I guess this is the afterlife. Everything in heaven is darker than I thought.

Bastill’s awareness slowly began to stir. He couldn’t see anything around him. He couldn’t hear or feel anything around him. He could faintly sense something around him but that was all. This was his life now. He imagined heaven would be bright or at least decently lit. Not this complete darkness that he was immersed in. Only two different senses were available: his own thoughts and this gently humming force that brushed against him. It really wasn’t like any heaven he would have dreamed or hoped for. This situation was bleak. It couldn’t be heaven, which left only one other choice.

Well, I guess this must be hell then. I guess my karma was quite shit after all I did earlier in my life. You can’t run away from your past, it seems.

Bastill could still feel an energy surrounding his being, simply touching against him. Since he figured he had an eternity in this hell, he decided to try to occupy his mind. He could feel the energy on him and began to draw it into himself. The energy he felt pushing against him was slowly pulled into him. After hours upon hours of pulling the energy, something finally changed. Suddenly, a Status Notification came up in his mind. He looked at it:

Level Up! Current Level: 1

Congratulations! You have become aware of the mana touching in the area.

New Abilities:

+Expand Consciousness. You can now use mana to expand your body around you, which in turn gives you a greater area of control. Current mana cost 1 mana per every cubed foot.

+Passive Mana Absorption. You no longer need to pull mana to you. It is now naturally drawn towards your core. Current rate +1/Day. To increase grow stronger or larger.

+Next Level Requirements: Expand Consciousness, Fill Mana Capacity.

Level one? No, I’m level 10… aren’t I? What is happening? Am I even dead? Maybe I’m Just blind. I swore I was stabbed right in the chest.

Bastill decided that there was a small chance that he still might be alive. If he was still alive, then his only hopes lay upon these new abilities that he had gained. Thinking over the notification he just received, he realized that the energy he had felt must have been mana. The energy magical beings used to cast spells. He tried opening his Stat Menu:

Stat Menu

Level: 1, Race: Dungeon Core, Name: Bastill

Characteristics

Mana Capacity: 1/10, Mana Absorption: 1/day, Creatures: 0, Rooms: 0, Floors: 0

Abilities

Expand Consciousness- You can now use mana to expand your body around you, which in turn gives you a greater area of control. Current mana cost 1 mana per every cubic foot.

Passive Mana Absorption- You no longer need to pull mana to you. It is now naturally drawn towards your core. Current rate +1/Day. To increase, grow stronger or larger.

Stone Touch- Due to your talent and diligence, your ability working with stone has increased. You have a great understanding of the stone you work and are able to make stone you work on glow with radiance.

What the crap? My levels, my skills, my characteristics... are all gone?! What on earth happened? I’m a Dungeon Core? That can’t be right.

Bastill didn’t completely believe what he saw on his Stats Menu; however, he needed to find out what was going on. No matter what was really happening, he needed to escape this place. He only option was to try expanding his consciousness using his new ability. After that, he might have more options to escape this room. He began to push his awareness beyond himself. He extended his mind into the area around him. For a moment, he was able to see everything around him. He saw everything within about half a foot for three full seconds, before he fell unconscious.

** ** ** ** ** ** **

Bastill awoke in a panic. He was still able to see in his small sphere of influence, which seemed to roughly make up a cubic foot. He had a couple notifications waiting for him as well.

I need to stop blacking out, or it will become a habit, and if I wake up like this anymore, then there is a chance that I am going to have a heart attack.

In his cubic foot of influence Bastill could see, feel, and understand everything. He was still on the stone slab. He couldn’t sense anything beyond the air and the stone slab, except for blood and a small jewel in the middle of the table. It was an amethyst. Which was perfect, because many hold superstitions about amethysts having the power to prevent drunkenness in those who wear it. Just what he needed. Could have used it a lot sooner. There was still a major problem though. Where was his body? As he continued to examine the small domain of influence, he realized that its center point was, in fact, the jewel. He came to a conclusion.

No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I can’t be a gem. Is that what a dungeon core is then?

He began to laugh as he remembered the Artisan Guild Master, when the man had discovered his talent for sculpting. “Looks like we have found ourselves a real gem here; you have a great talent kid! Come work for our guild. You will do great things,” The man had said back then.

If only the Master could see him now. How true he had been. He, of course, had used it as a colloquialism, but now, it appeared to be reality. It was time to accept things as they were. He struggled; this wasn’t the easiest thing to accept, after all. Not everyone wakes up to realize that their entire being is held within a small purple jewel. He didn’t have time to just complain and mope about. He needed to stay optimistic and establish a plan. He wasn’t dead yet and didn’t plan on dying anytime soon. Might as well accept the challenges and move on. He checked his notifications:

Your Influence Increased

Passive Mana Regeneration Increased to 10 per day.

Level Up! Current Level: 2

Congratulations! You successfully expanded your consciousness and filled mana to capacity.

+ Passive Mana Regeneration Increased to 24 per day.

+Observe- Ability to see the level and vocation of other creatures, while seeing the whole stat menu of dungeon creatures.

+ Next Level Requirements: 1 Room, Fill Mana Capacity.

Bastill realized he must have blacked out due to using all available mana. Then, he had gained another 10, meaning he had been unconscious for at least a day, before waking up, gaining enough to level up. He currently held thirteen mana, meaning another three hours passed after he leveled up. He had been unconscious for twenty-seven hours. He decided it would be best not to blackout in the future. Only use what you have. Next time, he could black out longer or even die. He didn’t know the first thing about being a dungeon core, but there was no point in risking it. One thing he did know was that he needed a faster mana Absorption. The best way to do this was to continue to grow. It might also help fill the requirement for gaining a room. He wasn’t sure what the requirements for a room were, but gaining mana faster seemed like the best plan. The Observe ability could come in use if that woman or someone else came by. It would be a great way to gauge his chances.

His dungeon felt bare. It was lacking life all around him. He felt it was his duty to bring his dungeon to life. He decided that he would put it on his to-do list to complete in the near future. After all, what was a dungeon without the defenses of its monsters? He went back to the first task he needed to complete, long before he could make creatures for his dungeon: to start off, he needed more room and a larger mana absorption rate.

Bastill began investing his mana into the room he was in. Before expanding his consciousness into the room, he tried to calculate how long it would take; he figured it would take him about 449 mana to fill up. At his current rate, it would take him just over eighteen days to fill, but his mana absorption rate increased with every added cubed foot. Bastill decided to always leave some extra mana in him, so he wouldn’t black out. He quickly filled in the five mana he wanted to use, leaving the remaining one with himself. The mana rate didn’t increase by as much as it had been previously, and Bastill realized it would decrease its effect after constant use. The first time, it had jumped from one to ten, he had only been absorbing what his gem was touching, so jumping up to a full cubed foot greatly increased his overall influence.

He was an hour away from finishing when the woman came back. He was gaining a little under two mana every hour now, and he had around three remaining feet to fill. She ripped open the door and came right up to his core. Her eye was inches away from his little gem. He was completely infuriated. This was the woman that stabbed his heart and turned him into a bloody jewel in the first place. Literally, because the table was still covered in blood that didn’t seem to be able to dry. Now, he wished he had focused on creatures, so he could have attacked her, but this whole time he just focused on expanding his awareness across the room. The only thing left was for him to do was watch her invade the whole length of the dungeon to his jewel. He was absolutely seething.

“Well, looks like it was successful, which is a relief, don’t want to do that ceremony again. Sooo time consuming. I wonder if you still hold intelligence” she said to him in a smiling voice, “Can you understand me?”

There was absolutely nothing he could do. Mentally, he was shaking in rage. She had done this to him. She had taken his body away. Despite being inches apart, he couldn’t do a thing, let alone respond. In a spark of inspiration, he remembered the Observe ability. He would be able to see what he was dealing with and destroy her, given enough time! He activated the ability:

Observe Analysis

Level: 67

Race: Human

Name: Claire Estrand

Age: 41

Vocation: Dark Sorcerer

I am absolutely screwed. There is no way I could take her on in a million years…

Ranking of level went from F to A, with three special ranks of S, SS, and SSS. Rank F was level nine and below, Rank E was level nineteen and below, Rank D was level twenty-nine and below, Rank C was level thirty-nine and below, Rank B was level forty-nine and below, Rank A was level fifty-nine and below, Rank S was level seventy-nine and below, Rank SS was level ninety-nine and below, Rank SSS was level one-hundred and up. He had barely been Rank E, while she was currently a rank S. You don’t even mess with people one rank above you, because they can easily beat you. An E against a S was like a mosquito being slapped. Not to mention, he was now back to level two and rank F.

All thoughts of destroying this woman or even harming her vanished. His only hope was that he could appease her somehow. It didn’t help that he couldn’t even talk. How do stones bloody talk? He had to find a way to please her. She began to talk again, “I guess not, eh? Not that it would matter anyways. I will leave you here to mature for a bit and return in about five years to collect you. You’re going to be a very important ingredient in a very important ritual in the years to come.” With that, she left the room.

...And shit. There goes any hope.