Kieran Ely, the reincarnator, formerly known as Bruce Gold, is enjoying his life. Other than the demons invading the peaceful city he lives in, that is.

The teenager was thrust into the mountain dungeon with the rest of the citizens and for the most of it went unnoticed.

Bruce Gold had been a good child on the back end of puberty before he had died. That said he wasn't happy about repeating that stage of his life again whatsoever, and was currently at odds with himself.

For all appearances he wanted to keep up the facade of being a good boy. Even if his parents knew that he was special. They hadn't let him leave the house in months, since his most recent growth spurt, and it was only the threat of war that was able to force them.

No matter how much Kieran had begged to be allowed out, they hadn't relented. Now, after gaining a slight grasp on the power known as magic and his parents caught in the same frenzied panic as the rest of the city dwellers, Kieran was finally able to slip out of their sight.

A brief lull in the stream of time was all it took for the teenager to disappear. He hadn't actually teleported anywhere, instead he stopped time momentarily and made a hasty break for it. Through the caves, through the tunnels, all the way to the large stone doors that signified the dungeons entrance.

He was free.

Not that he wouldn't return to his parents. All he wanted was a quick tour of the new city that was now his home. Plus, all teenage boys snuck out now and then, right?

Kieran didn't want to upset his parents or make them worry. He was thankful to have them. The orphanage where he had lived on Earth wasn't the worst place to grow up, but all he had ever wanted was a family. Now, after sneaking out, he felt as though he was breaking their trust.

He could have attempted this many times from their home, but Mark and Tina Ely always had their eye on him. Plus he was still building his confidence and coming to terms with the fact that he could use magic. Time magic, no less.

Time Mages were the rarest of the rare, or so he had overheard, and he was now one of them. He couldn't believe his luck. From orphaned nobody to superstar status and all it had taken was his death. Kieran wasn't pleased with the last part, but it had happened nonetheless.

Poor Bruce, he thought, smiling as he slipped through the empty town.The only people around were those holding the line on the outskirts. The rest of the citizens - as Kieran knew them - were in the forest, fighting the King's army. Through both his lives combined, the budding Time Mage could be counted as an adult on either planet by now. Therefore he thought he was prepared to see war.

Not to participate, but to observe.

It was strange at first and Kieran felt alone. Alone in the forest, hidden behind a tree near a large, black tower. The only citizen present to state in horror at the approaching army.

Where are Varona's guys? Don't tell me it's just those guards back there.

Bruce began to panic. Maybe there was a reason his parents hadn't let him out into the world yet. Maybe it was because this world was just as messed up as his last, only in a variety of different ways. Dungeons and magic are not the subject of tabletop discussions on Earth, unless your club is dedicated to those exact sorts of things.

Just as Kieran was about to break the laws of nature for a third time that day, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen appeared with three, equally good-looking children. It was strange that Kieran thought of the children as good-looking, but his concept of time was skewered and he just went with it. There weren't any seedy feelings after all, so there wasn't anything wrong with his observations.

Before she could speak, the children started talking amongst themselves and the King didn't seem to be too impressed with their dismissive tones and ridiculous requests. He let off the scariest-looking magic attack that Kieran had ever seen. Not that he'd ever seen any except for those in manga and anime. They didn't do the attack justice.

A blade as black as the tower beside him cut down every single tree as it flew toward the four females. The three children somehow erected a magical barrier, but it was in vain as the magical attack broke straight through and with it the woman and children went too.

The woman in front took the brunt of the attack as it carried her into the tower behind her, severing a few limbs in the process. The children were hit by a smaller portion of the King's magic, but it was enough to cease their movements and end their lives there and then.

Kieran was absolutely shitting himself.

The extent of his power so far was the ability to stop time for ten seconds. Roughly ten seconds. It was enough to slip away and make it past a couple of unsuspecting guards, but to evade an attack like that? Bruce didn't know if he would be able to do it. Hell, he didn't even want to find out.

The only reason he was still there was because of the amputated woman. She wasn't dead yet. Worst of all, the young Time Mage wanted to help her. He was even debating running in, picking her up and then stopping time for as long as he could while running as fast as his little legs would take him.

He knew it was foolish.

That he would probably die.

He was still going to do it though. What good was magic if you didn't use it to be a kickass hero. Saving the damsel in distress was always his favorite part of the anime.

Just as he was about to enact his plan, the woman spoke. Kieran didn't catch what she said as his heart was beating so hard it was the only sound he could hear. Instead, what he saw next made him question his very eyes as another woman appeared. Identical to the first in every way except that this one was whole again and this time, when the full-bodied, green-haired beauty spoke, Kieran heard her clearly.

"Kill them," she whispered.

It was then that the darkness opened up and everything inside, from monster to man, was released upon the human army behind the King. The woman herself was gathering an insane amount of power in the palm of her hand and in no way seemed like she needed the young man-child's help.

Instead he watched on in fascinated horror as the King's army was desecrated and the earth was torn asunder as the woman released her death ray.

What a world.

Kieran Ely, Time Mage

Dungeon Stories Volume 4

Everything is back on track.

Finally.

My day-to-day tasks now consist of a few extra duties, but on average it's not too bad.

Mornings consist of breakfast with the triplets followed by a meeting at City Hall. There, I have to listen to a bunch of reports from the people in charge of the tasks I delegated to them. This is by far my least favorite part of the day. Mayor Kana updates me on anything that needs some attention in our own city, which isn't half as much as what it used to be. Raff reports the daily changes in Tune and how I could make his job a little easier by putting in more time in there myself. Although, from what I've seen and checked, he seems to have things covered. Also, Light complains daily about being left in charge of Orad. His complaint is that the countryside city is such a boring place that nothing of interest happens there.

That's right, I shipped Light out to Orad for a while. I didn't send him alone though and I sent my gold-hungry Categorizer with him. Simon is there to oversee the dungeon. Even though there are only twenty floors of Goblins, people are prone to making mistakes while not paying attention or when showing off. We don't want them dying out of stupidity, giving the small dungeon a bad rep. Once the city guard has been shown the ropes and conforms to my orders, Simon will be able to return to Varona.

That doesn't mean Light has stopped complaining about his posting though and every meeting he voices that fact. Seriously, he should be happy. Sophie is with him -pregnant as she may be- because there's no danger there. All he has to do is walk around and see if they're distributing food and shelter like they should be doing.

Is checking on the quality of people's lives that boring?

I'll switch him out with someone else soon. I thought I was doing them a favour though? Never mind. I debated sending Noir, but after deciding there wasn't anything in need of demolishing, I held off on that idea.

After the morning meeting, myself and the triplets enjoy a nice walk through the areas that I unlocked on our trip to Ishda. It would be faster to port to the opposite side of the dungeon-owned land, but I'd be out of DP before Amber could inform me that it was lunchtime.

Plus, it's boring. This way I get to enjoy myself.

Instead, we opt to walk through the day's early sun. Sometimes taking out a monster or two on the way. Most of the time it's just me holding the creature down while the triplets shamelessly beat it to death, but at least they're levelling. That's what it's about.

And they were wild monsters we ganged up on so... Who cares about their feelings?

Don't pop up. Don't pop up. Don't pop up.

...

Thank the Core.

For a second there, I was half expecting a new notification telling me how monsters now need to ascend to the next plane of bullshit. Thankfully, that didn't happen.

At some point during my acquisitions, Amber let us know we're done and we head to Ali's for lunch. Afterward I drop them at the coliseum - which is the triplets' least favorite part of the day - sometimes staying to watch their progress. They've been doing much better recently. The levels they earned on our morning walks helped them gain enough strength to finally beat the Ringmaster's first group of Stone Golems.

Alone, I might add.

Violet's cub, Bear, doesn't participate in their matches anymore as he is now over twenty levels in front of them. He is also a literal Bear. No longer a cub, the evolution he earned increased his size tenfold and instead of carrying the Cave Bear, Violet now uses her pet as a mount. Still, he has his own matches with stronger Golems and Randy alternates him and the triplets on a fight-by-fight basis during the afternoon.

If I'm not watching them train, I'm busy dealing with tasks that need not only my attention, but my DP too. Raff, Kana and Light, usually have some type of tasks they need me to do around the time the girls are fighting. Other than myself, Me and Sis, no one else is able to spend my points and even those two are only allowed to spend what I give them.

Once the triplets are finished with their fights, that means I too am done for the day and we enjoy a nice dinner together. Usually in the company of others as everyone is generally done with their daily jobs by that time. We chat, laugh, tease and slightly insult each other, all in good spirits. Just like tonight. That was when something odd happened, or at least I thought it did. Time seemed to stand still for the briefest of moments before it corrected itself. I was about to mention it when Anya pushed a glass of Jack in front of me and after downing it, I passed the blip off as nothing.

That bit of oddity did remind me that I still need to find a Time Mage though. Rare as they are, I'll probably have to unlock and search the entire continent before I come across one of them. Not that I'm in a rush to find the hermits of the magic world, but sooner would be more preferable than later.

After dinner, believe it or not, is when I hone my skills. Not in any physical sense of the word though. My evenings are spent reading. When the elf Hiroshi died, I absorbed the remains of the three Dungeon Cores he had absorbed before reaching Varona. I also gained a shit load of monsters and features I'd neglected to sort through.

Even now that I'm actually going through it, I'm barely making any headway. There are so many different types of features that could potentially benefit my dungeon, that I really should have gone through the list sooner.

Still, it'll probably take weeks to finish so I'm in no rush. Due to my laid back acquisitions with the triplets, I always have points left over to test out new features at the end of the day. It's become one of my highlights actually and I quite look forward to this time.

Today, however, it isn't a feature that I've decided to go with. Today it will be what the System specifies as a monster. Instead, I'm hoping for them to be intelligent family members because I have an important mission for them when I reach Ishda.

Tonight's points are being spent on Vampires. Lesser Vampires first. They have a human appearance as expected, but animal-like intelligence. They can follow orders but don't make good decisions on their own. After an evolution, they became Vampires. The next step up from the Lessers. No longer animalistic in the brains department, and instead they have a keen mind. Ready to serve and advance.

Really, that's all they talk about. Advancing to a Noble.

Which brings us to the third-tier Vampires. Nobles. Damn they look good. They even give the rest of my family a good run for their money. Seriously, it almost feels unfair to the rest of the population, though they're not doing so bad themselves either. The Nobles are clever and calculating which means they should be able to blend into Ishda's population easily.

Ishda is missing a few nobles of their own after all and I can easily erect a mansion or two in the capital, giving them the impression of being of a wealthy status. I can also throw a shitload of gold their way too making it more than just an impression and more or an infallible fact.

Gold does speak almost every language.