Cold. Cold was all that he felt in the moment between life and death. An absolute void saturated everything, leaving not an iota of warmth, no paradise, no gates, nothing existed here.

Nightmares feed on fear and Marcus FEARED nothingness. Losing who he was, like a light shut off – gone in an instant. He’d felt existential dread before, but this void dwarfed the feeling many times over. Finally, after an eternity passed or maybe just seconds, Marcus woke up. Marcus had noticed his wounds had been healed; maybe his regeneration was back. He’d wanted to check the pending notifications, but his first thought kept coming back to him - the ceiling was different

The room he’d fought Gilti in had been domed with interspaced columns, but here the roof remained the same, but the pillars had vanished. The roof stretched several stories upwards, unsupported whatsoever, and like every other structure in the dungeon was made of the same synthetic material; Marcus really had gotten sick of seeing the off-gray stone-like stuff.

One object clearly stood out, lying suspended midair in the center of the dome was the largest crystal he’d ever seen. Outside of it floating, a shock in it of itself, the crystal was fifty meters long, and about thirty meters wide at its largest point. The width tapered down closer to the tip creating an inverse diamond shape, hiding much of its surface.

Marcus tried to rise but was held firmly in place by restraints, and even his magic wouldn’t respond. What had carried him here? Hadn’t he killed all the kobolds in the dungeon? But then he remembered, the message had been specific in saying all combatants had been wiped out, not everything. Fortunately, it didn’t take long to get his answer and what had captured Marcus was NOT a kobold.

Azarti, Keeper of Knowledge, Bastion of the Lost – Level. ????? | Type: Crystal-Forged Naga | Azarti began his life as a Guardian Naga, a sub-species known for protecting treasure, important locations, lore, and magical devices. Naga’s are functionally immortal and will revive outside of extreme cases. Of the Crystal-Forged variety, Azarti is the last known survivor, and even now seeks to revive his lost culture.

A gigantic snake-like being dropped from the crystal floating in with a boom. Azarti was 12 meters long, the thickness of a tree, and covered in crystal scales. Unlike the kobolds whose growths had been random, these scales weren’t misshapen, no, they were molded or had grown naturally somehow. He, as showed by the status, also possessed a humanoid face, certainly not humanlike, but it did have eyes, a nose, and a mouth – like its body, much of it was covered in scales.

“Ah, good, you’ve at least learned to read status information – that will save us much time,” boomed out of voice brooking no questions. “I will answer three, and only three of your questions before we will need to move on to more important matters.”

Marcus was afraid, but relaxed after having read Crystal-Forged, meaning they shared something in common - maybe he would survive. The Naga’s status had hinted at several answers he'd been searching for, but Marcus would remain patient for now and ask his three questions.

“This dungeon, where did it come from? Why here? This cave is clearly unnatural, not to mention for being an advanced dungeon, I, a complete novice, cleared it alone in under a day!”

“I should make this take up two, but with future cooperation in mind I’ll answer both. Firstly, this dungeon's level was artificially inflated because of my presence; normally kobolds are only found in Common dungeons. Furthermore, dungeons come in two varieties, natural or artificial – simple. Natural dungeons form over time as local flora or fauna group together, causing mana density to further increase; often taking the form of the environment, be it a cave, an area of ocean, or in extreme cases, the sky. Artificial dungeons cover effectively everything else; sometimes a civilization will mimic natural dungeons so that various conditions can be controlled and predictable. For example, they could alter levels, trap layouts, and much more. With that said, in these types of dungeons the System is much less generous when giving out rewards. As for why here on Earth, I was simply given an opportunity to move the dungeon here from another world by the System as a way to populate various areas - call it a hunch if it makes you feel better."

Marcus began to speak but was quickly cut off, “The ‘Crystalline Stronghold’, as labeled by the System is artificial, and serves a much greater purpose, one that I’ll explain once we’re done with your questions. Happy?”

“Fine,” Marcus said indignantly, “What purpose did the Kobolds serve here? Why did the crystals affect them so much differently than me?” He paused or a moment, “For my last question, why do we share part of a race?”

“It’s complicated. Wait don’t get irate give me a moment! The Crystalline ‘Infection’ as you call it is so much more than you’d ever believe. The kobolds served a grisly purpose, one that I’m not proud of. I had lured them into these caverns promising much, but for the sake of my brothers there was no choice. They acted as experimental subjects, providing invaluable data so that I could solve my races greatest threat. I used them in the manner humans use mice, but the process twists them, makes them wrong,” he finished.

“Those tests concluded, having failed after I had been too late…much too late to save anyone. I entered stasis to avoid the guilt of failing so many but remained aware of my surroundings. I’ve been defending this dungeon, waiting for an opportunity the past 5 millennia, leaving me with nothing but time to scheme."

“Before going further, I need to explain what the System is, or rather what everyone believes it to be. The System is a neutral arbiter whose goal, at least on the surface, is to prevent entropy over all creation. System influence spreads slowly over time, converting new worlds and awakening them to mana. Before the current regime took over, new planets would be given forewarning and aid to ease the transition, but now, the Grand Hegemony uses these new planets, absorbing resources, talent, and finally death. Only one known flaw exists with the System, those with enough power can ‘nudge’ it in certain ways for their own gain. Your current rulers, ‘The Grand Hegemony’ rose to power by abusing that weakness, bullying their way to supremacy,” he finished, continuing to observe Marcus’s reaction, “Good, I can see your rage, that makes the next part easier.”

“What do you mean? Did those same pricks target you too?” Marcus said.

“The very same. They somehow - with the answer still alluding me, -managed to ‘nudge’ the System into classifying the crystals flowing through our veins as an infection!” he spat.

Azarti continued, “The very same Crystals that now run through your veins, twisted, killed, and corrupted everyone that possessed even one. Before, the crystals had been at the apex of magic theory, single handedly ending mundane disease, cancer, and infection. We’d been a united people, composed of many diverse races, but brought together by magic. For millions of years it had been an honor to be allowed access; the crystals could be manipulated, turned into weapons, and more, thus the method of their creation wasn’t spread without serious need. Of course, many took grievance after being denied, and because of that jealousy, entire planets, gone, wiped out.”

Coughing awkwardly, “If everyone died, how are you still here?” Marcus interjected.

“I simply used the same method they had, nudging the System into making me a ‘dungeon boss’ and turning a village into my lair. Even now if I were to step outside, only a gruesome death would await me. That very same fate would have been yours, but somehow the system granted you a path, something that in this history of my...our people hadn’t ever been seen. I’m still not sure if it was just luck, or maybe a mutation after being left in the kobolds for thousands of years.”

Azarti lowered its head until their eyes met, “Neglect has made our foe comfortable, sure of their authority, but together we’ll make them burn.”

“So, what’s our first step… comrade, but before that what’s behind the big doors outside?” Marcus said unsurely, gaining some confidence at the end.

“HA, at least you aren’t trembling at my appearance! Franky you’re too weak to do anything of import, for now you need to venture out into your world and bring people back here. The crystal above you isn’t just a fancy light, it contains the sum of knowledge our people once possessed. Our peoples share a saying ‘Knowledge is power’, and with it, we will catalyze change, spring-boarding humanity into the future; not only to survive, but to thrive.”

“As for the door, that’s something that would be easier shown than explained, follow me, oh and sorry for the restraints, I didn’t want you to try to run once you saw me; many newly integrated races fear that which is alien to themselves.”

With a click Marcus’s restraints released him and he began to follow the giant snake man; certainly not something he’d have never humored happening. As they ascended the stairs another question stumbled out of his mouth, “We must be under the largest building in town that I’d seen before, when I was outside the smell of burning corpses seemed to flood the air, where did that suddenly disappear to?”

Marcus could swear Azarti would be rubbing the back of his head right now if he had hands as he answered, “Ah, about that. It was a ward I placed long ago to dissuade the kobolds from bothering me. My nature makes it hard for me to kill for no reason so instead of doing that to the kobolds, I used a ward. That specific spell shows everything within range various images, smells, and sounds to drive them away. I hope it didn’t affect you too much.”

Marcus just glared at the serpent, not saying a word before he continued to walk. Holding a grudge with something that was over level 10,000 wasn’t a good idea. That was something else he’d figured out now, the number of question marks indicated the number of digits in a creature’s level; with that said, the threshold for seeing exact levels remained a mystery.

Once they reached the door after minutes of walking or slithering in the case of Azarti, the latter turned around, “What I’m about to show you is something you must never tell a soul exists. I only show you this secret as a show of how genuinely I wish to work with you, not to mention I will also require help in completing it.” With his last words, bright lines of unreadable text began to light up the entire doorway, shortly after it began to open.

Stepping through the doorway was surreal, a curtain of pure black separated each room, but what laid on the other side was simply incredible.

A gargantuan machine for lack of a better word stood in the room. It was 150 meters tall and wide, completely symmetrical in that aspect. Eight rings of an unknown metal etched with the same script the door had held, stood dormant, surrounding a core. The core itself was mirror smooth and appeared to be comprised of various gemstones. With his Elemental Sight activated he would observe various types of mana flowing into the core, radiating the most intense aura he’d ever seen.

“What in gods name is this thing?” Marcus asked.

“Just inspect it for yourself, I can’t do it justice.”

Incomplete Gemstone Mythallar – Mythallars are forbidden level constructs of limitless power. Allows for titanic amounts of mana to be siphoned from the Aether and used to drive massive spell constructs. This construction is incomplete, requiring massive amounts of resources. Fortunately, large amounts of the Enchanting and Runescript have been completed, leaving only minor details to be finalized – minor is relative in this aspect, still requires high proficiency to complete. System monitoring is in effect, unqualified users will not be allowed to interface or modify this object.

“So how do I learn Enchanting and Runescript?” Marcus said excitedly.

“I thought you’d never ask,” Azarti responded cheekily.