----------------------------------------

Avan did not know where he was. Everything was blurred and unclear, a paradise at once before his eyes but at the same time intangible. He could see huge mountains and mountain ranges as well as massive valleys full of fauna, but in the next moment everything blurred again as if he had something in his eyes.

One moment the sky was brilliant blue, and the next it was abruptly midnight black with countless beautiful stars in the firmament, almost as if you could pluck these celestial bodies from the sky with just a few hand movements.

Rivers ran through the country as far as one could see, smaller streams branched off here and there and ran off into the earth or into lakes and small ponds.

A momentary train of thought flashed through Avan's mind as he thought to notice that he could see all the materials and plants he had absorbed into his dungeon over the past days and weeks.

But before the thought could be completed, the next spectacle also knocked him off course. Red lightning flashed across a suddenly dark and black sky, and it began to rain blood.

But the very next moment golden-silver rays of light broke through the black cloud cover and it seemed almost as if gods wanted to descend and bless the ground.

When this sight also blurred, the next moment was something completely different again. If Avan had a physical body at that moment, his mouth would be open and his jaw would hit the ground. The sky was suddenly covered by a lilac and beautiful aurora, which continued to spread and soon took over the whole sky. The aurora condensed and buzzed over the horizon, until suddenly massive portals and black holes formed that wanted to absorb everything and yet at the same time not a single breath of wind blew.

And this moment also disappeared after the next blink, and after another blurred vision, Avan suddenly stared in surprise at two familiar faces. A variation of Yue was standing right next to a slightly smiling Horn in butler clothes. Horn himself nodded slightly to Avan and spoke something that Avan did not understand as if he were extremely far away and also under water. Yue, on the other hand, looked more like a toddler, very different from the way Avan had met her. She also seemed to have the urge to run towards him, but for some reason could not approach Avan, and even what she said did not reach him, although her mouth was moving excitedly.

Avan wanted to stretch out his arm and walk towards her, but again the lack of a physical body was immediately noticeable. There was no arm to be seen, and of course no hand that he could have extended.

This image slowly blurred again, but for the first time Avan finally heard something, even if it sounded almost like an illusion carried by the wind. "...Soulscape! Soon... - Get stronger!" Avan heard Horn's voice, and his vision went black again.

For some time he drifted through a variety of auroras in different colors and color combinations. And even though it felt like a strange memory, at one point, for a split second, the vast green landscape with picturesque mountains was visible again, but in the middle of a valley was a black hole with whitish fog billowing around it, and small rainbow-colored objects flying upward. Above this swirl of black nothing and white mist, these rainbow-colored spheres swirled around each other and then were carried away in a river of white mist, slowly fading away.

And as quickly as the image appeared, it was gone again and Avan found himself once again in a void.

And so an indefinite time passed, without pain, without a sense of time, without needs, and without tangible thoughts that Avan could grasp and process.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Everything felt like a delirium, more dream world than reality, simply unreal.

But finally, a white light flooded the entire environment, if it could be called an environment, and Avan blinked.

He blinked... And slowly his foggy mind dawned, cleared up and he understood that he finally had his eyes again! Groaning, he lay there and tried to sit upright, but had the next fright that made him panic.

Avan could not move his limbs! Except for the blinking of his eyes, not a single part of his body obeyed his will, not even a simple movement of the head to the right or left to look around worked.

Panic-stricken because his brain was still not fully awake to think clearly or to think calmly and logically, his body began to tremble. His breath quickened and he found himself mentally back in a situation similar to his own. Under torture and chained, bound, motionless. Only the eyes that could move, waiting for the next torture session.

And finally, slowly, very slowly, his mind returned and reminded him that he was in a completely different situation. That he was no longer under torture, and what was the last thing he remembered.

*Jen! Patris and Dani!* He remembered again after Avan remembered the explosion and how he had thrown his teammates away. *Hopefully they are okay...*

Finally with calmer and clearer thoughts. *How much time has passed?* he asked himself in a moment of clarity, especially as he remembered the confused dreams and visions he had had.

If he were to estimate, at least days would have passed... Or maybe more than days, he admitted to himself, somewhat fearfully.

Avan hated losing control of his life and his body, as he always had after an surgery in a hospital under general anesthesia. A feeling of powerlessness. Things that could happen to you without you ever knowing it or being able to defend yourself against them.

And now he lay here, and could only move his eyelids to blink, but nothing more.

Sighing inwardly, he looked up at the ceiling above him for the first time, and stared in amazement at the beautifully natural crystal ceiling. Avan seemed to be in a perfect circular cave of all different colors of crystals when he looked at the ceiling and the walls from the corner of his eye. Fused together, partially burned into each other, but still appearing natural, as if the crystals had grown that way.

Light refracted in the crystals in all imaginable colors, soft light that seemed to come from the inside of the crystals.

*Mana crystals...?* he thought, if possible he would now have moved his head askance sideways.

*But what am I doing here? And much more, how the cursed abyss did I survive all this at close range?* he stated in amazement.

As if his inner question had triggered something, a well-known and very familiar sound was heard. Soft chimes, followed by a neutral and quiet inner voice sounded.

Avan Leaf (Anchor, Dungeon Core)

Soul Energy: 1

Element: ?̴̝̖͊̌̀͑ ̸̜̦̽̓͋̇̈́̅͊̎̒̽̽̀́͘?̴̬͓͂̍͊̄͒?̴̛̄͛̿͊͆̾͐̀̉̂̚ / Celestial / Dimensional / Blood

Race: Celestial Blood Dragon (Human form)

Class: [Essence Soul] Celestial Dungeon (g̴̋̈́͑͜͜o̶̗̥̰̺̅̀̂͆d̵̪̄)

Subclass: [Essence Soul] Nidhogg (Blood dragon)

Dungeon Stats

Rank: F-

Range: 1250m

Elements: Celestial, Dimensional, Blood

Abilites: Runes, Spawning, Shapeshifting, Molding

Dungeon Core: The human Body of "Avan Leaf"

Core Defense: +10 000% of all defenses of the Body "Avan Leaf"

Core Offensive: Dungeon Mechanics

Level 1 Boss:

*Is that what I think it is!* was the only thing a stunned Avan could put into clear thought.

----------------------------------------