The scar that ran across the face of the planet was nothing compared to the small piece of chipped moon.

How can a person be that strong?

It defied everything he knew about life, or his old life at least.

The Time Mage formerly known as Bruce Gold was petrified. First at being alone in the forest against an actual invading army. After all, he had never seen an army of men in person before and had only paid witness to them on TV. On the receiving end of their invasion, however, it was fair to say that Kieran Ely was allowed to be scared.

Then the forest was filled with man-eating monsters, the type generally seen in every anime ever. Spiders, wolves, bats, even a few hundred slime were present. That in itself wouldn't have been the strangest sight had they not been accompanied by an army of literal Assassins. The type that can generally be found strolling around town loving life, or in Talia's Tavern enjoying a good ale loving life, or on guard duty, somewhere or other, still loving life, we're fighting alongside the monsters. Culling humans by the masses.

The last thing that Kieran had seen had pushed him past the limit. He was shocked at the - minuscule at best - planetary destruction caused by the beautiful, young woman.

Her green eyes didn't show that she was capable of such feats; King Aldus had obviously felt the same way before he had disappeared with three of his subordinates. Leaving his army to be obliterated and supposedly high tailing it away.

That wasn't the case however as the Assassins dropped into the shadows and the woman disappeared in a snap. Unable to stop himself, Kieran couldn't help but shake uncontrollably next to the tree he had hidden behind.

It was mind blowing. Sure, he could stop time for a couple of seconds, but that was nothing compared to the beam of obliteration that had even out trumped the King's own blade of magic.

What happened next was stupid by all accounts.

Kieran heard the sound of combat to the east and stupidly followed it. Why? He had no idea and his legs carried him forward as he continued to question himself. Every opportunity he got, Kieran would halt the flow of time for as long as possible to avoid missing a crucial blow. A moment of magically-induced carnage. Destruction like nothing he had ever seen.

The Time Mage ran until he reached the action. It wasn't what he was expecting though. Even with the monsters that he thought would be there. Most of the creatures he had seen in the first fight were still in the same location finishing off stranglers.

The Assassins that had disappeared into the shadows had obviously utilised some type of teleportation skill as they had beat Kieran here and easily at that. The novice Mage was even able to stop time and he felt a little cheated being the last to arrive.

Not that anyone knew he was there.

They were all too engrossed with the army of demons flooding out of the portal. Forming multiple rows around the doorway to doom, the Assassins were fighting hard but the demons looked strong. For every dozen demons that fell, so too did an Assassin.

After he had laid his eyes on the demons, Kieran was furious with himself. He couldn't believe he had made his way to the next battle instead of returning to the mountain dungeon. He had been gone for twenty minutes at this point. Surely, one of his ever-watching parents had noticed he was missing and they were probably searching the dungeon as he watched the carnage.

Unbeknownst to the citizens guarding Varona from the city's outskirts and those inside the dungeon, an army of more than one million demons were trying to force their way into this plane in the forest outside their home. There was that much going on that Kieran only did one thing.

He ran.

He wasn't an Assassin. They looked cool. In his brown tunic and green pants, Kieran thought he resembled some type of country hick. It had been a novelty in the beginning, but that had long since worn thin. Now, after seeing the Assassins, Kieran wanted nothing more than to be like them.

If Abi would have known this, or in fact known of Kieran's existence at all, then she would be groaning. Another - what could it be - exemplary Mage wanting to follow in the steps of the Abi's unique summons.

One of the guards noticed a blip of a person before it disappeared as he ran past stopping time once more. Still sprinting he went through the residential district and into the usually-bustling street that housed Lucinda's Liquids. Round the corner, he passed Ali's and from there it was a straight run to the center of town.

He could see the Academy of Dark Arts, the place his parents always talked - argued? - about. The first time he had seen it was earlier on that day. The crowd he and his parents had been part of were led towards the main building and around the side. At the back of the campus, between two other smaller buildings, were two large, stone doors. The entrance to the dungeon.

Kieran didn't have the same conceptions as the rest of Tironia when the subject of conversation was about dungeons. His knowledge came from the life of Bruce and its shortly lived, but majorly loved, hobbies of reading fantasy novels and the old Nintendo RPGs the orphanage had.

Without hesitation, Kieran backtracked through the tunnels and caves that led him to his freedom less than half an hour ago. Hoping against fate that the Assassins can somehow push back the demons and the green-haired woman would defeat the king.

He had seen them standing off as he made his way through the forest, but Kieran had already decided he wasn't sticking around any longer. He thoroughly wanted his parents to drag him home and scold him and then ground him for eternity.

It was nice having parents and Kieran didn't want to lose them.

That said, after seeing the angry and disappointed looks on their faces, all Kieran actually wanted to do was to curl up into a ball and forget that this day had ever happened.

Kieran Ely, Time Mage

Dungeon Stories Volume 4

Noble Vampires are not hindered by the same debilitating effects that their lesser and average brethren have to be cautious of. Lesser Vampires turn to dust if they come into contact with the sun. The second stage of their race have managed to gain small resistances to the harmful yet everyday aspect of life, but they still can't bask in the rays of warmth for more than a few seconds.

At least they don't instantaneously combust into a ball of fire anymore like the lesser versions do, but the Nobles take it a step further. Able to walk the sun-covered streets without fear of setting aflame, the Noble Vampires are truly the pinnacle of their species. They're also past the point of good looking as I continuously find myself captured by their beauty.

Not that them being perfect on the eye is a bad deal, it should help with their mission realistically as people will do anything for a pretty face. Even going as far as to change their ways which is what I'm aiming for really.

For now, all of the Vampires have been sent to Tune and will stay there until I reach Ishda. Lesser Vampires and Vampires follow the commands of the Nobles and they all work together as one unit. The Lesser Vampires carry out their tasks under the cover of night while the second-stage Vampires work from the shadows.

Nobles, with their immunity to sunlight, work during the day and organise the night missions for their lesser brethren. I'm not sure if it's all Vampires, if it's only this group, or if it's just my family, but each one of them is able to use magic to influence or control people weaker than them.

Which is almost everybody after they've gained a few dozen levels.

Magical mind control will hopefully reduce the number of people visiting the Towers of Torment. Taking the time to make people see the errors of their ways by letting them have a few days with Samantula and the Arachnids on floor 49 also works wonders. Scaring peoples souls back to grey isn't the most proficient way to do what I'm doing, but it beats the cycle of reincarnation hands down.

Who wants to wait fourteen years for someone to reach adulthood only to find out that they're nearing an orange soul because their life has been shite? It's better to solve the root of the problem.

Life itself.

Hence why Tune and Orad have had a multitude of features built for them. Food production easily surpasses the population's needs now and there should be no one going hungry in either of the two acquired cities. Homelessness and orphaned children were also addressed with new residential areas and an orphanage created in both cities too.

According to Light, Orad didn't have many problems and they barely have a dozen kids in their orphanage. Raff, on the other hand, asked me to build a second building as his orphanage had filled up before he could solve Tune's orphan problem.

The homeless problem was easier to solve. Adults are more capable of taking care of themselves than children are so it was just back to life for them. No longer homeless and with a skip in their step, a good 10% of Tune turned a neutral grey overnight.

Those Vampires should do well in Ishda too.

Speaking of Ishda, I'm about three quarters of the way towards our region's capital now.

Slowly but surely.

I've only just realised another problem that I hadn't even considered. When the triplets and the rest of the Oblivion Dragons evolve, are they all going to become like Rebecca, the drum-playing Dragon of Rebellion?

That will be hard.

Although, I don't really want the triplets to change their personalities. They're what make them unique. I doubt Amber would lose her love of food, but I could do without them wanting to do the opposite of anything I say.

That's another one of those bridges I'll have to cross soon except I feel as though that one is held together by yarn. Not tightly bundled or interwoven to make the material strong, but a singular thread threatening to snap at any moment.

The Noble I placed in charge was named Jezebel. She was left to manage the brood that were mind-fucking Tironians into being better people and reported to Raff on a daily basis. Raff in turn reported her progress to me during the morning meetings in Varona.

Fun.

Other than my Vampire test projects which I started the other day, I've also been visiting the Cathedral of Confession twice since its upgrade. Cardinal Carn was adamant that I show up every now and then to reinforce the belief of his flock. Not that they should need it after we beat the King's army, but I don't particularly mind.

The visits consist of me saying a few words, Amber stuffing her face, Blondie being everyone's bestie and Violet showing off the oversized Bear. Which, believe it or not, people are getting used to. Then again, an Oblivion Dragon riding a Bear is not the strangest sight my city had to offer.

Of the many odd sightings that can be found around Varona, the multicoloured-mountain that houses my actual dungeon is by far the winner in my opinion. The sight I've come to know as home is breathtakingly beautiful while being utterly impossible at the same time.

Its growth alone is something that doesn't stand to reason, but the fact that it changes and becomes more with every floor, Boss and Mini Boss, is something else.

Still, I wouldn't change it for the world.