Mash listened carefully, knowing that this situation was probably not going to happen again. The God was far friendlier than he expected and speaking to him would be enlightening. Plus, he was desperate to learn of the dungeons, and what they were for. The unnamed God still frightened him a little, but he managed to push through the apprehension.

“Before I get started, tell me what you know of dungeons.”

Hearing the God’s words, Mash nodded and began sharing what he knew. He explained how he knew that worlds had owners, and they could somehow make dungeons. However, there was another way for dungeons to form, and he assumed that it was natural, but didn’t actually know. After he made a few more comments the God cut him off and continued where he had left off.

“Good, you seem to have some of the basics at least. However, I am surprised you know of the owners.”

Hearing the speculation in the God’s voice, Mash was eager to share his experiences. Any insights he could get into the marks, or their purpose would be incredible. Furthermore, his information might help him find the owner of his own world. The chance wasn’t great, as Mash didn’t think that the God was stronger than the owners. In fact, none of the people he had met could compare to the World Carrier. There was something to say about the power of size, and a creature that was as big as a world was enormous.

“Ha, it is rare that something thinks me weaker than another!”

The God laughed loudly, obviously reacting to Mash’s thoughts. He should have expected something like that, but it was strange that his domain wasn’t picking anything up. He knew that he couldn’t feel the domain of another, and he guessed that the mind-reading was an effect of his domain. If he couldn’t lie, then he would just need to be honest. It was his usual plan anyway.

“I didn’t mean it offensively, it's just hard not to compare those things.”

Mash tried to sound apologetic, but he knew that his voice wasn’t all that serious. The God’s domain was relaxing him, and he found himself growing more casual. He would need to figure out how it was affecting him and find a way to counter it. He didn’t like the idea of being manipulated by someone just because they were a god.

“Well, let's get back to the important subject. First, let me go over how dungeons are actually made. There are two ways of which I know. The first is a natural phenomenon caused by two worlds with similar mana densities. For some reason, those spaces have a high chance to connect, though even I don’t know why. As for the other method, it is through conquest and creation. My world, this world, is a subject of yours. The owner of your world had orchestrated an invasion many years ago, and we lost.”

Mash let that soak in, finally getting a grasp at the true nature of dungeons. His breath caught though, as the implications of the words hit him. He didn’t like where this was going.

“Yes, we had lost our world, and now your world’s owner is free to use it as he sees fit. To think, my grand world separated into dungeons meant to train a new generation of my old enemy. Fate is ever as cruel as I remember it.”

Mash noticed anger again, and this time it didn’t vanish. Each word only made the emotion stronger, and it was practically solid within the domain. The muscles in his legs tensed, and he considered running away again. The God seemed to notice his tension, but he didn’t let the anger drop this time. If anything, it seemed to get a little more intense.

He understood why too, especially if what he said was true. Whoever owned his world had turned this one into little more than a game for his own. How many lives were ruined by doing something like this? How many dungeons were like this? Just thinking about that was enough to get him angry. It was such a waste of life.

“Wait, I’m not with my world’s owner. If anything, I would say I’m against him, though I’m too weak to do anything about it.”

Mash tried to sound as convincing as he could, and he was relieved to feel the pressure fading. It seemed like the God believed him. Feeling like it was working, Mash started explaining more about his class and how the system was influencing his mind. How the world owner had been subtly controlling everyone, and how he wanted to stop that. It felt like he was making excuses to his family, and slowly tapered off.

“That’s enough, I get your point. I wouldn’t blame you either, it would be like blaming an insect for the actions of a God. No, I’m not going to do something like that. I don’t have much more time here so let me just ask, how serious are you about saving the people of this world?”

The god’s question surprised Mash, but he managed to nod in response. The God could see into his mind, so it wasn’t like speaking was all that necessary. The god seemed to understand and started speaking again. It sounded like he was rushing a bit, and Mash wondered what was going on.

“You can do something, although you will only be able to free a few. The reward your world’s owner made for this dungeon is a combination of choice and results. Do well on the dungeon and I can help alter your rewards. Perhaps you will find the ability to free some of the people within the village. I’m sorry there isn’t more I can do, too many things tying me up. Don’t make the same mistake I did, don’t become a God. Worst decision I made.”

As the God finished speaking his body slowly dissipated into nothingness. This time Mash was able to observe a little of what was happening within his domain. When the God vanished, his whole body seemed to rejoin with the surroundings, and Mash realized that the God wasn’t actually here. It was probably a type of magic. Even Still, Mash muttered his gratitude.

“Thank you for everything.”

He spoke but was a bit too slow. Even as he spoke, he realized that the being was no longer. Sighing, he looked for the exit that God had mentioned and wanted to laugh at the comically plain wooden door. It was extremely unremarkable considering where he was. As if reacting to his thoughts, the wooden door turned to elaborate gold and became engraved with depictions of dragons. Ok, the God was definitely messing with him now. So, he was still connected to this place even if he couldn’t manifest himself like before.

Walking towards the door, Mash prepared to leave the trial. He had gained far more than he expected, even if there were no actual gifts. Getting the golden body was one thing, but the information felt far more valuable. Plus, he had even been given a chance to save some of the people in the village. Even if he couldn’t save the whole world, he would do what he could. Maybe the others would be able to get the same reward, and they could save more than just a couple of people.

Once he got outside, he was surprised to see that it was dark out. Feeling the cold drops of rain was relieving, and he enjoyed basking in the chilling rain. He wished he had taken something with him that could tell time, as he had no idea how much time had actually passed. If it was still the same day, then it would mean they spent the entire day in the trial. However, if a few days had already passed then he wouldn’t have any real idea of how long he had been in there. The others were presumably still taking the trial, at least that was what the God implied.

Taking a seat, he looked towards the sanctuary, curious to see if he would see his friends appear. Slowly, he formed a wooden cover, deciding that he should probably block out the rain. The sanctuary felt slightly different now, and it felt like he could see a bit further too. He wanted to test his forms, but this wasn’t a good location to go about breaking everything. The golden body had felt like it mixed with everything, and he bet that there would be some changes to his form's power too. He checked through his supplies and noticed that there were more potions, probably enough to get someone else to gold if needed. He could probably sell them back in his own world and wouldn’t be surprised to receive a small fortune for them.

As he watched the sanctuary, he was unsurprised to see Jill appear first. Honestly, with her skillset, he expected her to finish long before anyone else but imagined that time wasn’t really consistent within the trial. She looked fine, though it seemed like she needed some more sleep. There were some bags under her eyes, and she walked over and took a seat beside him.

“Okay, so other than making you hot, what else did your gift do?”

Now Mash’s curiosity was peaked, and he had to ask.

“What? No, I didn’t receive a gift, but could I get a mirror. I got my golden body but haven’t gotten a chance to see what that did to me.”

Jill pulled out a mirror from her storage space, and he decided that he would need to get one too. Honestly, his storage space was massive now, and he should probably fill it with all kinds of trinkets. His unusual attunement to the item had made it so that the storage space had been growing along with him, and it was easily big enough to hold a small house if he wanted to.

The mirror was only about the size of his hand, but it would be good enough to see what she was talking about. Carefully, he examined the differences and was surprised by the differences. There weren’t any drastic changes, but he seemed to have an unnaturalness to his appearance. Much like how he remembered the auctioneers from before. Now that he was thinking about it, the twins were also pretty similar. His hair had grown and even had a slightly metallic sheen. He did have to admit that he looked better now, and even seemed a bit older.

“Well, that’s enough of that. What gift did you get?”

He got bored of his appearance quickly and was much more curious to hear what Jill had received.

“Oh, finally done looking at yourself. Anyways, let me show you.”

As she finished speaking, something sprouted from her back. At first, he thought that they looked like butterfly wings, but in the end, they looked more like a fly. However, they glittered with light and stars, and it seemed oddly supernatural. A flight skill, while fun, seemed pretty useless for someone like Jill. She could just teleport and it would be much faster than any normal flight skill could be. She seemed happy with it though.

“You know that not everything you get has to make you stronger. Flying skills are just fun.”

Jill’s annoyance was obvious, though Mash couldn’t say anything in protest. He had been considering it purely in terms of power and realized that he did the same with every ability he got. Thinking about it, he never considered what abilities he could get that might just be fun to use. It was something he would need to consider. Almost any magic was available to him so long as he could find a monster that had it. Was there any reason not to grab everything he wanted to?