Dungeon at the End of the Universe

“Hey, Faellen? They’re about to meet,” I alert my assistant. After the transportation ritual, it had been resting to recover from the drain the ritual put it under, but I think this is something it’ll want to watch.

It doesn’t take long for it to make its way to my Core Room. That, too, had changed over time, just like the rest of my Dungeon. The main feature was an area with a comfy seat I made for Faellen.

With the fairy seated, I Created a screen, projecting what was happening far above is in the Dungeon. Yes, among other things I’d learnt how to manipulate light. And if you’re wondering how come Faellen can sit? Well, when you expand as rapidly as I did into the size of a moon you’re bound to notice how space changes around you due to the mass. Which then helped me learn how to manipulate space.

Not that I can do much with it just yet. For the most part I just use it to increase my gravity a bit, since a moon still isn’t quite bug enough to create what I’m used to. I suppose in the future I’ll have to use to reduce gravity instead, but I digress.

The screen showed Prshky, Rampampadam, and Dittillapp entering a large cavern with multiple entrances.

Well, four entrances, to be exact. And three of them were where my three adventurers came from. So really, only one of them counted as a proper path.

But none of that was truly important. What was important was the meeting. The meeting of three lost souls.

Okay, that’s enough of being dramatic.

As soon as they spotted each other, a great weight lifted off of their shoulders. Almost all of them. Dittillapp, who had chosen the rogue class, was still acting as if this was the most ordinary thing in the world.

At least the other two were normal. Prshky, who’d of course chosen wizard, was the most glad to find other people. He immediately rushed towards the others and started asking questions such as where they were, what happened, and such.

Not that any of them knew.

This is where I come in.

I send them all a very simple quest, to form a party. Yes, I’ve decided that my System will have both a party and quest feature. Both are very bare-bones for now, just like their status, but I’m just sowing seeds for now.

I give it one last look, checking for mistakes, before sending it over.

In the future I definitely need to make quests automated, but for now there’s only these three I need to worry about.

It takes them a while to figure it out. Maybe they don’t have video games on their planet? I never did check what technological level their civilization is at. But at last, they figure out that all they have to say is-

“Invite Prshky to party,” Rampampadam, the knight, says with a loud voice.

Is it awkward? Sure. Could I have perhaps made it respond to mental commands? Probably? But like this it’s easier to check who’s doing what. I need to know where the issue are if I want to improve.

For now though, they’ve done the quest, so they also need to get their reward. Otherwise they won’t feel compelled to do them in the future.

“Do you want to do the honours?” I ask Faellen.

“Oh don’t act like it’s something awesome. You just don’t want to do it,” it retorts. And fair, maybe I am a bit scared of finally interacting with new people after all this time. So what? Sue me.

Faellen is the best, however, and helps me out regardless. With a bit of its fae magic, it sends a projection of itself up and up into the cavern we’re watching.

“So… what now?” Prshky asked the makeshift group. His entire life had been upended not even a day ago, so let’s just say he felt a bit lost.

The same could not be said for all of them. The rogue, for example, had barely said a word all this time, even after meeting with the others. As for the knight…

“What else but to continue, my friends!” Ram spoke, almost shouting. Perhaps if one was watching closely, they’d spot that she even had a hint of a smile on her face.

The wizard looked to the last member, the rogue, but they just remained silent. At last, he sighed.

“Shouldn’t we at least figure out what these class abilities we got are?” he tried one last time.

“Nothing much to figure out. Makes me stronger,” the knight boasted.

“Silent,” the rogue whispered.

The wizard groaned. “Great. Well mine isn’t so straightforward so can we please at least wait until I figure it out?”

“Fine then, fine,” the knight spoke, “What does it say?”

“Ahem,” the wizard cleared his throat, “Mana bolt. Active. Form mana into a rough ball and send it at your foe, striking them with mostly physical damage.”

As he finished and looked expectantly at the others, all he saw were their uninterested or uncomprehending faces.

“So?” he asked, “What does that all mean? What’s mana? How do I form it into a ball? How do I send it at anyone? And most importantly, why are none of you treating this as the world shattering thing it is?! For Thog’s case, there’s magic all around us!”

By the end of his small tirade, the wizard’s face was almost red. And yet, the knight simply shrugged.

“I don’t know what to tell you man. It is what it is,” she paused for a while, then added, “Have you tried saying the name? It could work like the party invite.”

That was what seemed to do the trick, and the wizard managed to calm himself. Barely. With much gravitas, he lifted on of his arms in front of himself and spoke the name of the Ability.

Then, as if by magic, ethereal energy gathered as if from thin air. It coalesced into a rough, ball shaped object. For a second, it simply hovered there. Then it suddenly shot forward, narrowly missing the rogue, and hit the cavern wall, shattering it into pieces.

The wizard, stunned by his great power, looked down at-

Hey!

You’re not the Narrator! Who’re you? Get out of here! This isn’t your story to tell!

Yeah, that’s right! And don’t come back!

Apologies dear readers, it seemed we had a bit of an interruption. Regardless though, where were we?

…

Oh come on! You’ve got to be joking! Already at the end of the chapter? Oh well, I suppose we’ll see each other next time.