After a brief break for dinner, his parents told him to be careful, good luck, and that they would see him in the morning. It was a far different interaction than what he was used to at night. That was to be expected, though, now that they believed they knew what happened when he slept.

That was fine. It was simply a new dimension to their relationship. Besides, considering what he was about to start doing that night, he could definitely use their well wishes.

Once he was in bed, with all his notes at the ready, he pulled up his wrist computer and briefly checked on Aura. Unfortunately, at some point during the day, she had indeed died. It looked as though she had at least managed to eliminate a couple of them. Either that or the traps had finally worked on the shadow beasts for once.

Nate knew which of those options he found more likely in this case.

It would still be several hours before she came back to life yet. It looked as though the shadow beasts were sticking around for the moment. So, when she came back, she would have a chance to eliminate a few more of them. At the moment, they were all camped out near the portal for some reason. When Aura came back to life, it would be in the core room, the same as him.

Closing the camera screens, he selected the option for ‘Dungeon Creation’. The computer screen expanded and drifted off of his wrist as it grew to the size of a hundred-inch screen. It was far larger than the first time, and he would have to actually stretch a bit to touch everything on the screen.

He waited a few seconds for the screen to populate with all the dimensional zones. Same as the last time, there were far more of them than the official records would have people believe.

‘Welcome to the Dungeon Creation system. You are currently limited to two dungeons at this time. Please, choose the location of your second dungeon carefully. These are the currently open incursions to your world, colloquially known as ‘Dimensional Zones’ and their associated portals. Please make your selection from these options.’

The last time he had been in this position, he had tried to memorize them all. That hadn’t worked nearly as well as he had hoped. Nate’s memory was decent, but not to the point where he could memorize an entire map like that.

This time, he was better prepared. He had his notebook at his side and a decent drawing pencil at the ready. It would take him a while, but he was determined to draw the entirety of the map down before moving on. Thankfully, while the map he was seeing was large, it was still only a portion of the world.

It would still take him an hour or two, but it was like he would be drawing the entire world in one go either. It was just a large section of what had once been the United States. Large enough in this case to show exactly forty-nine unclaimed dimensional zones.

There was one more, a fiftieth-dimensional zone in the middle of the screen. It was naturally the first one he had claimed, the one that was already a dungeon. Unlike the rest of the locations that showed up as red, it pulsed slowly between yellow and green. He guessed to signify that its possession was still in progress, but that it was going well.

Nate took a moment to grab his laptop and pull up a proper map before he began drawing. The one his wrist computer showed him contained no lines for states that barely existed or cities near the zones. It was a pure landmark-based map. That was why he needed the map from his laptop. He needed something more to orient himself.

After he managed that, he was able to start drawing. It did indeed take a while, but he gradually made his way through the entire screen. He put a number to each zone, and then on a separate page in the notebook he identified which ones belonged to what race.

All of the ones on his original list were there on the screen. Unfortunately, there were also many more he knew nothing about. Whether that was because they were completely unknown, or they hadn’t been part of his search parameters, he would find out later.

Regardless, he could finally select the location of his second dungeon.

Now that he was ready to begin, he zoomed in on the map, just like he would on his smartphone. The details and various landmarks bloomed in size. He could have moved everything around and seen more than the forty-nine-dimensional zones that first appeared. There was just no reason to at the moment. Those were already more than enough, and he really didn’t want to spend all night drawing a map of the entire world and all the open incursions.

Instead, he zoomed in enough to make sure he had enough detail to ensure that he was selecting the correct portal. It would truly not be funny if he had done all that research, only to choose the wrong one at the last moment.

He took a few moments to ensure he had the right one and then selected it.

‘Incursion Zone selected, are you sure this is the area you would like to create your second dungeon in?’

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Nate breathed out in relief. He had forgotten it would double-check with him before it would let him continue. Selecting ‘Yes’, only took a moment. He had already made sure it was the correct one before he had chosen it.

The screen went blank for a moment before a new message appeared.

‘The Dungeon Core for the new dungeon is now being constructed. During this time, build a dungeon using the resources available at your disposal. The goal is the same as before. It is to protect the Dungeon Core first and prevent access to the outside world second. As the dungeon and its Core grow in strength, it will be able to merge with the portal and create additional levels inside their world as needed.’

The message had changed slightly from what he remembered the first version saying. It was basically the same thing, just with a couple of modifications, because it was the second dungeon.

He closed the message and saw the timer in the corner startup. The amount of time he had been given this time was far more than last time. With the first dungeon, there had only been a few hours for him to get everything ready.

Going by the counter, that was not going to be the case for the second dungeon. He had three days to get everything ready. The initial benefits package for the first dungeon had come with more than just resources, apparently.

Nate watched as the screen populated with all new items. It had the familiar basic building components he had seen the first time around. Each was still slightly reminiscent of old favored RTS games. Underneath those were the pre-listed options. Then there were tabs for traps and other items he had created or used in the first dungeon.

Lastly, there was the ever-useful search slash creation menu. It was the item he had ended up using the most once he got the hang of it. If he really wanted to create something original or in detail, then using the menu was his best option.

Above all of that, next to the timer, were the various resource counters. Which, just as he had been hoping, was shared with the first dungeon. Everything he had been doing with that one would help build up this one, and then the next one. It all had a cumulative effect, exactly as he had been hoping would be the case.

He took a moment to look at everything on the screen and then closed it without doing anything. At the moment, he was tired and didn’t want to risk making a mistake.

Thankfully, he had more time to construct it properly this time around than he did the first time. There was no need to rush a basic design in a couple of hours. Instead, he could do it all properly and take his time.

During school the next day, he would add bits and pieces as he had time. However, at that moment, he was beyond tired. All he wanted to do was go to sleep and go inside the first dungeon in his avatar.

It was close to midnight, and Aura would be coming back to life soon. He might as well be there for her when that happened.

Closing his laptop and notebook, he put them on the nightstand to the side of his bed. Moments later, he was standing inside the dungeon in his avatar form.

He checked his weapons and sat down to start cultivating. Without a ‘Meditative Art’ that used the proper element, his old ‘Meditation Model’ still worked the best for him personally. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be able to keep up with a proper cultivation art that integrated his element.

With George’s help, he had been able to identify it as dimensional energy. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a ‘Meditative Art’ that currently existed for it. He would need to create it himself, something that he had no idea how to do and would be incredibly dangerous. Luckily, George had also mentioned that he could use a void or shadow-based art instead at a reduced capacity.

They obviously weren’t the optimal option; however, his actual affinity was problematic beyond simply being unique. He didn’t really feel like being abducted and turned into a test subject by some shadowy organization. Which is what George thought would happen if his actual affinity was ever discovered.

The problem was that Nate had been given that affinity for a reason. It was what the dungeons used for everything. Even if he tried one of the other ‘Meditative Arts’, it was doubtful that it would change the energy his body produced. If anything, it would simply make it harder to access, and that would hurt the dungeons and everything else.

That was a risk he wasn’t willing to take at the moment, not when he could keep hunting inside the dungeon. The rainbow cores were a decent source of energy, as long as he could keep getting them consistently. What he would do the next day at school though is get a void-aligned art.

Even if he didn’t use it, he could study it, and maybe figure out how it worked. If he was lucky, then it might be as simple as swapping out a few components that were void-centric to more dimensionally attuned ones. He truly doubted it would be that easy, otherwise someone would have already mentioned it. However, it was his best bet, unless he somehow got an awesome drop that night.

He already knew that it was possible, at least in part. A large part of the reason that students were encouraged to modify, tweak, and even create their own ‘Meditation Models’ was for this purpose. They were being trained to work on their art’s later on. Many of the same principles carried over from the models to the arts.

People were meant to work on and modify their ‘Meditative Arts’, enhancing them to their specific needs. They were given a base model, something that worked for everyone, and then expected to make it fit them. That was probably what some of their coming classes in school would cover as well, he expected.

There was no one size fits all, when it came to cultivation. Everyone was different, and that idea had been worked into the very fabric of their curriculum. He was only now realizing it, but he was impressed. It made so much more sense than those stories he used to read on OE.

He had already known he possessed extra meridians than most people. Rather, he had gained access to meridians that were normally too weak to be used. With a standard art, there was no way they would account for those or any other deviation he might have. And he was just one person.

If you wanted people to succeed, then you had to give them the proper tools to do so. In this case, that meant allowing people to modify their cultivation methods. They had been trained in how to safely do it with the ‘Meditation Model’. Now it was time for them to sink or swim.

A paw on his leg disrupted Nate from his thoughts and his halfhearted attempt to cultivate. Aura was back, and ready to continue taking out her frustrations on the shadow beasts that had been meant to guard her family.