“Sorry I couldn't save you my friends, I tried my best.” Said Jacob. We were currently in the middle of our final battle. The monster army had surrounded us long ago, and it's been a desperate fight since we entered pandemonium. Everywhere you looked it was only craters, blackened earth, bones, or corpses as far as they eye could see. Legends tell that it was always this way because of the dimensional interference that was constantly permeating this place.

We were all that stood between humanity and the great war that is being waged against invaders that were most commonly called monsters, and they were created by humanity. Immortals and gods had always been seen as synonymous terms for each other by humanity but this was not the case. Due to the decree of a true god once immortals ascended to a higher plane in search of divinity they were barred from ever returning to the earth until the time of their death and were unable to spread knowledge of what existed beyond or even hint at it.

The only thing they could do was leave behind a piece of their knowledge and power then hope that it would be found by someone who could surpass them. Jacob was one of those who did just that. His ideals and beliefs, although childish and naive sometimes they made you want to believe in something better. To me he was a true protagonist like in a freaking story book. No matter the odds he would always come out on top, usually displaying some some unbelievable power that should be impossible.

We had spard so many times that i could no longer remember exactly when it had started and he was the only one who knew exactly how strong I really was. It's not that i held back in a fight but that the cost of using my unique power was a portion of my humanity. In exchange for power equal to my sacrifice i could temporarily take on a form equal to it, usually of the demonic variety. My power was only slightly different than the monsters we fought and that was why i almost never used it. Whatever I sacrificed I could never get back and it was entirely dependant on its cost to me personally.

No one spoke as the barrier that surrounded us weakened because they all understood. Those left were all at least Demigod rank in their cultivation. “It’s been a very long war for all of us but if you agree then there is a way to injure them in equal measure. Allen has a sacrifice ability that tunes itself off his own values and I know him best.” I could only watch in horror as my best friend explained my ability and said “You all know he values nothing more than his comrades. If you are all willing I will have him sacrifice our life force and wipe out as many as possible.” I was already backing up shaking my head in denial. “No I don’t care about the monsters or even humanity. You are all far more important to me than that, I refuse to use you all like this.”

No matter who I looked at all I could see was understanding and determination. “Allen we are all dead anyway and all we can do is bloody them to our last breath. This is our choice so please grant us our last wish.” There was only resignation in his eyes. He had already used everything until his body was a mess of internal damage and exhaustion, he’d broke his limits three times already and his life was fading anyway. I already new my choice, I had never been able to stop his choices.

With my soul breaking I could only activate the spell as they pushed the last of their life energy into me. Everything turned to rage as i began to chant. Rage at the monsters, myself, fate, and anything else that came to mind. Finally i finished and when i opened my eyes there was only me left as they circled me with peaceful smiles on their faces. With a scream i finished the spell as the shield shattered and monsters tried to swarm me. As usual the spell appeared in my head as the life force was forced into the spell.

“Devastation of Balmuge” As a last effort he forced his life force into it as well. Hang on guys I won’t be long behind you. Before he could even see the effect his soul started falling, if he was there he would have been scared to death anyway. Comets the size of small mountains rained from the sky endlessly and the ground ruptured into one enormous super volcano. Even on the Plane of pandemonium, where there had only ever been war even this place had never seen such devastation. This would have even made a true god of destruction proud.

...

After an indeterminable amount of time allen awoke in a place of total darkness. And something only ever spoken of in children stories and fairy tales happened right in front of him.

Soul Assimilation in progress

Soul assimilation failed

Seeking error

Error discovered-Traces of Nascent divinity found

Seeking alternative host

Compatible host discovered

Divinity has begun mutation of host

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Host has evolved from [Flawed Dungeon Core] to [Flawless Dungeon Core]

Subtype has evolved from [cloudy quarts] to [Void Diamond]

Core grade has evolved from [Average] to [Divine]

Divinity has forcibly unlocked Class, profession and racial specialty skill trees

Class has evolved from [semi-sentient dungeon] to [Mana Neutral Dungeon]

Host has been forced through premature awakening

Host has awakened

Soul integration has begun

On his old planet there had always been stories, books, and games about the bright blue boxes that were like a message from the world itself but until now they were just that. Now with his memory like shattered glass and his soul in pieces he instinctively knew he was in dire straights but at the same time he couldn’t really complain too much cause he was supposed to be dead after all. Now he was falling again but this time the pain built up until it was nothing but blinding agony, like his soul was being forcibly compressed to fit inside a too small receptacle.

As quickly as it came it was gone but even with his eyes open it was still pitch black. Spreading his spiritual sense out he received another prompt.

Dungeon sense unlocked

“Probably my new bodies form of spiritual sense. Wait my cultivation is gone but i can sense the ambient mana in the air still. What does this mean? What happened to me? Why do i still have most of my memories if my soul was shattered and my cultivation lost?” The more he pondered the more confused he became but the steadily growing instincts inside him were getting rather hard to ignore, particularly the hunger. The new instincts came with boatloads of new information. For one thing he instinctively new that he was the highest class of dungeon with the potential to one day make his own corporeal form, and that this world was not the same as those he new of. Just the ambient mana underground was dozens of times denser than any place on earth.

Just ‘seeing’ all the mana around him made the hunger flare up like a rabid beast. Carefully pulling the mana towards him with his spirit sense he absorbed it and couldn’t help but gasp. This made him fully appreciate the saying of ‘nothing can ever taste as good as when your starving to death and have a taste of bread, or dying of thirst and get a drink of water’. It was simply indescribable.

You have unlocked the skill mana absorption

Flicking the notification aside he repeated the process until the hunger started fade slightly. For the first time he actually looked at himself and despite how narcissistic it sound he wouldn’t help but find his core beautiful. Colored a black so deep it seemed to even draw in the shadows it gave the feeling of being impossibly deep, and the little lights of mana inside made it seem as though it was a contained galaxy inside. He new instinctively that this was not normal and set him apart from others of his kind. He decided to just take it all in stride every time he knew something that he didn’t quite know how he knew.

You have learned Dungeon Wisdom

Following that line of thought he started to absorb the rock around him and was bombarded with the boxes yet again as he expanded his range of influence.

You have absorbed Shale

You have absorbed Granite

You have absorbed a aquamarine

You have absorbed flawed sapphire

You have absorbed Obsidian

You have absorbed Gypsum

You have absorbed Hematite

You have absorbed Iron Ore

You have absorbed Emerald

After the initial three or four it slowed down considerably but since he had no way to tell time he didn’t know if that was fact or just his perception but it didn’t matter all that much to him anyway. Feeling bloated with all the mana he’d absorbed, but the only thing he could compare it to was when he was ready to advance his cultivation. His dungeon wisdom told him to just will it so he let all the mana rush into the structure of his core and watched in fascination as the Gem doubled its size from that of a small pebble. And now the hunger was back so he continued to absorb the materials around him.

Extending his senses further and further was becoming difficult but he already new that his pace was nothing short of unbelievable to anyone who saw him. Most dungeons would take years or decades to come this far seeing as how he was not fully formed when he became conscious and they would have to passively absorb the mana until they grew enough to wake up. Looking into himself he found that some of the lights were different colors and nearly panicked because to a cultivator who absorbs mana they have no affinity with it was no different than a slow acting death sentence.

After he calmed down he realized that none of them were having an adverse reaction to him. Frowning in thought he suddenly thought of how people in earth's fairy tales were able to pull up information about themselves. ‘Status’

Name: None

Race: Dungeon Core [lvl -2]

Sub-type: Void Diamond

Core Grade: Divine

Mana Type: All Mana Affinity

Age: 2 weeks 3 days

Mana Capacity: 4/5