Kyion was having a bad month. Just once, he wanted to have a simple relaxing week away from school. He had waited for this chance for some fresh air, and surprise, surprise, he found himself neck deep in this country’s drama. He’d better get compensated for his trouble.

Kyrion scowled as he continued a trail of blood flowing behind him down the corridor. His mana was tearing into his body like pressure in a vacuum. The path was long, and he couldn’t afford to expel any of his mana. This was going to be a surprise visit.

A laugh left the red-haired boy as he held the wall and eventually arrived in front of a large cube in a tube surrounded by various silver screens with symbols, letters, and numbers racing across them.

“Karl? Is it time to smash?” Kyrion asked the dungeon spirit.

“Go crazy. They get what’s coming to them.”

“Good.” Kyrion drew his staff from his domain and wound up for a swing. Putting his body into the swing, Kyrion shattered the barrier like glass and watched as his staff connected to the core, causing a small crack. A coolness passed through him as mana rushed out from his body.

“Hostile detected in the core chamber.”

“The cube talks. Karl shouldn’t we take this core with us?”

“No. Destroy it. This dungeon has gone against the grand design. What remains will be absorbed for later use.” Karl said in a monotone.

Kyion infused his next strike with one-fourth of his mana and watched as the cracks extended much further, yet it didn’t break fully. The corridor did, in fact, shake as damage spread throughout the area.

Sustaining damage.

“What?” Kyrion looked behind the cubic core and noticed that his attack had damaged the area around the core. First, the screens were shattered, and the devices were broken. Then, walls started crumbling, and rivets in the ground began to form.

“Cores are resilient, but you’re almost there.”

Kyrion spun using his momentum and another quarter of his mana. Even then, excess slipped through, and a crack in the world started opening up.

Still, he failed. The core split into two perfectly whole chunks, and a small white bead fell to the ground in front of him. It was around the size of a marble.

“Be a dear and pick that up for me?” Karl said stoically.

“Ok, but… What is that?” Kyrion pointed to the hole that began expanding.”

“Now that it’s gone I can see the layout. This dungeon is directly under the capital. It seems that they were planning an assault from here. This dungeon shouldn’t be here. The one placed here originally had already been destroyed. Huh, it used to be a dungeon for experts which means someone powerful had to destroy it…That explains some of the loot. Was probably left in place to keep people from growing suspicious.” Karl stated.

“Hmmm… I guess that makes me a hero huh.” Kyrion sighed.

“You could say that Tim did all the heroic stuff.”

“Tim is at least a native. I’m sure he can handle the rest.”

Critical threat range exceeded.

“Whats that? Karl?”

Entering Stasis.

“Shoot! Kyrion, why is there a portal here!!” Karl yelled.

Requesting aid from a shepherd.

Kyrion crossed his arms. “Oh now you care.”

Quarantine protocol engaged.

Kyrion watched as the purple hole turned golden and enveloped him in a warm light. When the light passed, Kyrion was gone.

“Greetings, young one.” Said a feminine figure with green and blue hair that seemed to pool on the ground.

“Where, what, how? Karl?” Kyrion tried to summon a weapon or a spirit and found it impossible.

“I understand that you’re surprised but we need to talk about a few things before you go back.”

“No we don’t.”

“We do.”

“I don’t even know who you are and my friends are fighting out there.”

“Then I guess I’m holding them hostage until you change your mind.”

Kyrion’s gaze grew sharp. “Fine.”

“I am Imala the….”

A blade left Kyrion’s right earring and flew towards the goddess, only to fall flat halfway there.

“What was that?” Kyrion asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” Imala telekinetically lifted the dagger, floated it towards herself, and examined it.

“So Imala. What do you want?” Kyrion seemed irritated.

“I want you to not do one thing. I want you to refrain from accessing enough power to greatly alter the shape of the world until you’re an expert. An oath to do so, one you can’t break willingly. So I’m putting a cap on your power until you can handle it because if you accidentally trigger my call, you aren’t ready for it.”

“What do I get out of it?”

“A core from a world tree. It will allow you to spread your domain across that space between now it should also give you the ability to resurrect monsters. A long way down the line you may be able to resurrect people. When you’re at the realm beyond comprehension, you could potentially create new worlds.”

“Why does my mom hate you?” Kyrion asked stoically, not bothered by the powers offered.

“I know why but it isn’t my place. My job is to make sure things run their corse. I’m not supposed to directly interfere in such matters. I’m surprised you aren’t jumping at the chance for a resurrection ability.”

“I get that. Everything has a price ect. One day this one day that. What is your end goal?”

“Those of my kind are immune to temporal effects; we can see the changes. The route your on is a dangerous one, I have my people in play to ensure that you don’t kick the bucket too soon.”

“Not that. Why are you helping me at all? What else are you getting out of this? I already know about Cecil and Bella.”

“A wise one you are. I want a seat on your pantheon when you reach that level of power.”

“That makes zero sense.” Kyrion crossed his arms.

“I would be happy if you ridded the world of the emperor of the Beastblood empire. But he isn’t the biggest threat to our world. And when the Incursion begins you’ll understand your role.”

“Fine. I guess I’ll take the core. But I’m not happy about it. I swear on my mana that I will not use my mana to forcibly trigger my call before I’m at least an expert rank spirit master.”

“Good. Any questions?”

“Three. Why Cecil and Bella?”

“This world is behind technology due to reliance on mana and infighting. Since he was coming here anyway I decided to send him and his friend where they would have the best impact.”

“Why does Viole look like Nicole?” Kyrion asked.

“They are parts of the same whole. When a person is born in any world seven other versions of them are born in the other worlds. Viole is from a different world. When a person is strong enough to be called then they will be given a chance to fuse with or eliminate their other counterparts.Those who die before fusing become artifacts and are normally sent to the nearest counterpart if on the same world or given to the chroniclers who facilitate the call. Using an item like that is normally a boon and allows one to gain access to memories and knowledge from that other world.”

“Huh. Do I have one of those items on me and if so how do I use it?”

“Yes.”

“Now I have more questions…If you can answer another one then I’d like to find a quick way out of here.”

“Atimn, has the answer. I enjoyed this chat.”

“Did you really agree to join Cecil’s harem? It’s getting quite big now and we’re running out of spots. Clubs are limited to thirty or so people before we need to take a test to raise the cap.”

“Oh that. Don’t worry about it. By the time I can legally join he’ll have given up on it.” Imala said as Kyrion began to fall into darkness.

Ceres let out a roar that caused the dungeon to shake as earthen spikes began to impale the golem on all sides.

Atimn readied a thrust as he passed through the golem’s shadow. Stabbing down into its arm as they passed, Ceres’s momentum pushed them forward where Atimn would be stuck.

Lasers shot from the golem, cutting the earthen spikes and flying towards the dragon.

Ceres shifted her wings and rolled out of the way as Atimn held on for dear life.

Sadly Atimn’s strength wasn’t enough, and he slipped.

The lasers passed and left a faint cut on Ceres’ midsection. Aside from that, they were uninjured.

Atimn fell alone, his sword left his reach, and his life flashed before his eyes.

Ceres’ silhouette appeared above as she dived to try and catch him. Leaving herself wide open to a concentrated laser as thick as a tree trunk that pierced through one of her lungs and came out her back, taking a wing with it.

“Sorry, master.” Ceres whispered as she lost control of her descent. Her body was poised to crush Atimn even if he did survive.

Atimn hit the ground with a splash.

Ceres hit the ground with a crunch crushing some of her own spikes in the process.

Kyrion held the spirit core in his hands as he saw Ceres get scared by the laser. He instantly decided to absorb the core, pushing his life and healing capabilities to the second rank of practitioner; his body grew slightly tougher, and his capacity to restore had greatly improved. More stuff for his defense and Utility. He watched in horror as the golem lined up its lasers to hit the dragon head-on.

“Ceres!”

Kyrion sprinted before moving onto small hops as he transitioned into larger leaps as he aimed to knock the golem off target.

The shot fired, and he was too late to stop it. Still, Kyrion didn’t stop. Mana flowed out of his body from every pore as his rage seemed to pull from deep down.

“You’ll pay for this!!!” The world around Kyrion seemed to go hazy as mana began to surround him like a heatwave.

A full body tackle from Kyrion knocked the golem to the side while the mana flowing from him entered the mech and caused a giant explosion that sent shrapnel into Kyrion’s body as he flew twenty feet in the opposite direction, landing on his feet. His green eyes shifted to red as he madly charged forward, unconsciously calling forth a power he wasn’t supposed to have access to.

A second Kyrion rose up from the ground, its eyes sharing a similar color. Then, the plant-based doppelganger faded into leaves, and Psycho’s mind returned to Kyrion’s body.

“Ceres!”

The golem had lost a power source, but it was still moving. Still functioning, and it still had working weapons. The golem’s remaining two eyes turned and looked at the boy, firing as it locked onto his head.

Kyrion adjusted slightly and fully evaded the attack when it came, his body striding forward despite the debris in his body.

The arms and fingers on the skeletal golem’s arms combined into large, sharp blades.

“Ce…”

Kyrion was cut off as he hopped through a blade attempting to take his head, while another aimed to take his legs. The ease with which he moved through the attacks was uncanny.

“Die human.” The golem screeched as it tried to take back its arms.

A tendril of water shot out from Kyrion’s left hand and wrapped around the golem’s body. Then, using a platform of air, Kyrion shot to the side and began speeding around its body like a tetherball hit by a club.

The golem soon found itself tied by water mana. It could easily break free with time, but it did not have time.

With a speed that the boy hadn’t shown prior, Kyrion jumped past the golem with a hand coated in a lot of concentrated wind mana.

The golem’s shoulder went slack as it fell to the ground. Severed concentrated by erosion and weathering.

With that, the band of hobgoblins that had been hiding charged forward with rusty shortswords, tools, and musical instruments. One unique hob with a white poofy hat and a large ladle.

They bashed. They crashed. They disassembled, and they smashed. The hobgoblins gave it everything it had.

The golem panicked and began to charge for another laser attack when something different occurred. The golem’s chest exploded as the built-up power was let loose inside the golem’s body, sending Kyrion and the hobgoblins far away from their position.

Kyrion bounced off the ground as even more shrapnel left his body. His regeneration had slowed to a crawl, and he was now losing a lot of blood. With his left hand, he reached out to his draconic friend, his right hand holding chunks of a severed metal tube.

Still, the golem stood on its feet, its body shrinking as its cannons focused on Kyrion’s location.

Kyrion stumbled back to his feet.

“Tch. Didn’t expect you’d have to use this technique so early. Sending it to your subconscious.” Jala seemed irritated.

“What?” Kyrion’s stance changed as his right hand was in front of his body, his left hand behind him.

Then the laser came searing through the space between it and Kyrion.

Kyrion made a minor circular movement with his hand, and a purple portal opened up and sent the red beam into his domain, where it continued to travel.

The laser continued to stream for thirty seconds, causing the area around him to slag. Some of his fingers began to disintegrate from exposure, but the boy proved able to stave off the attack.

Kyrion rotated his body, and with his left hand, he made another small circular motion causing the laser he had stored in his domain to come out at full force. Unlike absorbing the last attack, this didn’t damage him at all.

The Golem? Exploded in a blast so big that it caused quite a bit of the ceiling to come crashing down.

“That was awesome!” Kyrion scratched his hand with his skeletal hand, which was currently regenerating, and sighed, and then for the first time in a long time, pain and shock caused him to go catatonic. His body flopped to the ground as his mind went to war with itself.

Being dead sucked, Atimn thought. Everything was cold, dark, and wet. What was worse was the fact that he kept whispering that dragon’s name over and over again. It was quite annoying. Atimn floated there for a while before he began to go towards the light floating upwards against his will. The light felt warm and comforting. He then actively swam towards it and escaped.

Atimn was not dead. He was sure of it mainly because the ringing in his ears hurt quite a bit. That Kyr dude was unconscious, his bony fingers covered in dirt and healing over.

“That can’t be sanatiry.” Atimn took a few steps away.

The dragon, Ceres, was still alive, a wound in her side noticeably closing up. The hobgoblins who survived were standing around the unconscious duo. Some even attempted to remove some of the debris so that he could heal.

Atimn gave the dragon a bunch of potions before approaching the goblins.

“Hey mind if you help you dear Odin by dragging the dragon’s wing over here? We can reconnect it so that the limb doesn’t go bad.”

Atimn and the swarm of hobs reattached the wing with great effort and the assistance of a mech that Kyrion didn’t see.

“Now what?” Asked a somewhat female hobgoblin. A flute was held at her side.

“Flute. Right? Yes, flute. Well as the acting leader I say we take the injured somewhere they can rest and recuperate. Then we get the abyss out of here. If you have anything you want to take with you, grab it now.”

“Isn’t Odin the leader?” Flute pointed at the one-eyed young man.

Kyrion’s hair had shifted to black again, and Atimn watched as the boy stumbled in the opposite direction towards a wall. He hit a switch revealing a large ball of green mana. The ball was brought into the boy’s domain. Kyrion got on his knees and carefully laid back down.

“He sleep walks.” Atimn said blankly.

“Ok leader!” Flute saluted. Some other hobgoblins saluted as well.

“No, no, no, no! I’m your leader. I’m supposed to be the leader. We’ve been together for years.” Viole walked into the room with a large cylindrical tube in her hands and a surprised look on her face.

“Where were you when we were fighting for our lives?” Atimn asked stoically.

“I...” Viole stammered.

“You were unconscious. The reason you were brought to safety was because Kyr ordered it.” Atimn lied.

“I…”

“He could have left you to die but he didn’t. Made sure you were somewhere safe before he rejoined the fight. One of his friends almost died!” Atimn pointed to the dragon.

“I didn’t ask for his help.”

“Would you rather I take that as a request for a refund?” Atimn drew his blade and angled it towards Viole’s shadow.

Viole rested her pointer on a small switch under the tube. “Would you like to die?”

“You kill the shadow man then you attack us as well. We defend our new king.” The hobgoblin stated.

Atimn didn’t know how close to death he was, so the goblin’s warning worried him. But, deciding not to show his fear Atimn continued.

“Hobs take her into custody until Kyrion wakes. Then find your best healers and have them come treat the wounded.” Atimn demanded.

“Fine. You idiot.” Viole didn’t resist as the hobs carried her away.

The flute-toting goblin looked at him. “She is our doctor. Ontop of our mechanic. Since we come back when we die, and she doesn’t….”

Atimn watched as Viole smirked while being dragged off.

“I am not suited for leadership.”

Atimn poured the last of his bandolier of potions into Cere’s open maw and watched the wound to her body closed. Oddly enough, one wing seemed to be a bit shorter than the other. Nothing he could do about that, however.