Richter's laughter died in his throat as Nazareth spun on his heel, eyes blazing with indignation. The man's pacing had taken on an agitated rhythm, each step a punctuation mark in the air of growing tension. Richter watched, a frown deepening on his brow, as Nazareth muttered under his breath, words too soft to catch. Richter scratched the back of his head as he tried to think of how to alleviate the tension.

"Well, this is just peachy," Richter drawled, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "A multiversal terrorist... who terrorizes with kindness? Now there's a concept that'll sell t-shirts." He shrugged, a half-hearted attempt at levity. "I'd take that over the batshit insane system we've got any day of the week."

Nazareth whirled, and the suddenness of his motion caused Richter to recoil. The silhouette's shadowy eyes burned with a fury that left no room for misinterpretation. "You dare speak such blasphemy?" he thundered, his voice echoing off the walls. "You dare insult the system that protects us, gives us strength, and gives meaning to our lives?" Nazareth spat, storming over until his face was mere inches from Richters own.

“Our system is hailed as a savior by the beings under its influence. Most revere it and obey it without question. Should you have said that anywhere else, you would have been executed on the spot not to mention the fact that insulting the system can lead to its wrath. Consider yourself fortunate that we stand in a shadow where its gaze does not penetrate." He shook his head with disgust, mumbling something under his breath as he backed away from Richter's face.

Richter recoiled, genuinely shocked by the intensity of Nazareth's reaction. "Damn, man! That wasn't meant to be a jab..." he stammered, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "I was just... I don't know, messing around?"

Nazareth loomed closer, his presence overwhelming. "Foolishness cloaked as humor is no excuse," Nazareth retorted, “Ignorance in this world is just as deadly as any beast could ever be. You’re sorely mistaken if you believe there is merit in the 'benevolence' of the counterpart's ideology. You don’t know the horrors that ‘kindness’ has unleashed on our people and even its own. These people hunt us, they torture us, and they do it all with a smile on their faces.” The system's barrier came to life as Nazareth jabbed a finger toward his chest, the inky finger stopping just a couple of inches short.

“Yet you.” Nazareth boomed, his voice thick with accusation, "You should stand as the epitome of belief in our cause—the most ardent champion of our principles! You may have been granted the highest honor any being could achieve by possibly being-” Nazareth cut his words short, his eyes wide as he suddenly slammed on the breaks. His finger fell as the bubble dissipated, and he turned his head in contemplation as the pressure finally relieved itself.

Richter looked at Nazareth incredulously, feeling the anger rise in his chest. "I know I'm ignorant about this world, but how could you possibly blame me? I'm only going off what I've seen in front of me. The system destroyed my world and everything I knew, threw me in the middle of nowhere with no idea what I'm doing, and seems to want to kill me every chance it gets!" Richter said, taking a step closer to the shadow. "Tell me how I could I possibly hold any respect for something like that? Fuck that!" Richter yelled, curling his fist into a tight ball.

Nazareth simply stared at him, his expression unreadable. The silence stretched out, punctuated only by the erratic pounding of Richter's heart. He could feel sweat trickling down his temple from his outburst, his palms slicking against his thighs. Finally, Nazareth spoke, his voice a low rumble that seemed to vibrate through the very air.

"You still don't understand the system,” he said, his gaze fixed on some distant point. "The masses labor under the delusion that it's a stagnant force, an omnipotent automaton tirelessly orchestrating existence. A foolish oversimplification. It has a real, conscious mind of its own, with thoughts and plans and it's constantly analyzing and dealing with innumerable situations with deliberation and intent. A single word of disrespect, even in jest, can be a death sentence sometimes."

“And yet, regardless of its ambitions, it is bound by its own capacity. The system is not omnipotent. It has its vulnerabilities and limits, and it’s spread out more than ever. That, along with the environment we are currently in, is the only way I was able to sneak past its defensive measures to come talk to you.”

Richter recoiled as if slapped. His thoughts of the system had always been exactly as Nazareth said, that it was a robot that automatically dealt with things and was a fundamental part of his new reality like the matter and atoms of his old. To think that the system was a real, sentient being with thoughts, plans, and limits with its own goals… the implications were staggering. But despite it all, there was still one thing that didn’t add up.

“But, that doesn’t make sense I’ve shit-talked the system plenty of times in the past, and it never did anything that I feel like would be considered ‘invoking its wrath.’ Believe me, I've had some foul words for it... even yelled them out loud." He rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish grin playing on his lips as his gaze drifted to the side.

Nazareth stared at him blankly. “Inconceivable. You’ve actively insulted the system aloud, even before entering this dungeon? No bounties put on your head, no mark put on you that would cause you to be targeted by monstrous beasts far above your level, no debuffs to your stats, or a cripple to your progress? There's been nothing? By the empire, not even a notice of a warning for your infractions?” He said in disbelief, shakily stepping forward to Richter, trying to grab him by the shoulders. The systems barrier popped up as he was about to grab him, and Richter glanced at the shadowy hands in confusion.

Richter shrugged, "Nothing. Nada. Zilch. And lemme tell ya', I've hurled insults that would put a sailor to shame—and those were on a good day. It hasn’t done anything to me, not even a tap on the wrist. Maybe giving me some shitty, useless loot like a dress and some leaves, though… Is that what you’re talking about?” Richter said, thrown off by Nazareths sudden behavior.

Nazareth stood motionless, his breath caught in the eerie silence of the room. In seconds, Richter's words struck him—not with the intended humor—but with an epiphany so profound that Richter could see the disbelief even behind his obscured shadowy features. The wisps of smoke that constantly shifted around him halted as he became a statue, a figure carved from stone, as tendrils of shock turned his thoughts to ice.

Then slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, the corners of Nazareth's face, so devoid of features yet unmistakably present, began to twitch. It twisted within the dark swirls, contorting into a jarring and sardonic grin—a smile so devilish that Richter instinctively took a step backward.

"What...what's with that smile?" Richter asked hesitantly, his eyes widening at the sudden change.

The smile seemed to spread further, stretching beyond the bounds of a normal human expression as it went from ear to ear. "Oh, it's nothing. I just had a moment of clarity, that’s all." He responded coolly, his tone betraying no sign of the shock he'd previously displayed.

Richter watched in stunned silence as Nazareth’s expression morphed into something even more unsettling. The grin stretched impossibly wide, the lines around his eyes deepening as though he were in the throes of some twisted fit of laughter. The tendrils of smoke that usually swirled around him seemed to solidify, coalescing into a shimmering haze that pulsed with an unsettling rhythm.

"What do you mean 'nothing'? You look like you’ve just won the lottery." Richter stammered, his heart pounding in his chest. The smile on Nazareth's face was unsettling, a grotesque distortion of what should have been a normal expression. "That smile...it's freaking me out, man. What's going on here?"

Nazareth’s eyes locked onto Richter’s, and for a moment, they seemed to pierce through his very soul. His smile dropped to a small grin as he regained his usual composure, stepping away from Richter and allowing the bubble to disperse. “That is not for you to worry about. Ask your last two questions, Richter. The system will realize I’m here eventually, and I’ll be forced to leave. So hurry it up.” Nazareth said, the sly grin seeming to be permanently connected to his face.

Richter stared at Nazareth, his mind reeling. What the hell was that smile? Had Nazareth gone insane? Or was there something else going on here? His conversation with Nazareth has been more of a headache than gaining more understanding of his new world.

"Okay," Richter said finally, his voice shaking. "Okay, let's say I buy all that. The system's not just some dumb machine, it has a mind of its own, and its end goal is to help people thrive. But... why are you here, Nazareth? Or better yet, how are you here? You’re clearly not supposed to be here, will I see you again in the future? Will I have to expect another person like you to pop up? And what do you mean about being forced to leave?"

Nazareth held his hand up, clicking his tongue in annoyance. “Way too many questions. “I do believe we agreed upon two questions—yet here you presented me with a five. Pick two.” With a snap of his fingers, a seat of shadows coalesced beneath him again, plopping down in it with a relaxed sigh.

Richter clenched his teeth, throwing Nazareth the stink eye. Eventually, he sighed, thinking of the best way to phrase the question. “How are you here, and should I expect you or anyone else like you to pop up randomly?”

Nazareth didn’t even bother looking at Richter, instead deciding to sprawl out onto his throne with a grin. “Ah, that’s a smart question. I’m impressed, honestly. Let’s start with the basics, shall we? Do you know where you are right now?

Richter shrugged. "Well, the system said I'm in a dungeon... sooo I guess that's it?"

Nazareth smirked at his response, “That’s correct. Now, dungeons,” He began, weaving its words like a master storyteller, "Are special creations of your world, not the system. It’s a big difference, and the dungeons themself, well they exist in your world yet apart from it. They are filled with natural challenges and loot, and should you overcome these challenges, you could be rewarded with incredible abilities, untold riches, and maybe even passage to other worlds."

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“Now, it’s important to remember that dungeons are not system-created events or places. It is merely governed and managed by it, not actively monitored. The world creates the dungeons you stand on and thrive and become stronger based on the quality of the world, and the strength of the people entering it. I could go on all day just about dungeons and how they work, but that wasn’t the question you asked, after all.” Nazareth said with a slight chuckle, flicking off a spec from his arm.

“The system does not actively monitor dungeons or its contents, rather, it has automatic systems in place that merely assist the dungeon with its running, and it leaves the rest up to the dungeon itself. This means that the inside of a dungeon is not under system view without having to put effort and knowing to peer inside of it.”

“As for why we're able to meet here, its as I mentioned, dungeons lie at the fringes of the system's control – a sort of blind spot. Normally, I would never be able to even attempt to visit a newly initiated world like this; it's simply impossible with the system's safeguards for new worlds. But… because of how dungeons work, it makes it possible for beings like myself to slip through undetected by the system for short periods – a loophole in an otherwise airtight set of rules,"

Richter stared at Nazareth, his mind whirling. This was not the answer he had been expecting. "So, you're saying the system isn't, well, all-knowing? It has real limits?"

Nazareth chuckled, the sound grating on Richter's nerves. "Oh, it knows everything. But what it knows is limited by what it chooses to monitor. It's like a giant eye, Richter. It sees everything, hears everything, and operates everything, but it only focuses on what it wants to see. It's utterly indifferent to places like dungeons—it does not deign to cast its gaze upon such ‘trivial’ places."

Richter nodded his head, processing the information. "I guess I understand? So that explains one part of my question, what about the other? Will I expect to see you, or someone like you in the future like this?”

Nazareth shook his head, sighing heavily. “It is extremely unlikely you will have another encounter like this. First off, a being needs to be extremely powerful to even attempt something like this, and while there's plenty that meets the requirements, it’s not worth the cost it takes to skirt around the system's purview. But the second, and most important, is that the system cracks down on loopholes like this the second they get found. As soon as I leave here and the system becomes aware of my presence, it will know where I went and how I managed it - that is when I will receive my punishment. As soon as the system figures out how I managed to get here, it will likely remove that loophole so no other can do it again.”

Nazareth clapped his hands together, standing up from his throne with a satisfied grin. “There you have it—the end of our discussion,” he announced pompously. “That concludes my end of the bargain, as I answered all five of your questions. My time is running short, and I’ll have to take my leave shortly.”

"I see… what’s going to happen to you though?" Richter pressed, his voice rising with uncertainty. "What happens to you when the system finds out and you leave here, I mean? Will it just... get rid of you? Like, delete you or something?"

Nazareth's laughter resonated with a cold arrogance, "Eradicate me? Please. The system would never dare discard an asset as crucial and influential as yours truly. It has poured far too many resources into my greatness to merely 'delete' me on a whim," he proclaimed, voice dripping with disdain. “But the system doesn't make mistakes. It knows when something is out of place. And when it finds out I've been meddling in a new world... well, let's just say my punishment won’t be anything but extreme."

Richter couldn’t suppress the shiver that danced along his spine at Nazareth’s ominous words, and despite recognizing Nazareth for the insufferably conceited being he was, Richter couldn’t help but feel a grudging respect of gratitude. In a world where Richter knew nothing, Nazareth was the only source of information and the only one that guided him throughout it, however arrogant he might be.

Richter let out a sigh, his shoulders slumping. "Thank you, Nazareth," Richter said, his voice genuine. "You’re a dick. An arrogant, pompous prick, but you helped me a lot despite that. Still, you've lit my way in this labyrinth when you could've left me for dead in the dark. I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay you for what you've done, but... I owe you one. I genuinely hope the system doesn’t dish out some extreme punishment you can’t recover from. Who knows, maybe we’ll meet again in the future." Richter said, smiling slightly as he extended his hand.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Nazareth's expression froze. The arrogant smirk vanished, replaced by a look of intense scrutiny as his gaze locked onto Richters outstretched hand. "What did you just say?" he demanded, his voice cold and authoritative.

Richter blinked, taken aback. “Oh… I said maybe we’ll meet again in the future, and that I hope your punishment isn’t too severe.” Richter half-heartedly chuckled as mild embarrassment rushed to his cheeks.

“No before that,” Nazareth said, staring at the outstretched hand, but there was an odd flicker in his eyes.

"Thanking you—"

"After!" Nazareth snapped, the intensity of his eyes anchoring on Richter's hand that hung in mid-air.

“Uh, I think I said that I owe you one. What’s wrong, did I say something I shouldn’t have?” Richter said in confusion, slowly lowering his hand.

A predatory glint flickered across Nazareth’s eyes. He leaned in, close enough for Richter to glimpse the storm brewing behind his steely facade. “State it again—for my satisfaction. This 'owing' you mentioned.”

Richter withdrew his hand completely now, a look of puzzlement plastered across his face. This wasn't the arrogant, condescending being he had been dealing with. This felt like something... more. Dangerous. Unpredictable.

“You're fishing for something here, aren’t you? All I did was toss some gratitude your way and now you're zigzagging on me.” He said flatly.

Nazareth leaned forward, his gaze intense. “That was not my intention. It was simply something you said, I haven’t heard that term before. You said… ‘I owe you one.’ Explain it to me.”

“Uh…” he said, meeting Nazareth's gaze. “I guess you’re not from my world, after all. It’s just a common curtsey thing we folk say to show our gratitude. You know… since you helped me so much, it's only fair I’ll help you in the future should you need it.”

The ghost of a smile played on Nazareth’s lips as he digested Richter's explanation, “Intriguing notion... What did you refer to it as again?”

With an exaggerated roll of his eyes, Richter couldn't resist the jab. “It’s called being grateful—but don’t strain yourself trying to comprehend such a human gesture.”

“I know gratitude. I'm curious about the actual term, Richter.” Nazareth snapped with thinly veiled annoyance. “It's simply your phrasing that intrigues me—repeat it, Richter,” he demanded with a cold imperiousness that expected obedience.

"Dude, seriously? There ain’t some fancy word for it, it’s just showing gratitude. Like, you helped me a lot so I owe you one in the future if you need help. It’s not supposed to be taken so literally, it’s not like I’m even close to your level to help you with anything after all.” Richter said flatly, annoyance becoming evident in his tone.

For a moment Nazareth appeared flustered—his flawless facade crumbled revealing genuine shock—before regaining composure and extending his hand to Richter with an easy smile. “I understand now. You helped me just as much as I did you. Who knows, maybe we will meet again in the future.” Nazareth said, his gaze locked onto Richter's hand.

Richter rolled his eyes, reaching out his hand to shake Nazareths. As his hand was about to reach the shadowy tendrils the systems barrier came to life, but to Richters surprise, Nazareth's hand slid right through the protective barrier. But as soon as his hand went through the barrier, Nazareth moved.

It was faster than Richter could even perceive, all he could feel were the cold, shadowy tendrils on his skin and his hand tightened into a firm handshake. Suddenly, the cavern rumbled as Richter looked around with wide eyes. He attempted to let go of Nazareth, but his hand was locked like a hand of steel. Richter looked up at him with alarm, but instead of finding alarm back at him, all Richter saw was the same, sardonic grin Nazareth displayed earlier.

“Ah - there it is, loud and clear,” Nazareth said, his voice low and cold as his grip tightened. “Three times, heard and witnessed - and thus a pact is made.”

*DING*

Richter looked at Nazareth in confusion before a screen appeared before his eyes, this one being a pale, white color.

[You have agreed to do Nazareth a favor! At any time, in any place, should Nazareth call upon this favor, you must accomplish whatever it is he asks of you. There were no limits or requirements placed upon this favor by the debt payer - therefore anything and everything could be asked for when being cashed in by Nazareth. The task must accomplished. Failure to honor it will result in severe consequences, or possibly death. Remember, your word means everything.]

Richter gaped at the prompt in disbelief, not even registering the rumbling chamber and the fact Nazareth had let go of his hand. “You… You played me!” Richter said, sputtering over his words, “I thought… I… What the fuck man! I thought we had a friendly thing going on here!”

There was a moment of silence before the figure responded softly, though venom lingered in its words. "Didn’t I explain this to you before? Ignorance in this world is just as deadly as any beast could ever be. Take this as a learning lesson, as you seem to be a painfully slow learner. But I'll ease your fears. I am no ally of yours; I have no intention of guiding or protecting you. But neither am I your enemy.”

Nazareth's composure returned to its more relaxed tone as he continued, "Think of it as an insurance policy between us. I have provided valuable information and insights that will aid you in the many trials ahead, information that will surely save your life more than once. In return, if I need your assistance someday, you will be obligated to help me."

Nazareth's final words hung in the air like an executioner's blade, sending a palpable chill down Richter's spine. Suddenly, he stood up, releasing his domineering aura once more sending Richter crashing back to his knees. “My time here is just about over," he said, his voice echoing ominously. "It will serve you well to remember everything you learned here, Richter. Be careful who you trust, no one is without motives in this new world. Survive, grow stronger so you never have to be in a position like this again.” He said, grinning the entire time.

Shadows in the cavern swirled and coalesced into an inky maelstrom as Nazareth's voice thundered with a haunting timbre. “Oh, and one parting gift, for the sheer pleasure of it.” In that instant, the shadows around him seemed to come alive, transforming into dark tendrils of an impossibly black aura. Like a hungry predator, they shot toward Richter, mercilessly submerging him in their suffocating embrace. The tendrils penetrated his defenses with ease, worming their way up to his head as he groaned in pain. His eyes shot open as he suddenly felt a chilling presence within him.

"Let this warning burn into your mind," Richter gaped as he heard Nazareth's voice echoing in his mind.

“What I am about to say can never be uttered outside. Not a syllable, not a breath of it. There are watchful eyes that have been monitoring our very conversation up till now. So listen carefully, Richter.”

“Never talk about your status as Chosen. Ever. The moment you openly acknowledge your status as Chosen, you'll become a target to everyone in this forsaken multiverse. I came here under the authority of the Tyreian Empire to confirm suspicions, and my suspicions were indeed correct. However, I have my interests and goals, and I do not wish to see you dead as soon as the Dominions open up. Guard that secret with your life.”

Suddenly, the dark tendrils retreated from Richter's body, leaving him gasping for air and trembling from the overwhelming sensation. Nazareth stood up with a smug grin as his figure began to fade into the darkness.

"You’ve been sufficiently cautioned. Choose your words wisely from here on out, and grow and become stronger. I like powerful friends– especially when they owe me favors." He said, a twisted smile contorting his lips as he faded into nothingness, leaving Richter alone once more in the cavern.