Gradually the blackness faded to a disjointed awareness, which was accompanied by intense confusion.

Where was I? Who was I? What was going on? Why was it so dark in here?

I descended into a full blown panic for several seconds as dozens of thoughts sped through my mind at once, joined together with several notifications from the system that I didn’t recognize. On instinct I retreated my awareness back into my Core in an attempt to hide from everything and everyone. Something had caused the emptiness, I knew that. And I didn’t want to meet whoever that person was ever again.

It took over a minute before I remembered who and what I was.

I was Veos.

I was a Dungeon Core.

I was in my Dungeon.

I blinked bleary and metaphysical eyes, then paused. How had I forgotten that?

What in all of creation had happened? I had… I had proclaimed…

The memories of what had happened returned to me in a rush. Of the Challenge, of the different things I’d learned. Of the end of the story. Of the ripple in the world and the tearing of my soul that had caused it.

…Ah, right. That was what had happened. I checked the system for any notifications I had missed, and found a few, mostly detailing my status throughout my stay in the blackness. Of them, a few caught my attention more than the others, and as I read them I felt not a small amount of trepidation start bubbling up within my Core.

Core Integrity at 76%... 62%... 51%...

Risk of permanent damage imminent - searching for solution… solution found.

…Unused [Dungeon Perk] exchanged for [REDACTED].

…Core Integrity Restored.

Experience Drain ceased.

I stared at these messages for several seconds even after I was finished reading them, while the reality of what had almost happened smashed down on top of me like a crushing weight.

I had almost killed myself. It wasn’t a particularly nice realization, especially since it had been entirely by accident. Even now I had no idea whatsoever how I had proclaimed that Edict. I could remember a desperate desire, a need for the story to play out the way I wanted. But not how that desire had been turned into… whatever the hell happened. A simple thought had turned into something more that had turned into something larger still, and that in turn had almost resulted in my own death. And had resulted in me losing my hard worked Experience as well as my unspent Perk! Though that last one didn’t hurt as much, since I’d actually forgotten I even had it.

No, it was the almost dying thing that drew my attention. I didn’t want to die. In fact I very much so wanted to stay alive as long as I possibly could.

And yet, despite that, I found that I didn’t regret what I’d done. Which was surprising to me in and of itself. Did I really care about the story of some challenger more than my own life?

No, that wasn’t what it was… What I cared about was the principle of me being the one telling the story, not so much the outcome itself or who the story was about. Some stories would end in ways I didn’t want, or ways I couldn’t even see coming, but they should at least still end in a way that made sense. They shouldn’t end weirdly just because some annoying outside force like luck interfered in their resolution.

I felt better once I’d come to that conclusion. Good, even. I felt certain of myself, and what I was going to be doing in the future, in a way I hadn’t been before. Up until now I’d just been following my instincts, testing stuff out and not really thinking that much of why I was doing this thing over that one, making plans and promises then just ignoring them and pushing forward regardless. That would change now. From this point onward, I would think before I acted. I would plan ahead, and my Dungeon would tell a Story.

With my thoughts on that settled, I steeled myself and opened my main Status screen. There was something I needed to know.

Name:

Veos

Race

Dungeon Core

Floors

2

Level:

3

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Experience:

3 / 4000

Mana:

40/40

Mana Regeneration:

20 / Minute.

Edicts:

[I Decide How The Story Ends]

Skills

Swift Descent

Perks

Spatial Expansion

Rewards Inventory

-

I sighed inwardly. Of course my Experience was all the way down to freaking 3. Though I suppose I should be thankful it hadn’t actually reached 0 and beyond, dropping my level down to 2. I wasn’t sure if I’d even have survived if that had happened. Regardless, with my experience from making the third Floor and the Challenge all gone, I’d probably have to wait a while before starting on the fourth after finalizing the third. I suppose I could start it without going up a level, but I had a specific plan for what the fourth would be, and I didn’t want to give that up by making a Floor with the same maximum level as the third. After all, what kind of Vampire Castle wasn’t stronger than its gargoyle guards? That was still a bit in the future though. Now that I had checked out my Status and confirmed I wasn’t in any immediate danger from the Edict, I felt a lot better. I would still forever be weaker from what I’d done due to the missing Perk, but as long as I could still expand and grow I could deal with it. And as long as I wasn’t in immediate danger of dying I was eager to get back to doing that.

Firstly I had to improve my first Floor. I had learned a lot from observing the challengers, even not considering the final events of the fight. For starters my traps weren’t that good, or at least had the potential not to be if the challengers had someone at the front focused on Perception. The same could be said for my Manta’s, who while they were a great support in the final fight, having them be by themselves made it possible for the challengers to just walk right past them. To fix that I’d have to station my Bats and Manta’s together, so that they could make up for each other’s weaknesses somewhat.

It sounded like a good idea on paper, but with the first Floor being finalized I couldn’t actually make any changes to the layout itself. All I could do was move the creatures around or unsummon them completely. That meant there were only two real places the Manta’s could be where the Bats could also be hidden for their ambush. At the first cave right after the entrance, and in Stalker’s chamber. It would have to do for now. In a few levels I felt I’d be strong enough to carve through system-enhanced materials. Then I’d be able to make the actual final version of this first Floor properly. But for now this would have to do.

After unsummoning the remaining Mantas and repopulating the Floor with more Bats to make up the missing creature count, I also spent a long time pumping Mana into them to push their level higher. The Bats had been a great distraction in the guardian fight, but that had been due to sheer numbers more than anything. Just a smaller number of Bats by themselves had proven almost entirely useless. And I didn’t want to just put all my Bats at the end as that would leave the rest of the Floor completely barren, and would also take away from Stalker as the focus of the final fight.

I decided on a three layered approach. The first chamber with both Bats and Mantas would have the second lowest level, ranging from 5 to 7, to make the initial breach a proper initial challenge. The roosts consisting of just bats alone would be higher, at level 10, to make them be able to pack more of a punch themselves without the support of the Mantas.

The smallest group, the ones supporting Stalker, would remain at level 4 or below. That way they would be an obstacle, but the focus of the fight would still be on my Guardian.

Once I was happy with the plan I got to work pumping mana into my creatures.

It took a long time. Over twenty minutes of constant spending and regenerating of Mana to max out a single bat. And I had dozens of them. Luckily I didn’t need to max them all, but this would still be an ordeal. I was helped by my new increased determination to make my Floors right. To make their internal story consistent and to keep their aesthetic feel natural to that story and the environment. I could stand boredom in the quest for excellence. I hoped.

It was well into the next day by the time I was done with the creatures on the first Floor. Once I was I didn’t waste time and moved on to those on my second. This was work that needed to be done, so I preferred getting it over with as soon as possible, so I could get back to doing some actual fun stuff. I decided on a pattern of gradually increasing the levels between the squads of Skeletons and Archers from 13 at the start to 20 by the end of the Floor. For the bonus room I decided to only increase them to level 15 though, as it was a room with a lot of creatures in the same place and I didn’t want to accidentally make it too difficult. I'd check on it again after someone had Challenged it. Plus the Skeletons took a lot more time to level up than the Bats. And while my patience had grown since I’d affirmed my commitment to crafting my Floors properly, there were still some limits on what I could handle.

While I was diligently working on the bonus room a tingling sensation informed me of another human near the entrance of my Dungeon. I froze, then focused all my attention towards the new potential Challenger. Making improvements to my creatures were all well and good. But this was a new person. Someone I could watch the story of. Someone that made things change.

I frowned as I watched the person just standing there outside my entrance. Why weren’t they walking inside? Were they afraid because they were alone? That might be it. The first group had been wary, and there had been four of them. Though this one felt stronger than that lot, so it also might not be the reason. Could I grant a new Quest to get them to…

My thoughts were interrupted by a notification from the System.

Request for Passage!

Human “Katherine Veraltz” is automatically on your [Blacklist] due to being beyond the highest level of your lowest Floor. She has made a System-Oath of non-violence and is requesting passage to your first Floor for the purpose of “Inspection and Investigation”. Do you want to grant her passage?

Yes! I would have screamed my admission as I accepted the prompt, but I didn’t have a mouth. I watched excitedly as the person walked inside, then a shiver went down my spine as the full weight of her aura descended on me now that she was inside. It didn't feel threatening, but it did showcase just how large the difference in power could be between people. I felt a mix of excitement that I could maybe learn something new, but it was mixed with a touch of anxiety and wariness, even with the protection of the Oath.