It's dark…. Cold and empty… The last thing she could remember is a conversation she had with her mother even now in this deafeningly silent void of black. For the life of her she can’t quite place the details of said conversation but she knew it was important. Thinking of what they talked about though is giving her a massive headache so it is hard to fully care.

{Congratulations! You have descended!}

[You have gained merit.]

Wha?

Confusion bloomed in her apathetic mind as she stared at the odd non tangible screen that refused to leave her vision no matter what direction she faced in this black void. Eventually she had to give up escaping the strangely bright screen and face it head on but she couldn't help but think… What in the abyss is merit?

A question that nothing answered as she metaphorically sat in this dark empty void for what felt like hours when it really was just three minutes. Three minutes that she impatiently waited for something to happen but to her disappointment nothing did. Boredom she understood was the true killer of life so with a sigh she started fiddling with the screen but it seemed to only be affected by her mind. With nothing to do in this space to entertain herself she started to make the rectangular box into strange shapes that would make any artist cry. It was only when she started messing with its boring tan color that she remembered everything. 

What have I been doing?! The weight of her guilt almost made her want to cry but she couldn’t or rather she wouldn't because she made a promise. She wanted to help her parents work and here she was messing around in a void. With a breath and a sniffle she recentered herself and fixed the screen back into its rectangular shape. She decided to keep the sky blue color though as she personally liked it better than the boring tan. Once she was done with the basic set up she prodded the screen to share her records.

Name:

Caelum

Race:

Deity

Class:

Dungeon core

Divinity: 

150/150

She could not help but sigh at the neat little rows. Her mother always loved things neat and tidy, all orderly and perfect. I can understand wanting order but it feels depressing to be summed up in four rows. 

Shaking off the dark feelings that thought brang she got to work and with a mental flex added tabs to the side of the screen for ease of use. She needed a few to hold her other information such as titles and the like. She couldn’t help thinking a lot of it was useless in her current occupation but you never know. 

Her promise to mom comes first in this job; she has to be an example to the mortals for the next big system update so she needs to fulfill a few conditions if she recalls correctly. The first being: A place to advance in power. Simple in the sense it needs to hold creatures to fight and fuel adversity. The second of course is loot! Dad always says that mortal greed is terrifying. She never understood what that meant so she wants to see it first hand! Giggling at that thought she draws upon her divinity and condenses it towards her center just like mom told her to. Its silver light tinged in prismatic hues lighting up the black space as she condenses it further and further. The black void is trembling; she can feel the space contorting as reality is being reshaped. Further! As she draws upon every single strand of reality's fabric all thought is erased as her focus becomes sharper and more refined in her task.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Straining as hard as she could, something had to give be it her will or the void so with an earth shattering clap of sound the energy solidified into an orb about the size of a human head proof that she was up to the task. The black void was not the space she thought it was as it has drastically changed after the core was formed. It left a spherical room about three meters wide and tall with the glowing orb at its utmost center. The walls are made out of perfectly smooth brownish gray stone… very hard stone as it turns out. As once the orb finished forming in the center of the room her physical body she remembered having was ejected out onto the ground just below it. With great nausea and a very unladylike yelp she fell into the bowl below. 

[Core Formed!]

[Unlocked dungeon interface.]

She felt sick having two different perspectives so alien from each other; one being her normal sight and the other a panorama view surrounding the orb. It was only when she closed her eyes that the feeling of nausea abated. With deep breaths she slowly got used to the sensation from the orbs point of view and opened her eyes once more. Ugh that is not working the way I want… The feeling of nausea came back with a vengeance. It was still too much for her so she rested once more and started experimenting a few minutes later when she felt better. After an hour or two she once more opened her eyes and to her great relief felt much better.

It took a while but I think I figured out how to shut out the core’s information. Now that I look around it turns out that ‘Void’ was just a completely underground space…

She did not know how to feel about practically being buried alive but it did not feel great by any means. All she could do about it now though was to bottle that feeling with the others and move on for she only has so much time before that update and she has a dungeon to build.

First she did a once over with herself to make sure she was well… herself. Looking at her hands and arms she still has her tanned skin that has a honey like hue, a trait she inherited from her father that her mother adored when she was a child. Trailing her hands through her hair tells that its long length to her mid back is still the same along with its black-blue color. It is safe to assume my eyes are still the same golden color as they were… I should be happy I am the same as I was  but…

With a deep sigh she looks down at the two things that make her both deeply embarrassed and extremely worried. With a slight blush she grabs the hem of her long sleeve shirt, its pale pink color only broken up with cute bunny rabbit designs polka dotted around its soft fabric. At least it matches her pants but she feels like she will lose something if some stranger sees her like this. She could only mumble a Into the bottle it goes… before she turned her attention to the thing that is worrying her greatly. The fact that she is transparent like some sort of ghost.

Come on mom I agreed to help you out but the pajamas and whatever this ghost stuff is was not explained in the slightest!

She could only huff indignation and embarrassment so long before it was time to do something more productive she was on a time limit after all as she did not want to disappoint her mother. So she pulled up several tabs worth of information, mostly lists of creatures and themes she could do per room or floor.

Of course most of these are expensive… but who doesn't want a unicorn? or ooooh a dragon could be amazing! She had to be realistic though as she was on a budget and she wanted more than anything to do this right! Most of these are kind of lame though… who wants to fight a stinky goblin? Browsing through the many options page by page she decided to just pick a letter by random and just look at that list to save some time. Oh by the abyss they have otters! A few of them even have fluffy in the name! The urge to just pick cute animals to fill her halls was overwhelming and it clashed viciously with her task at hand so she decided to compromise. Bandit marine otter sounds like the cutest thing in the world!

With a flick she decided to create one in the room making sure to do it at the bottom of the bowl so it would not get hurt sliding down. The divinity pooled out of her and formed a rough shape of an otter about a meter or so long; approximately she knew monster creation like this would make them non sapient and the size varied a bit each time. Where did she get that knowledge? She had no idea but it fazed out of her mind the moment a fluffy brown otter poofed into existence with a dull red bandana over its head. With a squeal she dashed and slid forward and hugged the creature. Its size was a concern in the back of her mind nagging her as she fluffed up the creature but she ignored it along with the slight annoyance in its eyes she was sure she was imagining. 

“I will name you something cute! And build us a nice home! I bet mom is proud already!”

It was the first time she spoke aloud since she woke up in the darkness, her words ending in a delighted giggle trailed by a giant otter's annoyed huff.