[Plus Player Announcement!]

[You have entered The Pocket of Sanctuary!]

[This is a Trick type dungeon!]

[One Time Plus Player Tooltip: Trick type dungeons differ from core dungeons in that they're hardly dungeons at all! Anything from instantaneous death to slow digestion awaits those who don't properly scout ahead. These dungeons are usually the product of a Gargantuan Mimic, or a Colossus Black Hole Spider, but can be the result of anything. Always be careful when jumping headfirst into a dark ominous hole. Defeat the creature who created the dungeon to escape.]

[One Time Plus Player Tooltip: You have entered a friendly dungeon. A Lesser Dungeon Crystal is available for your use. Recovery times are decreased.]

It was a large egg shaped room with a flat floor. To be fair, everything was large to Ben, but when the rest of the party entered he was able to compare the room size to Short Bus; it was big.

At the center of the room was a floating, smooth gray boulder. It looked like literally any other large boulder that might be sitting around anywhere on Earth, and other than the fact that it was floating, it was the single least magical looking thing Ben had ever seen.

In front of it was a sign, the exact same type that Ben had seen in the bland endless super-structure that contained all those portals he'd gone to after getting chased around by that demon in the Portal Labyrinth. Ben flew over to it and the rest of the party shuffled forward to check out the sign as well.

Behind them, the archway stood completely open and unguarded, showing an unobstructed view of the outside world. A strange, aberrant creature landed on the ground. It was a purple monkey; one bright red eye was large to the point of being disgusting, and the other eye was normal in size; it had knives for hands and sharp teeth-

“Shit!” Ben shouted, turning around, “Get ready for a fight!”

The party jumped into action; somewhere, someone rolled a critical failure. Short Bus's tail crashed into Red, who fell forward and hit Ghost Ears with her antlers. Vivi hadn't even reacted to Ben saying 'Get ready for a fight'.

The Funky Monkey, as Ben instantly named it, opened its mouth like it was screaming, but no sound made it through the archway. It ran forward and invaded the area without any resistance. Ben had his short sword in hand, thinking he was ready to do something; but it never came to that.

The monkey jumped forward, and then the monster was swallowed up by a utility pocket. Ben heard a distant, muffled scream and thump, followed by silence.

Another Funky Monkey fell from the trees and followed by three of its cohorts charged the suspicious portal in the middle of the forest.

Muffled screams followed by a ‘Thump, thump, thump-thump’ and then silence.

“Well, I feel safe,” Ben said, then flew over to the sign.

'Welcome to the Pocket of Sanctuary. Due to the complex nature of this ability, and in response to the fact that it was gained when your Lesser Elemental absorbed a Raiment of Power from a pure-beast, and in response to the fact that it is technically a friendly, owned dungeon; you are owed an explanation.

Don't get used to it.

It will last for twelve hours.

This is a one time use skill.

Anyone not in your party who enters will be rapidly accelerated via utility pockets and shot against a hard surface until dead. This process consumes the dungeon's mana, which is not inexhaustible. The dungeon will not collapse if it runs out of power.

The Pocket of Sanctuary has the constant effect of [Dungeon Mana Siphon] and [Dungeon Mana Forge]; it will rapidly absorb and refine ambient mana. The denser the ambient mana, the more powerful the dungeon becomes.

As this is technically a dungeon, it grows from absorbing ambient mana, and from the deaths of those who enter it.

This is not a persistent location.

When the duration of the dungeon has ended, all accumulated mana and experience will be converted into a bonus for the party. This accumulated mana and experience may be spent before the duration has ended. See the dungeon crystal for more details.'

The party had recovered from their critical fail and gotten back up; Ghost Ears had a minor injury from getting hit by Red’s antlers, but other than that everything was fine. Outside of the portal an eerie floating eyeball gazed in, then with malevolent silence, entered the Pocket of Sanctuary.

It vanished too, and Ben heard another muffled thump, like something far away had just smashed into a wall.

The smooth boulder in the center of the room had attained a faint luminosity.

“We're safe, everybody read the sign and then get some rest. Vivi, you know about dungeon crystals right? You're a dungeon owner.”

“Yes, well, I wasn't the most active dungeon owner,” Vivi explained, “and as soon as the Reliquary Guardian entered the picture, I was more of a dungeon tenant than a dungeon owner. The last thing I did was purchase that enormous pool of honey to keep it sedate and happy.”

“You've found a reliquary?” Ghost Ears asked, looking from Ben to Vivi, “where?”

“Right under Strange Town's nose,” Vivi said, sounding a little full of himself.

“Hey, Viv, next time I say 'Get ready for a fight,' you might want to pull your head out of your ass and, you know, react,” Ben said, poking a hole in Vivi's constantly inflating ego.

“When did you say that?” Vivi asked, rapidly gliding across the surface of the room, inspecting it, “this really is such an amazing skill Ben, you really broke that perk when you created Frankie. He was a Minor elemental when he got this thing, which is just, wow.”

“I really want to have this discussion,” Ben said, floating to the Dungeon Crystal, “but we're on a timer. Can you sum it all up in a single sentence?”

“Frankie progressed from Minor to Lesser, but he got the ability when he was a Minor Elemental, which means the ability immediately progressed, and will continue to progress as Frankie moves through the tiers of elementals; it's a sort of best case scenario for the growth of a powerful ability in an elemental, rather than him receiving a powerful ability later in his progression.”

“That's a run-on sentence,” Ben said absently, “this was a one time use ability, and you can't just tack on information with a semicolon Vivi. I once heard an editor mumble that at a coffee shop, so it must be true. Also, Short Bus is deaf, and he heard me say 'Get ready for a fight', so I suggest you stop thinking about power progression, and start thinking 'By my wiggly eye-stalks, I'm in a forest full of monsters.' Make sense?”

“Wiggly eye-stalks, that's a silly way to swear,” Vivi commented, and continued his zooming exploration of the egg shaped room.

“Lord Ben?” Red called out to him.

“It's [Prince] Ben, and don't call me either,” Ben said, a small part of him disturbed at how deeply his class identity had merged with his own. The most frightening thing was, he felt it wasn't even a quarter of the way done, not even twenty five percent integrated with his psyche. He adjusted his crown.

“When are we going to begin the purge of the Overcavern Forest?”

“Very, very soon,” Ben said, “I just want to-”

“Your Highness,” Ghost Ears said, apparently impatient and jumping into the conversation, flying over to Ben, “you mentioned a Reliquary, and I think that due to the circumstances, it could contain a weapon or some useful object-”

“Ok, I'm just going to figure out this Dungeon Crystal thing because I've got a great idea-”

“Ben!” Short Bus shouted, jumping up from the ground where he'd immediately laid down for a nap, “I got a new class! I'm a [Questor]! Oh man, I got some great skills in my main class too, I got,” Short Bus said, then was stopped when Vivi shot over to him and glided slimelessly up his body, resting on his gigantic nose, looking him in the eye.

“Oh, as a future [Royal Sage], I must catalog all your abilities. Please tell me first and I will record the information, uh, Ben, could you come over here and witness this?”

“Ben,” Red said, walking over to him, looking at him with her incredibly, eye-searingly fuchsia eyes, “every moment we delay allows the Gremlins a chance to pull more beings from The Beyond, I fear what will happen if they are allowed to continue for even a moment longer than necessary.”

“I'm definitely on it,” Ben said, feeling his mind getting pulled in exactly five different directions, and feeling the strain on his brain. He pointed at Ghost Ears, and felt his crown go hot.

“I declare you [Lord Chancellor] of my kingdom,” he said loudly, and Ghost Ears felt something settle on his shoulders, like a heavy cloak made of responsibility, “congratulations. Keep everyone away from me for like five minutes.”

Ben felt his crown suddenly go cold, like ice.

“No,” Ghost Ears said, shoving the responsibility off, “I'm not going to be your Village Chief. Ask me nicely.”

“Fine, I can respect that,” Ben said, his crown feeling uncomfortable, “please keep everyone away from me for five minutes.” Ghost Ears gave Ben a grin, then flew over to Red and started speaking quietly to her.

“I have got to hire that guy,” Ben said quietly to himself, then, no longer being distracted, flew to the Dungeon Crystal and put his hand on it. Another honest to god game menu appeared in front of him, like with the temporary town crystal.

[Instanced Dungeon Crystal, Growth Grade, Location Pocket of Sanctuary. Time Remaining: 11: 54: 30]

[Total Points available: 185.]

[Upgrades Available for Purchase!]

[Bonuses Available for Purchase!]

[Unlock Rewards Preview Menu for 5 Points?]

Ben rolled his eyes and spent the points to see if his idea was even worth it. He scanned the new menu that showed potential rewards, his eyes getting wider and wider as he got down into the more valuable stuff.

“Holy shit,” Ben said, realizing something critical as he began to scan through the available bonuses and upgrades; Pocket of Sanctuary was not a defensive skill.

“This is a fucking mini-game,” Ben said, eyes wide, then he shouted, “Hey! Get over here, team huddle, NOW!”

The group looked up from what was undoubtedly a gripping lecture about magic and skills, delivered by an extremely self-important looking Vivi, and rushed away from the Aeon Slug leaving him frozen mid-word.

Short Bus immediately went into the huddle, laying down flat on his front so that his head was close to a level to Ben. Red and Ghost Ears came over; Ghost Ears stood, and Red shrugged and laid down on her front.

Ben did his best not to stare at her naked, prone body, controlling his eyes carefully and aiming them solely at the enormous energetic cloud eyes contained in her antlers. Ben failed, multiple times, but his intentions were pure, even if his eyes were occasionally stronger than his will.

Vivi slugged his way over, looking slightly put out; but then he brightened when he got into the group huddle.

So it was that the [Extremely Tiny] members of the party stood, while the normal sized members laid down to be on a level with them; it was a testament to the potential of the group that every single one of them was taking the situation seriously.

“This thing hands out treasure,” Ben said without any preamble.

“What?” Vivi asked, his highly expressive, spherical eyes lidding into a frown.

“Treasure. You can buy stuff from it.”

“No, only Town Crystals can do that,” Vivi explained.

“Well, this can do that. It's not for money, it’s for points.”

“Well, a few health potions wouldn't be out of place,” Vivi said, not understanding the excitement.

“What about. . .” Ben said, trailing off and building some drama, “a premium perk lottery ticket!” Ben's voice was loud, and he expected an uproar. There wasn't one.

“Oh, that's good,” Ghost Ears commented, “those are pretty nice. How do we get points?”

“It gains points over time by refining mana,” Ben said, a little let down, “and also when monsters come in and die here.”

“Just like a dungeon,” Vivi said, laughing.

“Yeah, it's classified as a Trick Dungeon,” Ben said, starting to mentally move past his whole plan.

“Was there anything else?” Vivi asked, apparently doing his best to give Ben a shot to salvage the situation.

“There was a whole bunch of stuff,” Ben said, mentally going over the list, “Potions, Elixirs, Blueprints-”

“Blueprints?” Ghost Ears whispered, a frown on his face.

“Blank Cores, Soul Gems, Perk and Skill lottery tickets, small keys, large keys-”

“It sells keys?” Vivi said, alarm and avarice shining in his eyes.

“Yeah. It's got tabs and tabs and tabs; I couldn't have looked over it all if I tried.”

Vivi rushed over to the Dungeon Core, along with Ghost Ears, who flew at top speed.

“I don't see the big deal,” Ben said.

“Oh by the forest!” Ghost Ears cried, “There are Relic keys for sale here!”

“Slime!” Vivi yelled, his eyes literally getting larger, bulging on top of their stocks, “there are actual artifacts in here! That's- that's a Flask of Plenty! Oh, it's expensive, but it's there! Ben! You're terrible at explaining things!”

“Lord Vivi,” Ghost Ears said, his eyes wide, his voice weak, “there is a Map of Wish available for sale, one time purchase.”

“No!” Vivi yelled, rapidly navigating menus till he got to where Ghost Ears was pointing, “Oh yes!”

“Map of Wish?” Ben asked as he, Short Bus, and Red all approached the Dungeon Core.

“Ben, this is big,” Vivi said, his eyes starting to do that googly thing they did when he was excited, “this is our ticket to everything.”

“Why?” Short Bus asked, rubbing his chin, eyeing everything around him with a restless gaze. He started to pace around the room; the movement seemed to calm him.

“It’s a Map of Wish, Ben! It's a blank map, you wish for something, and then the map shows you where to find it, guaranteed.”

“Like, what?” Ben asked, trying to get it, and not getting it.

“Let's say we said 'System, I want an artifact of great power, a. . .' who cares, anything at all. The System will then either find what you are looking for, or create it. The map will show you the way, in detail, with notes about how to get there safely and claim whatever you asked for.”

“It's that simple?”

“Ben, it's that simple. These things are rare, even rarer than wishes in some respects, and more useful. A wish. . . can be great, but unless you have access to a City Crystal and have a Build-A-Wish ticket-”

“There are Build-A-Wish tickets for sale,” Ghost Ears whispered, wiping a hand down his face.

“By the aeons,” Vivi said, “But unless you have both of those things, wishes tend to be unpredictable and unreliable. But this? A Map of Wish? You can rely on that to get you what you asked for.”

“How much is it?” Ben asked.

“One hundred thousand points,” Vivi said, his face serious. “That's a lot, but I think we can do it. Ben, I'm telling you, we need to get this, no matter what.”

Everybody but Red looked at Ben with shining, greedy, excited eyes. Red turned her magical eyes to Ben, an expression of slight confusion on her face.

“Is this going to help us defeat the Gremlins?”

“Yes Red,” Ben said, determination glinting in his eyes, “this is going to help us defeat them all.”

Red nodded, joining in on the enthusiasm of the rest of the party.

“Here's the plan, we go out and lure monsters in. One of the things we can buy is a Full Restoration, for five hundred points; a little expensive, but it will allow us to fight hard. Sound good?”

“I like this plan!” Short Bus shouted, then ran to the archway faster than any of them thought he would be able to move. He passed through it and began shouting something, though none of them could hear it, as no sound passed through the archway.

What he said however, was clearly heard by everything and everyone in a nearly mile radius.

Short Bus had screamed 'Oh no, I'm dying!', and then used his razor sharp teeth to create bloody, harmless wounds all over his arms. The blood was red and dripped to the ground.

Short Bus's teeth were bloody, and his smile was every bit the apex predator of all the seven seas. He flung his arms out with force, and scattered the blood, fanning it out, letting the small droplets splatter against trees and ground alike.

The smell of the blood awoke a frenzy inside of him, and he bit harder, drawing deeper, spilling more vital blood.

He screamed, a mummery of fear and pain, as he scattered the blood. Scattering the bait.

Ben watched the scene play out in silence with his eyebrows fully raised up.

“Holy shit.”

–

[You have gained the Levelless class: Questor!]

[Skill Gained]

[???]

[Visit a City Crystal to select a Quest Skill]

[This class will grow in power as you progress on your quest. As the primary questor, you may choose any one of your abilities to share with your party.]

[You have advanced to Level 8!]

[Skill Gained]

[Imperial Glare]

[Strong Skin]

[You have advanced to Level 9!]

[Skill Gained]

[Royal Instinct: Talent Scout!]

[You have advanced to Level 10!]

[Skill Gained]

[Royal Tantrum]

[You have achieved Level 10! Your racial trait Evolution can be activated or abandoned.]

[You have multiple evolution options available to you.]

[Elemental Fairy]

[Choose any element, as strange or as exotic as your mind can conceive, and you will become a true fairy of exceptional power. This is a Final Evolution and will not be offered again.]

[Arch-Fairy: Human]

[Increased size, magical ability and physical power. High fairies are extremely rare and are considered the natural royalty among fairy sub-types. This is a Branching Evolution and starts you on the Peak Human evolutionary chain.]

[You have chosen Arch-Fairy: Human!]

[Your levels have been reset to 1]

[You have retained your classes]

[You have retained your skills]

[You have chosen to share the racial ability Evolution with your party!]

Ben opened his eyes from his meditation and felt a wave of exhaustion sweep over him, his body growing hot.

–

Ghost Ears shut his eyes.

[You have gained the class Questor]

[Skill Gained]

[Evolution]

[You have advanced to level 16]

[You are now a level 16 Dreamer!]

[Would you like to evolve?]

Ghost Ears selected yes.

–

Red put her hand on the crystal and felt strange magic lay upon her body.

[Welcome to The World!]

[You have successfully survived the wilds and found a dungeon crystal. Be proud, many have failed to achieve even this much-]

[Manual Override]

[Level system has failed to initialize]

[No classes or levels are available to you]

[Red, what has happened to you is an injustice. Due to your unique way of entering The World, you have not been properly balanced, and are thus ineligible for levels. In compensation for this, I have given you two, powerful abilities. Believe me when I say this;]

[They're some good ones.]

[You have gained the title: Beyonder]

[You have gained the ability: System Looting]

[You have gained the ability: Eyes of the Warden of The Beyond]