Tower’s crystal avatar stood at the very core of his world, staring at the shining gem that made up his true dungeon core. In one hand, he held the portable core that Aurivy had created long ago. These items were capable of establishing a temporary territory within the surroundings for dungeon masters to fight in.
When they were thinking of a way to resolve Tower’s problem, they naturally turned to these unassuming objects. Now, the power of the portable core alone would not be able to resolve their issues, but there were also other sources of research that he was drawing upon as well.
The core that had accompanied Keenan throughout a large portion of its life had learned many interesting methods of wielding the void. Even before joining Keenan, it had mastered the art of overlapping spaces. The originally lightning-themed core that had become partners with Petra Carna had experienced the creation of numerous layered worlds. So many cores had researched subjects over the years, all culminating in this one idea.
Was it possible for a dungeon to remodel their core to create a layered world within their dungeon? Tower was prepared to try it out and discover for himself. If the other cores did this, they could easily destroy themselves. However, as a god, he was able to rebuild his physical body if it sustained damage.
Tower held one hand out towards his core, a golden light beginning to shine. The domain of Construction helped him to change the minute energy pathways within his core, each one bringing a brief jolt of pain. Something seemed to be guiding him, helping him find each node that he had to change, each point that needed to be shifted.
Tower felt confident that he would be able to achieve his goal. Paths began to broaden or narrow, new energy passages forming as he focused. Control nodes from the portable cores were implanted and positioned, allowing a greater degree of freedom.
From an outside perspective, the dungeon planet began to shimmer, an illusory fog rolling over it in a thin screen. At times, sections of the world vanished and reappeared, the affected areas growing over time.
Once this change was observable from the slime world, Atraxi and Pietra rushed over, worried for their friend. However, by that time the changes had been occurring for several minutes. When they arrived, the dungeon world was… gone. It had vanished from the starry sky, its position vacant.
The two slime gods looked on in shock, fearing the worst. Then, all at once, the world was before them again. Without wasting a single moment, the two rushed into the atmosphere, speeding towards Tower’s palace. Along the way, they observed that the local nethrak and slimes were going about their business as normal, not seeming to notice the changes happening around them.
When they arrived at Tower’s office, they found it empty. Their divine senses spread out, quickly covering the planet to search for him, before they let out a shared, wet gasp. The planet… had become empty. Not the surface, but the dungeon below. What had once been teeming with challengers now sat vacant
They managed to catch one party walking into the dungeon, only for their bodies to disappear the moment they entered. Another party simply appeared out of nowhere as they were leaving. Every monster, every god that inhabited the dungeon, they were all gone. All that was left was the single core at the heart of the world itself.
“Ah, you arrived.” Tower’s voice suddenly spoke up, his body manifesting before them. It was hard to tell from his crystal face, but he seemed to be quite happy.
“What happened here?” Atraxi asked in confusion. “Your dungeon… did they all escape?”
“No, quite the opposite.” Tower shook his head. “They are now more trapped than ever.”
Tower could feel the changes that had occurred within his core, and how it had impacted his world. The experiment worked far better than any of the dungeons had ever imagined possible. Not only was he able to create an instanced world, he was able to freely designate entry and exit points, layer multiple worlds overtop each other, and seamlessly control them.
That wasn’t the end of his surprise, though. Each of the ten thousand cores that were linked to him shuddered, experiencing the same changes for themselves. Their dungeons briefly vanished from the world, before re-emerging in a similar state as his own.
Once those ten thousand cores had all solidified the change, the pattern influenced the entire network of cores, each one that touched the mind of a changed core being changed themselves. He could sense that it would be less than an hour before every dungeon currently alive was altered forever.
Is this what the Keeper meant? Tower wondered, recalling the words that the Keeper had spoken when he came to claim the Dragon God of the End. At the time, he had said that there was something nice that was prepared for the dungeons. Had he anticipated that Tower would walk down this path after his final boss was taken away?
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The dungeon core evolution is done. Aurivy spoke up in my mind, causing my eyes to widen. It had been only a little while since we bought the update for them, maybe two months, and they were done? I thought it was already considered quite fast when the psychic song was released unto the world.
What happened? Did they find some ancient relic that impacted their network or something? It was hard to imagine what could have caused such a sudden change.
No, actually… Tower performed brain surgery on himself and did it. When he was done, it spread through the network and caused a chain evolution. There was a somewhat awkward tone to Aurivy’s voice, though I couldn’t help my eyes twitching when she described the process.
Brain surgery… on himself? Is that even possible?
Apparently! He based the model of the new dungeon core after my portable core units, combined with the research of a bunch of other dungeons. Now they’ve all just… yeah, they’ve all just changed. Even the ones in the secondary worlds have all been hit by this evolution through their network.
That was honestly surprising. I made a mental note to check out some dungeons the next time I went to the Admin Room.
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First, there was the release of the new patch, sending a wave of mixed feelings as people adjusted to the slightly altered laws that governed their daily lives. At the same time, the Keeper released a new ‘game’ that offered a faster way for people to train and grow.
Next, videos appeared on the internet, showing the residents of the Sky Citadel fighting off a group of monster gods. At first, people didn’t know what was happening. Was it an invasion being pushed back? Then they noticed the fighting methods being used, and the descriptions of the videos that referenced new fighting styles being released by the Sky Citadel. Those who were strong enough immediately began to look up the information to practice these styles.
Shortly afterwards, an army of gods was created under the lead of Accalia, known as her Huntresses. While the primary purpose of this group seemed to be hunting the beasts requested by the Boundless Caravan, this was undoubtedly a massive fighting force unto itself.
Some people had begun to wonder what had sparked these changes. What was causing the powers of the world to begin moving? As they were thinking about that, another change struck. Adventurers going into dungeons began to report that the dungeons themselves had massively expanded on the inside.
Normally, large dungeons would not be anything significantly different. But this… when parties entered a dungeon, they seemed to enter an entirely different world, complete with its own sky. One dungeon built on the shore, the Siren Song, now led to a completely oceanic world. There were numerous monsters within the ocean, and only a single island for adventurers to begin on.
For so many years, dungeons had just been a part of the world, and a lesser part at that. They could be used for small production lines if mastered, or for those lower level adventurers to train themselves. The loot that they provided couldn’t be compared to those created by true craftsmen, and the challenges within could not compare to fighting the monsters of Fyor.
If anything, dungeons had become tourist attractions. Within the first few days of this change being discovered, the elven queen of Gandor organized an expedition into the dungeon while consulting the dungeon’s avatar that had become a long-time ally of their people.
What they found was a world within the dungeon, teeming with life. The entire nation’s population could easily be housed within this dungeon’s world, with enough room to flourish for thousands of years.
More astonishing was the fact that this was not the only ‘layer’ of the dungeon available. There were as many as ten different instances within the dungeon that could be visited, each identical aside from other visitors. For a time, the queen considered whether she should move her people into this separate world, where they would have more room to develop without fear of monsters or invaders.
Unfortunately, the dungeon core assured her that wasn’t the case. The dungeon’s core existed across all instances that it created, as well as in the main world. If its body was found in any of these locations, it could be destroyed. And should it be destroyed, everything inside of it would share its fate.
With such being the case, the queen made a decision. The dungeon was opened for residential use, but only to a portion of the population. The craftsmen and mages that needed space to hone their craft. They would be able to move about unimpeded, each claiming a large mass of land for their work.
Meanwhile, the location of the core in the real world was more heavily fortified. Before, it was simply a powerful ally of the capital, something that they could rely on to bring forth monsters if the city was in peril. Now, many of their own people would share a fate with this dungeon. They would be fools if they did not go to greater lengths to ensure its protection.
Other countries that housed dungeons within their land began to make similar decisions. This was especially true in the case of Ashtanu, where the God-Queen Udona ordered a mining expedition into a nearby dungeon. The most precious resource of Deckan was none other than Dimensium, which this dungeon could now endlessly produce. With enough of it, they could create more advanced technology akin to that which the March and Metong golems used.
At this point, even common men and women could feel the change in the world. Something big had happened, and it all felt as if it was in preparation for something to come. What would cause the Keeper and his people to move on such a grand scale, to develop the world faster than ever before?
With all of these changes imposed on the world, it was only natural that the technological and arcane practices began to take leaps as well. New tools and weapons were created within both the various companies of the different worlds, and the dungeons which had appeared. High level combatants began to train themselves in the new styles. Everyone was preparing, without even knowing what they were preparing themselves for.