"What do you mean by that?" Leo was genuinely startled by the old man's words.

The old man removed his hood and looked at Leo. Leo took note of his appearance; his face had wrinkles that went all the way down to his neck and he looked very tired and worn out due to stress and age. The skin itself was rather pale, and aside from the wear of time contained no blemishes or imperfections. His face was thin and long and his eyes were serene gray. He had wavy white hair that covered his shoulders. He wore a robe similar to what Leo had seen him wearing when he came in but this one was blue. On top of that, his beard was trimmed neatly and somewhat looked like a lion's mane.

The old man squinted his eyes looking at Leo.

"Do you really don't know or are you pretending to be a fool?" He asked in an irritated tone.

"I don't get it," Leo responded honestly.

The old man sighed and shook his head.

"You are so weak. How did you enter the Prime dungeon? Was there no better candidate? How did you even make it here with those measly abilities of yours?" The old man spoke harshly in a low voice that sounded like sand grinding together.

He walked closer to Leo examining him carefully. When he got close enough to examine his face in detail, Leo took notice of the old man's eyes. They weren't just gray. The man was actually blind. However, despite supposedly not being able to see, his eyes appeared focused, even sharp, much more so than Leo's own.

"Hmm, no matter how I look at you, this doesn't make any sense. Follow me." The old man spoke again turning around, and heading towards the giant stele. He stopped in front of it and pointed at the spot where symbols formed a small circle. "Attune yourself first, then we'll continue."

"Wait, what did you mean by my world is going to die?"

The old man looked at him again.

"It seems you really don't know." He stroke his beard as he thought about something. "I will tell you later. Attune first."

Leo walked up to the stele and took a closer look at its surface made of smooth obsidian. Looking closely at the characters written on it he noticed a faint glow coming from beneath them, much like those night glow stickers he had on his room's ceiling as a kid. He touched one of the characters with his fingers, tracing along its shape but nothing happened.

"Huh, I don't feel anything." He spoke quietly.

The old man looked flabbergasted. "Could it be that you don't even know how to attune yourself?"

"This is the first time I see a stele like this." Leo shrugged.

The old man chuckled bitterly before speaking again.

"This is the first time I see someone like you make it halfway through the Prime Dungeon." He stroked his beard as he spoke. "No... Makes no sense, people who make it this far are usually at least level... What's your class, kid?"

"Uhhh, class?" Leo responded confused.

"You are unclassed?" The old man muttered. "Improbable, but not impossible." He continued after taking a pause for thought.

"Forget about it, I'll tell you later." The old man shook his head. "So you have a weak body, no knowledge of magic or any significant power bestowed by the system. How does someone like this make it this far into the Prime dungeon? The commotion you stirred up before was not small as well. I still spot kobold search parties from time to time. Did you steal something from them?"

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Leo looked at him in confusion. "No."

"Then why-"

"I killed one." Leo cut him off.

"Fair enough, one by one they are not powerful, weak even, their strength lies in numbers and simple tactics they employ. Still, you shouldn't even be in this dungeon. You are too weak to pass the entrance. The exception would be if you are recognized as the strongest being in your world." The old man kept stroking his beard as he spoke. He squinted his eyes looking at Leo. "Your story sounds a little ridiculous though."

"I have exactly zero idea what you're talking about." Leo answered truthfully.

The old man sighed.

"Alright, one step at a time." He pointed to the circle of characters on the stele. "Put your palm here. The system should do the rest."

Leo did as the old man instructed him to do; he put his palm right in the middle of the circle, and suddenly he felt a tingling sensation run up his arm. After a moment or two the tingle subsided and he felt a surge of energy rushing through his veins, leaving him feeling exhilarated and refreshed. Quickly, the surface of the stele began to change, the light underneath the symbols slowly coming out of the black rock, making the characters glow a soft golden color. The moment the light fully emerged from the stele the circle on the surface turned from black to golden, and the runes transformed into letters and words familiar to Leo.

Attune? Yes / No

"Huh?" Leo looked at the stele in a moment of confusion, but quickly gathered himself and chose "Yes".

The attunement process has begun.

Any monsters killed in the dungeon will be resurrected each time you access the stele.

Any recall or teleportation items will anchor at this position until you leave the Prime Dungeon.

You now can access your information and this stele's functions.

Your information is only visible to you, the Keeper, and any person you designate.

Each time you access the stele, your challenge timer will be subtracted by one day, not including this time.

The words disappeared just when Leo finished reading them as if the stele knew he did. Characters quickly reassembled themselves into something else. What appeared next was a... menu?

The first thing in it was a timer. Eighty-nine days and six hours and ticking down each second. Leo looked at the old man.

"What does it mean?"

"It is what I was talking about. The safety window left for your world. Though I don't understand why it reads so much. Usually, the Prime is summoned a week before the timer runs out." The Keeper looked quizzically at Leo, "Tell me, what is the situation in your world right now?"

Leo hesitated, but after some thinking, decided to explain the situation.

"A couple of weeks ago, we were struck by a pandemic and a lockdown. Many countries were trying to find a solution to the problem, but as it turned out the whole situation happened because of negligence of another country. I, on the other hand, was pretty much isolated from society on a resort, so to deal with boredom I decided to explore some caves. I got lost and then I ended up here."

"And where were the most powerful warriors of your world at that time? Or were you the one?"

"What warriors? Armies don't fight pandemics, doctors and scientists do. As for me? I am just an undergrad student. I do find HEMA an interesting hobby but that is the extent of it, I'm not a warrior."

"No, I meant the highest-leveled warriors of your realm? Why would you end up here instead of them being summoned? And how? Usually, only beings that are recognized as strongest in the entire world are allowed to enter a Prime Dungeon at all. Others are simply blocked from entering."

"My world never even had heard of someone getting a level up or a class, such a thing only existed in the works of fiction."

"Hmmm." The old man began to stroke his beard. Leo could swear he almost began to hear the sound of gears grinding in old Keeper's head when the latter's expression changed from deep thought to a realization with a tinge of fascination.

"I think... I understand what happened."