Fenrir

As soon as I come through the other side of the portal, I find myself surrounded by a vast sphere of void energy.

This sphere slowly draws closer to my core every second as the energy within it is absorbed into my crystal, giving me a pleasant feeling along with it.

After all of the void energy is absorbed, I begin to take note of my surroundings.

I'm not sure what that was all about, but I appear to be in a small cave, most likely within the mountains I had seen through the portal before passing through it.

When I look around the cave, I notice a strange little blue flame floating midair in a corner.

It seems to be growing, albeit at a slow pace, so I begin to approach it to investigate.

As I approach the flame, I hear a tiny feminine voice.

"Hello?" The tiny voice says.

I look around the cavern in an attempt to find the owner of the voice but all I can see is the blue flame, so I continue approaching it.

After getting close enough to it, I realize what the flame is.

It was the wisp that Fenrir spoke of!

"Who is Fenrir?" The wisp asks me in a curious tone of voice.

It can talk?

Actually, Fenrir said that it is supposed to guide me, so it makes sense that it can talk.

"My name is Dawn, so stop calling me an it," the wisp says with some heat before adding, "Also, you should stop projecting all of your thoughts to me. Just imagine a sort of bubble around your core. After that, mentally push out the thoughts that you would like to say."

Dawn? That's a nice name.

Imagine a bubble around my core? That sounds easy enough.

I do as she says and imagine a bubble of sorts surrounding my core.

"Hello Dawn," I mentally push towards Dawn before asking, "Did that work?"

"Yes!" Dawn exclaims in surprise.

"Thank you for teaching me how to do that," I tell her.

"Do you have a name?" Dawn carefully asks me.

A name? I don't think I have a name.

Wait... maybe that could work?

"My name is Fenrir," I say, or rather project my thoughts with absolute certainty.

I take Fenrir's name as a way to honor him.

"Fenrir? That is a nice name," Dawn says with some surprise.

Dawn begins to slowly float around my core before asking, "What element are you bound to? While the color of your core gives a hint, there are so many elements that it's difficult to tell just by a color."

"I am bound to the void element!" I tell her with a hint of pride.

"The void?! Are you serious?" Dawn asks rather hysterically; which is weird considering how calm she has been ever since she came into existence.

"Fenrir told me before he opened a portal for me to leave the void. He also said that the element was rare, but does it really warrant that type of reaction?" I incredulously ask Dawn.

Dawn's flame suddenly flares up a little bit as she says in a rushed and slightly excited tone, "Yes, it does warrant that reaction. There has never been a void element dungeon core before on Midgard! If there ever were any void element dungeon cores, then they would be stuck in the void until the day they die!"

Really?

I guess I am pretty rare then.

After Dawn calms down, she asks, "By the way, who is this Fenrir that you keep mentioning?"

"Fenrir was a wolf who had found me in the void and taught me a little bit about the world before sending me through a portal to this mountain as he was passing away," I describe, getting a little sad by the end of it as I remember Fenrir's form before sending me out.

"Oh, I am sorry for your loss," Dawn says sincerely after hearing my words.

"I just hope that he went out without any pain," I sullenly reply.

A short moment of silence passes in honor of Fenrir before Dawn continues, unable to hold back her excitement any longer after having found out I was of the void element.

"You must be one of the luckiest beings in existence!" Dawn says in a rushed tone, "The void is nearly endless, and this Fenrir somehow managed to find you on accident! Ahem... Sorry, I lost my cool there. Seriously though, you are most likely the only void element being in all of Midgard!"

Wait, really?

I didn't realize just how lucky I was until now!

Wait a second...

"What did you mean when you said that 'they would be stuck in the void until the day they die?'" I ask Dawn in a nervous tone of voice.

"Oh, well all beings have a limited life span. You said that Fenrir had told you a little bit about the world? Well, a being increases their life-span every time they gain a level within something called the Path of the World, and while very few races start with the same life-span, they can all attain an incredibly long life-span if they were to get far enough on the path. Dungeon cores have an incredibly long life span to begin with, but no matter how long it is, it is still finite and will end if you don't have a way to level up. Since a dungeon core cannot level up in the void due to the very limited supply of creatures and lack of World Energy, it will eventually die in there," Dawn explains to me as she starts to float around the cave.

"Oh, well, that explains it then," I say as I try to absorb all of this information.

"However, there is one thing that strikes me as interesting," Dawn says while floating around me in circles before stopping on top of my core, "In order for a being to open a portal to and from the void, they have to at least be Tier 10 – also known as the God tier and the highest known tier in all of Midgard – and be of the void element. That means that this Fenrir was a Tier 10 being, which would explain how he managed to find you after entering the void. For something to kill him, it must have been extremely powerful."

Really?!

"He was that powerful?! I didn't realize it, although maybe it was because he was weakened the entire time I knew him? He did mention that he had messed with something that he shouldn't have messed with, and it drained practically all of his lifeforce," I say dumbfoundedly.

Dawn starts moving around again before mumbling, "I wonder what he was messing with that could kill a god level being..."

She then turns silent for a few minutes as she thinks before turning serious again.

"We got a little sidetracked, but it's good that you know about cultivation already. Now let's teach you how to set up your dungeon, but first, think 'Status'," Dawn says, moving on from the subject.

She wants me to think status?

Okay...

'Status?'

A strange suddenly screen appears in my field of vision.

Name: Fenrir

Race: Dungeon Core

Element: Void

EXP Level: 0

EXP: 0/10

Cultivation Level: 0

Cultivation to next Level: 46%

Mana: 10/10

Secondary Tabs: Dungeon Status, Skills List, Talents List, Achievements List

"The massive number of 0's are a little depressing to see, but it looks rather convenient," I calmly point out while studying every inch of the screen.

"Yes, status is convenient," Dawn says with a chuckle before continuing in a more serious tone, "Most of the status should be rather self-explanatory. Each tier is ten levels, and to get EXP as a dungeon core you must simply kill the intruders who enter your dungeon. The Tier of the intruder determines the amount of EXP they will give you, with Tier 1s giving one EXP, and each tier above giving double the tier below. Therefore, Tier 2 gives two EXP, Tier 3 gives four EXP, and so on."

"Do intruders ever destroy dungeon cores?" I ask, despite feeling a little bit overwhelmed by the information she is giving me.

"Don't worry, no one ever destroys a dungeon core because everyone is obsessed with getting stronger, and dungeon monsters are the only way to do that. The only reason someone would destroy a dungeon core is if said dungeon sent its monsters out of its dungeon to destroy everything outside. Even that is extremely rare, seeing as most dungeon cores tend to mind their own business," Dawn says after seeing how nervous I was getting, making me calm down again.

I'm glad that people don't normally destroy dungeon cores.

"Next up, mentally select the Secondary Tab called 'Dungeon Status,'" she states after seeing that I had calmed down enough.

I do as she says before another screen shows up next to the first one.

Dungeon Notification:

This is your first time opening the Dungeon Status, and therefore you must pick your starting monster and trap.

Note: Just because you pick a starting monster or trap does not mean you cannot make a monster or trap outside of this choice later on. Just that this monster and its evolutions will be more easy to create, understand, and evolve than others.