeon Influence:
3 Meters
How….. The information flowing into my mind was unlike anything that I had previously seen when accessing this menu. 1 Hp? That means any single tap could kill me, right? But what was that mana regen? And what was this about floors? I was trying to process this information but, probably because of the transportation, I was still unable to think clearly in this thick lump of crystal that was my new home.
It was then that I heard something, a soft noise coming from outside of my perception. It seemed I was unable to ‘feel’ anything outside of a few feet around me, but I could hear them. What it sounded like was a wishing of wind, like a small whistle, or maybe…. Snoring! The memories flooded back to me.
Throughout my stay at the royal magic academy, I was often forced to take naps between classes, and my favorite spot? Under a particular apple tree near the outskirts of the school grounds. The grass and dirt, feeling them now, it was exactly as I remembered. Does that mean that sound is…. Me?
The spell was meant to send my soul back in time to where my body was, then allow me to take it over. It must've got the location right but since I had already been forced into this dungeon core I was just plopped down next to my sleeping self. What do I do now?
Think! Quick! Even as a young student at the academy I would not miss the giant murky-cyan gem that was the pride of the country just sitting next to him. I did not know what he would do if he saw me or even when the other me would awaken, but I did now know where I was. And my location was not a very hidden one.
What can dungeons do? Other than sending out monsters to invade villages and terrorize townsfolk dungeons have some control over their interiors, able to manipulate them. Master Timon had once even theorized that-
I mentally slapped myself. Not the time for reminiscing about my late Master Firren, not the time.
Putting some of my concentration into the bubble of perception I controlled I was able to squish and warp it a bit. Rather than being a perfect sphere of sense around me, I could make it an oval, allowing me to ‘view’ a bit further in some directions. Feeling around a bit with my ‘perception’ I was able to sense a heavy-duty leather bag tossed a little ways away from my crystalline body. That must be the supply bag I came through with!
Again thinking back of my dungeon knowledge I tried a theory that my master had believed about dungeons, that they could use magic!
One of the few spells I actually knew as an artifact apprentice was a basic form of telekinesis. Trivial to a mage, but something of great importance for those who spent their days tinkering. Since inhabiting this body I had sensed that I had access to an ungodly amount of mana. More than I had sensed from some archmages at the academy. With no time to lose and a rushed incantation, I was able to concentrate and cast the telekinesis spell on the satchel.
Spell Cataloged - Telekinesis I
Though I was intrigued by what the world had to say at this moment, I decided to ignore the message and finish my spell. After a great amount of effort, I was able to coax the bag to myself. The largest object I had ever moved would have to be a medium size screwdriver, a thirty-pound time-travel-survival-kit was not quite as easy.
After mentally patting my back for the quick success I remembered the mission I was sent here to do. Again, using the telekinesis spell, I was able to rummage through the various objects and letter in the bag, selecting a fine-looking note addressed to one Firren Twire, apprentice artifact at the royal magic academy. My master had asked many different people to prepare letters and objects for as many contingencies as we could fathom, even the one where somehow I need a way to convince my past self to work with me.
This particular letter was one of three different ones that were addressed to ‘me’. It goes into minor detail about the events that would occur over the next eight years, but not too much detail. I have faith he will not tell anyone immediately after reading it. There had been near-universal agreement that if this plan was to succeed we must influence the past in minor ways, this would hopefully be the first step.
With that taken care of, I was still a sitting crystal where anyone could see me. The faster I got out of here the better. Again, applying the power of telekinesis, I reached out to the dirt beneath my body, pulling it to either side of me and the satchel. After a few minutes of digging myself into the ground, I covered myself in the dirt. Now, all that could be seen was a fresh patch of dirt, a sleeping apprentice, and a letter written to him from his own future self.
Spell Advancement: Telekinesis I → II
----------------------------------------
In a particular field outside the entrance to the royal magical academy, under a particular apple tree, a particular apprentice stirred. He woke himself from his slumber in anticipation of attending his intermediate potion making class in the afternoon but found that he was covered in dirt. It was as if some wild animal had dug a hole next to him without any regard for where their debris would land.
Standing up, he did his best remove the chunks of earth from his previously clean school uniform, but again a peculiar sight graced him. A letter laid in the grass not ten feet away.
This letter was addressed to him… from the king!