“Fuck stairs! Death to the bastard that invented stairs! I swear to whatever god, gods or lack thereof that gave me this new life that I will wipe all stairs more than 4 flights tall from my domain unless they have an accompanying elevator, escalator or teleport platform!”

Arkhan was grumbling as his young body had grown too tired to progress any further into the dungeon. He was less than halfway into the fortress at the heart of the Uncharted Lands, but his seemingly boundless stamina and high stats were now useless in the face of his new mortal enemy; Stairs. He had descended through 15 layers and each time he made it to the stairwell at the end he was filled with even greater dread at the prospect of descending another set of countless steps than he had when he lost just less than half of his forces while facing the Knights at his home village.

“JEBUS GRIPES! I really must commend my troops for putting up with this ridiculous idiocy. Who in their right mind makes floors with ceilings 18 feet from the ground and yet has each floor several hundred meters apart from each other?! I’ve got to question the sanity of the idiot who designed this place. Well, at least he's dead now.”

Arkhan begrudgingly got to his feet and descended deeper into the fortress.

…

…

Level 46

“Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” Arkhan was losing his mind.

…

…

Level 51, Last Floor.

It had been a little more than a day since Arkhan had entered the dungeon.

“No more stairs! Hallelujah! Praise the Sun!” Arkhan screamed as he stepped onto the final floor. He struck an iconic pose, his feet locked together with his body straight like a ruler and his arms making a ‘Y’. He then paused, and looked behind him with a mortified expression, realizing he would eventually have to climb ALL THE WAY BACK UP.

“May God have mercy on my soles….” Arkhan whimpered.

He held his emotions within him as he walked though the mass of Mobile Suit Golems until he reached the Dungeon Core. It was a large metallic looking sphere with intricate, glowing lines that traced a futuristic look on its surface. It seemed to pulse with a life of its own. It truly was the beating Heart of the Uncharted Lands. Arkhan placed his hand on the core…

…

…

Nothing happened.

He checked his Status, but still no change. It was as if the Core was rejecting him.

The more he focused on trying to make the Core belong to him, the more nothing happened. This went on for several minutes until finally, a response from the core.

“GO AWAY, NULLBORN! YOU ARE INCOMPATABLE! DIE SOMEWHERE, UNLOVED, UNNEEDED AND UNWANTED!”

The mechanical voice of the Dungeon boomed throughout the entire Uncharted Lands, likely reaching even the adjacent Human Lands.

Arkhan was disappointed. He had hoped he could use the Dungeon as a buffer between him and the Human Lands, but apparently that was impossible.

“Oh, well. Come on, everyone. Let’s…”

As Arkhan turned around to face his troops, he felt an amazing amount of bloodlust from both the masses on the 51st floor, but also from those on the above floors and the surface.

“You… You DARE?! You dare reject our Glorious Creator?! There is a limit to the arrogance and disrespect one can show!”

Gihren was the first to voice his rage, or at least the first one to do so within earshot of Arkhan. However, all throughout the various floors and upon the surface more and more voices of anger and rage were speaking up and voicing their dissatisfaction with the decision of the Dungeon Core.

“LITTLE ONE! YOU ARE COMPATABLE! ACCEPT ME AND RULE THE DUNGEON IN MY NAME! YOUR FIRST TASK WILL BE TO KILL THE NULLBORN THAT DESECRATES MY HOME! REJOICE! THE POWER THAT I SHALL REWARD YOU WITH WILL BE FAR GREATER THAN WHAT YOUR PREDECESSOR COULD HOPE TO WEILD!”

The Core seemed to identify Gihren as its chosen user, but neither Gihren or the rest of Arkhan’s creations were having any of it. There was a long pause before Gihren approached his creator and placed his metal hand on Arkhan’s shoulder.

“Creator. Trust us. Please, let Ramba Ral take you to the surface. We have a job that must be done.”

Gihren’s voice was stone cold and was filled with pure, unbridled hatred. At first, Arkhan was concerned that his troops may take the Core’s offer and that the hatred was being leveled at him, but as he examined the Status of Gihren and the rest he saw that his fear was ungrounded. They still were fanatically loyal to him, but now Arkhan had an idea of what they were going to do. It was highly likely that they were going to…

Ral grabbed him and made a mad dash through the Dungeon. Being a Rank 6 Gouf Custom, he was much, much faster than when he was a Rank 4 Zaku II Commander type, and still faster than when he was a Rank 5 Gouf. Occasionally, a Goblin, Wolf, Spider or other monster would attempt to intercept, but Ral’s speed was too great and his weapons too powerful. What had taken Arkhan over 1.257 days to travel was sped through in under 7 hours as Ral pushed his thrusters to the limit. Ral continued to rush through the scarred battlefield outside of the fortress and safely delivered his creator to an awaiting Gallop. Suddenly, there was a metallic screech that echoed though the whole of the Uncharted Lands, followed by what felt like a magnitude 7.5 earthquake.

…

…

As Arkhan and Ral had exited the fortress, Gihren, along with the rest of Arkhan's MSGs and the Core were having a staring match.

“LITTLE ONE, WHY DO YOU WAIT? HURRY AND ACCEPT ME AND BATHE IN THE POWER THAT I SHALL BESTOW UPON YOU!”

The Core was starting to sound impatient.

Gihren had finally gotten the message from Ramba Ral that their master was safe, so Gihren spoke to the Core.

“I will give you your answer! You are right about one thing; great power will soon be mine…”

“INDEED! THEN COME AND TOUCH MY FORM!” The Core gleefully boomed.

“… AFTER WE DILIVER YOUR SHATTERED PIECES TO OUR MASTER!!!! DIE YOU SCUM! ALL PERSONEL, OPEN FIRE!” Gihren gave the order and countless rounds of both kinetic and explosive fire was unleashed upon the Core. At first there was seemingly no effect, but as the fire continued the Core began to beg.

“YOU DON’T WANT TO DO THIS! PLEASE, DON’T DO THIS! THINK OF THE POWER! THE GREATNESS! THE INFLUENCE! DON’T DESTROY ME! PLEASE!”

The fire continued until finally there was the sound of cracking and then a massive metallic shriek. The Core shattered like a glass sphere and a massive quake rocked the fortress.

The collective forces of Arkhan lowered their weapons to their sides.

It was unknown who started it, but slowly a chant began to sweep through the entire Mobile Suit Golem army as they raised their right hands high with closed fists.

“Seig Arkhan… Seig Arkhan… Seig Arkhan… Seig Arkhan! Seig Arkhan! SEIG ARKHAN! SEIG ARKHAN!”