Something was off with the dungeon that Elric had just entered.

Over his tenure as Ishda's Expert he had harnessed the power of his own will to better understand others.

With this knowledge, Elric had learned to recognise the feeling of trickery and deceit that most dungeons permitted. Yet here, in this strangely lit place, all he could sense was hope and determination.

"How strange," he mused to himself after stepping over the threshold.

The first room of the dungeon was small and empty except for two weak torches lighting up the tunnel leading further inside. As he stood there trying to harness the connection between the dungeon's will and his own, at the same time he began to form one of his categorisation magics.

Full Scale Paralysis.

This was the first spell Elric had been taught. Magic can be learned independently, but having a tutor or guidance in such important matters is nothing but a blessing.

Luckily for Elric, as a boy he showed a natural connection toward dungeons. Easily passing the tests that were conducted in his home village, his talent was recognised by the previous Dungeon Categoriser and he took him in as his apprentice.

However, with only a small amount of techniques to learn from his master, Elric's lessons soon became monotonous. One day, after questioning how spells received their name, the answer he had been given was a simple one.

They tend to be based on what the magic does.

Years went by and Elric learned there was no greatness that came with the title of apprentice. He had started a family of his own and was ready to advance up the categorisation ladder. The only problem was that he did not wish to leave the Ishda territory to so do.

This was where his path started to spiral.

One day, Elric and his master were out on a dungeon categorisation mission. Under the cover of night and the guise of friendship, Elric entered his master's tent with the intention of taking the old man's position with his own hands.

Neither men possessed magic from any of the eight affinities so it was purely a battle of physical strength and Elric's youth and vigor dominated his hurdle. In that brief moment of time, he put an end to the life of Zahir, Dungeon Categoriser for the Ishda county.

Hiding the body in a wagon outside, the next day he took it back to the newly discovered dungeon. Dropping the body on the stone floor he watched it disappear before he left, returning to Ishda to report the sad news of his master's sad and untimely demise.

After a well woven tale of woe, Elric was summoned by Lord Aldor where he was awarded the title he had so desired, in the land he wished not to depart from.

These days though, Elric had taken to calling his first magic 'Invader's Delight'.

After the name change, he found the spell to be much more effective in its use than on previous occasions. Even when used outside of dungeons.

Originally, the spell had been used for more virtuous means. It let the person using it freely explore the dungeon without the threat of harm from their dangerous locale. It would last for one hour and could be cast again right after it finished.

While in use, the dungeon itself would also be paralysed. Unable to summon traps, monsters or any other means at their disposal to harm the invader's.

The only downside is that once it's been cast, the caster has to wait a full hour before they can use it once more as the charge time is the same length as the duration. This means that any monsters entering the dungeon from behind could possibly catch an Expert off guard.

In Elric's case, keeping a group of mercenaries around prevents that from occurring.

Upon the swift completion of his spell and after a brief moment cursing the flaws of his own magic, a female emerges from the tunnel and causes Elric's resolve to faulter. In the presence of such a fine woman, he finds his breath caught at the sight of her revealing armour. Managing to hold Invader's Delight with a practiced ease, ready to deploy it at any sudden attempt on his life, he decides to see what brings this bold person into an uncategorised dungeon.

After the introductions are over, however, Elric is still holding his magic ready but has succumbed to a state of jealousy and envy.

'How the hell is this tantalising temptress of the night a monster created by the dungeon? It makes no sense. Dungeons don't create people! Especially not drop dead gorgeous one's like this!' He rages.

Realising that his demeanor had slipped, he corrects himself and attempts to take charge by pressing forward. Leading on, he decides to see how this scenario will play out and he is also curious as to how many other tempting vixens may be roaming within Dungeon Abi. A little sightseeing should be harmless as he knows full well how this tour will end.

There were no noticeable dangers and all was calm as he travelled with Dropper towards the Guard House. Upon entering and being greeted by Hana and Mira, it was as though the goddess of lust herself had pierced Elric's heart. A triangle of beauty surrounds him and he decides that now is as good a time as any to start the party. He can't wait to play with the three toys that he has found any longer.

Just as he's about to let his spell run wild, he is informed to prepare himself by his new seductress as he supposedly hasn't seen anything yet.

Overwhelming curiosity wins the battle against the sane logic of not going too far alone as Dropper's words are like nectar to his ears.

Katrina Kartova is now an afterthought in the sea of desirable pleasures that enter Elric's mind as he bursts through the doors and steps out into the warm rays of the sun.

Not many sounds are present within range of the flabbergasted man that has just charged through into his own personal heaven. The closest is the chirping of more delightful angels just down the street.

Engaged in conversation over the delicacies provided by another of the female dungeon monsters. If he hadn't known he was in a dungeon beforehand, he would have been hard pressed to say otherwise. Even his dungeon detection skill was playing up, not that he needed it after hearing it from his son and the gorgeous monster first hand.

There was no doubt in his mind he was in a dungeon.

Not to mention that no actual town produces so many women of splendour and magnificence.

None that he knew of anyway.

Stunned once again he gives praise to the dungeon for creating such wondrous playthings that he would be able to break soon.

After more welcoming and another brief moment of fluster, Elric is now well and truly wrapped in a blanket of awe as he is led to the large beautiful building opposite the entrance. Before he can arrive at his destination though, his twisted fury and malicious resentment resurfaces dragging him full force in the direction of his overtalented apprentice who he has just spotted on the way past.

As the voluptuous monster behind attempts to reach for him, Elric finally releases the magic he had held ready since entering the dungeon.

The self-named 'Invader's Delight'.

The Dungeon shakes slightly and all the monsters currently inside are subjected to his spell. The monsters can feel everything but are unable to do anything. The perfect magic for the man who has lost his way without even knowing it.

Driven to ignore the eye-catching female monsters around him out of jealousy, hate and rage, Elric calls out to Katrina who knows full well she has been seen. Exiting the home she attempts to sway her judge, jury, and executioner with her words. Sadly for her, Elric barely even recognises her voice and he sentences Katrina on the spot, launching a concealed blade he had hidden his sleeve. Unfortunately for him, he's not a trained Assassin and his blade finds its way into her abdomen. A second attempt leads to another failure as the Dungeon Core creates a stone wall directly in front of the source of Elric's frustration, halting the flying blade in its tracks.

This only serves to infuriate him more. He passed all notions of sane thoughts and he turns his attention to the downed angel of death behind him whilst screaming about 'can' and 'can nots'.

Before Elric is able to express his fury upon Dropper, his ear drums burst as the dungeon actually roars. In pain he clutched his head till the sound is over before quickly applying a healing potion from his pouch. A potion of ignorance is also consumed to dull out any sound in range for the next five minutes.

A risky necessity but a needed one nonetheless. If the sound had been any louder he believes his head may have exploded.

Luckily for Elric it was the right decision as the dungeon once more lets out a ghastly roar but this time its duration is a lot shorter. Once it's over, Elric's attention is drawn to something else new. A perfect circle of golden light is being created by the first man he has seen since entering the dungeon. So far it has all been gorgeous female faces.

Leaping between the downed monster and himself, the newly arrived well-dressed combatant unloads a torrential flood of red liquid toward him. Swiftly preparing a second spell to lessen the damage taken from attacks made by dungeon monsters, The Categoriser is halted in his tracks. He finds himself paralysed this time as he stares into the lifeless eyes of his son Eric. The soulless gaze being returned from where it has landed upon the floor is the last sight he sees as Elric Highgrove's head is cleanly severed from his neck.

With the picture of his son's ghostly visage fading slowly to white, his dastardly schemes and cruel intentions are taken from him with each moment that passes. This settles Elric's score for reincarnation. However, this new perspective towards life is supposed to be accompanied with a fresh memory wipe, leaving a blank slate. Elric is in turmoil with himself as he can still remember everything he previously did and is caught in denial over the atrocious acts he had committed in his past.

As light fills more of his view he notices a screeching sound can be heard crying out. The growing brightness eventually covers every direction and he is now inside a flowing white tide. The only unmoving feature is a small black dot that appears to be very far away.

Strangely, whichever way he faces, the black hole stays in the centre of his view and in the next instant he's thrust toward the darkness, or is it pulled? either way he can't make no sense of the situation and his mind wanders back to Dungeon Core Abi.

From the start, he had set out with every intention to destroy the dungeon and kill the apprentice. Now such goals seemed pitiful and prideless . How had he arrived at a state where he was no longer the man he once strived to be. No loyalty, no devotion for his craft, and worst of all surrounded by men who held the same morals as he did but alone nonetheless.

"What a terrible person I had become," he thought as destiny catapulted him onwards to his next life.

"This time be better. I'm allowing you to keep your memories in hopes that you will accomplish this task. It will most likely be... unpleasant at first. In time you will grow used to it. For this purpose, you shall be known as Test Subject A." A harmonic voice, still and calm, even with cascading light echoing past at unimaginable speed, spoke out clearly to him.

The once black dot, no longer void of colour, now shows many different shades and forms moving around. They all blend into a moving blur on approach which gets larger by the second and he can't make out a single shape.

All of a sudden, he hits a slime-like barrier that catches the ex-Categoriser just before impact. Slowly, it lets him pass through the perfectly shaped hole that seemed designed just for him.

Realising that the reincarnation process has just happened and has also been completed faster than anyone could ever have predicted, he checks himself over and begins to take in his new surroundings.

Upon inspection, there are many noticeable things wrong in the new life of the being once known as Elric Highgrove.

To start with, he's bigger than any human baby should ever be. Second, is that his whole body is covered in vibrant brown hair which borders on being orange. Third, and by far the most crucial discovery in the mind breaking horror of his new life, is that three stubbly mounds stick out from each one of the four hairy limbs attached to his main body. A short tail is also attached to his rear and below his eyes his face extends out into a long snout.

The screech from before has now turned into a howl. Elric manages to use his new wobbly legs to turn around only to see his parent, an extremely large Lobe Hound, howling in joyous triumph at the birth of its newest pup.

'Well, Shit.'

A New Chapter.

Day One.

Katrina has been laid upon the bed in Ali's house and a healing potion has been applied to her wound. It should be enough to ease her pain and stabilise her condition.

After what she said about me, she is definitely my favorite person. Without a doubt.

I suppose her life does hold some value.

Most life holds value. I'm so happy that I didn't lose a single member of my new family to that creep.

Indeed. They all returned back to normal after the Expert's magic wore off.

You're included in that statement as well, Me. When you couldn't answer me, I didn't know what to do. I... I know I'm like a broken record but I don't know what I'd do without you, Me. We're also family now.

Er, yes... that's... well said.

Hehe. I love you, Me.

I suppose I... reciprocate the sentiment.

Aww, Me. You're gonna make me cry.

Please don't.

Ali is in The Retreats' kitchen preparing a feast with what food she has left. I'll replenish her stock as soon as I can. For now we're just waiting for Katrina wake up to see how she is. If she's OK, then I can ask her to step out for a moment.

I'm maxed on DP yet I can't spend it.

Talia is handing out booze like there's no tomorrow. She's reminding everyone of the hard work they're going to have put in to grow stronger. Finishing her motivation speech, she downs a large mug of Ale and laughs heartily before slapping Light on the back for some reason.

Everyone also happens to include all of my lower floor monsters too. Violet, Webster, Samantula, Colin and Trixie are all gathered at one table near the bar. Barry has chosen to continue his day/night/day job. The ever hardworking Mythril Golem is still a little too large and wouldn't manage to fit through the doors of the building anyway, even after its resize.

Trixie, on the other hand, is now able to fit inside and the pack lay beside her. Talia doesn't seem fazed in the slightest with the loss of floor space. In fact the diligent Taskmaster keeps on topping up their water as well as everyone's drinks, showing off her skills which keep the mood flowing.

Peaches and the Sweets are all sitting together whilst the rest of my tier 2's take up the tables next to them. The Acolytes and my Disciple are mixed in with my Rogues, as are Koniva and Jack.

Veris is sat with Light and Dropper and they're engaged in discussion over their next tier. A soft blue glow is being given off by almost a quarter of the people sitting down, showing me the efforts they have been contributing to our growth.

Noir and Carrie are the center of attention. Sat at the table in the middle of the room, they are continuously praised by everyone that passes. Not only did they save them, but they saved me too.

Nearly everyone is here. The only exceptions are my less than human-like family and the thought brings a tinge of sadness to my Core.

I doubt we could fit anyone else in here.

Look up.

What?

Look... Up.

Feeling a little weirded out by Me's request I swivel my ball and do as asked. My family, as I'm still choosing to call them, are the scariest bastards I've ever seen in either of my two lives. Above me is a cacophony of monsters.

A swarming darkness is present on the roof inside the retreat. Beams, walls, supporting joints, everywhere the eye can see is littered with Bats and Spiders.

Apparently they're as determined and riled up as everyone else and are watching the rest of our merry group praise Noir and Carrie in turn.

Huh. Would you look at that?

This time I actually did have two Rogues rush in to save me.

What are the odds?

Quite high, seeing as how you are the one who created them.

Hehe.

Yeah, I suppose the odds were far greater this time. I can't argue with that.

I find myself thinking of Katrina who's still resting upstairs whilst the celebrations are being played out.

Should we have waited for her to wake up?

Actually, it's probably good that she isn't down here. There are quite a few people in my immediate view who could change her whole perception of my dungeon. Although she will probably meet them sooner or later, it might be better to start off small and build our way up.

The pitch black grizzled features of Sam are by far one the scariest out of all my family and could potentially give her a heart attack. Although when she's downing a mug of Ale, it turns into one of the strangest sights you will ever see. Once you've started watching the golden liquid disappear into her maw... It's kind of hard to avert your gaze.

Violet is another participant in the battle of strangeness as every feature on her freaky body is the same colour, just different shades. She is also still lacking any clothing on top but at least her long hair serves to preserve her modesty.

There are a lot of weird things in my dungeon now. Way more than there was four days ago. Taking the cake though, as always, is Colin.

Dancing around on top of the table with his crystallised diamond-like spider legs, Colin now appears to have two muscular human arms. Each one extends out of a little pocket dimension on the side of his golden lined chest. Both have a flagon in hand and are taking turns pouring the delicious looking liquid into the black hole of his trunk.

When the hell did Colin get those? And why is he gold? He doesn't do anything but drool?

It would appear that he has had an evolution of sorts.

What?

When did that happen? Can you confirm upgrades, Me?

Yes, but I have never done so. It can only be assumed it happened when he was gathering the pieces of your shattered Core.

So he's part dungeon?

No. It does appear that he took a large amount of XP from you in the process however.

Well damn. How lucky is Colin?

Cheeky little bugger.

The celebration lasts for a while and at some point it wakes up Katrina. Hearing the racket coming from below, she exits her room and makes her way towards the stairs where I notice her instantly.

"Kat," I shout as she emerges atop the stairs, scaring Veris once again causing her to release the Ale that she was in the process of swallowing. The ejected liquid lands in the eyes of Light, who falls back off his chair into a passing Dum. The poor Rogue is knocked back into Coral and Mysitique's table overturning it. This cause their drinks to sail through air which accidentally hit Ang in the head on her way to the bathroom causing her to fall towards Talia. Talia swerves the incoming Acolyte, letting her crash into Light's original table and overturning the rest of the drinks onto him. The Taskmaster's head swivels in my direction.

"It's not my fault they go down like a game of dominoes after a few drinks," Talia's gaze is still locked in my direction and I feel the urge to shrink away somewhere. Being a ball of green light and confined to my own dungeon doesn't leave much in the way of options though.

Instead of saying anything, her glare turns to a smile as everyone is laughing at Light. The sensational superstar himself doesn't appear to be phased at being covered in Ale in the slightest and is laughing along with everyone else.

With nothing to feel sorry for I look back to the newest addition to my dungeon. This may be tricky, but we can make it work.

Kat is smiling joyously at the scene of comradery below her and seems unfazed by the large gorgeous wolf laid across a good majority of the floor space. Instead she appears to be more engaged in working out who caused the large mess that happened by one little tiny shout.

"Don't look up!"

I call out again, but she still can't hear me. Veris stares at me as I do so as if to say 'again, really?' but I pay her no mind as I'm wondering how to establish a better form of communication with Kat.

You could always contract her, then she could hear you.

Really!?

I should ask you that question. Really? When have I ever lied to you?

That's true.

Sorry, Me. I didn't mean it like that. It just caught me by surprise. I trust you, ya know.

Oh... Well... Good. Thank you.

Twice in one day, I'm on a roll.

I spend time chatting away with Kat, through many different mediators, about a contract with my dungeon as she greets everyone in the Retreat. She asks to think on it for the night and I accept her answer, after we spend time talking in general and I receive some distressing news.

"I thought the chief of Orad was Goran?" I ask a little bewildered, a slight nervousness rearing its head from a previous conversation I heard about a mountain.

Apparently that's where I am. In a mountain, Northwest of Orad. Except... there isn't a mountain Northwest of Orad as I would clearly know about it!

"The chief of Orad is called Balder. He's been the chief for aslong as I can remember and I grew up there." Katrina replies without a hint of a falsity to her voice.

Balder?

Who the hell is that? And why the hell am I in a mountain!?

Do you know, Me?

I am unsure of this either. It may have taken the system more time to create your Core due to the fact that you were a human, but that's just a theory.

Well, it's better than the nothing I've got, right?

I suppose. Why not ask the ex-apprentice?

That... is another fantastic suggestion, Me.

"What year is it, Kat? And why is there a mountain in Ishda now?"

"It's 1956. I'm not sure about the mountain though? I looked like it got bigger the closer I got, but that's what usually happens, right?"

....

No way.

No fucking way!

The noise around us fades and the bar goes silent. My emotions always show through my monsters. My pain, is their pain. My rage, is their rage. Right now, my absolute shock has silenced my entire family and we're all staring at Kat in confusion.

Mixed in is a sizeable amount of aggravation but that's not aimed at her in any way. That's for another special lady somewhere in my life.

It's been 50 years since I died.

50 YEARS!!

How did it take 50 years to turn me into a Dungeon Core!?

At the same time as overwhelming thoughts race through out my mind, I feel a new presence entering me.

Great.

It hasn't been long enough to expect any type of retribution for Elric's death, so who the hell is it now?

I haven't even had any time to come to terms with the new addition to my ever growing list of weird and unexplainable occurrences, yet here's another one. An eldery man is stood in my entrance holding an adorably fluffy dire wolf teddy.

As confused and angry as I am, I really want that teddy.

Mira appears next to me and the man falls to his knees, "I had a vision to come here. It said the Syndicate would help me."

It's never a dull moment around here.

http://imgur.com/a/z0GKK77