After Ceres and I returned to what is left of Tobes, I received a flood of messages. Most of them are freaked out about the level reset event, and are asking for any information about it, but there's not much I can actually tell them so I'll take a while and think of a proper answer, but first we have to talk to Dyson.

We did use the justicar teleport to reach him, so it doesn't take more than a few moments to locate him. Once he spots us he quickly shoves the panicking people out of the way to approach us.

Dyson: “What the hell happened, and what of Madam Erin!?”

Ceres quickly transfers us someplace private so we can talk more freely, and we try to answer Dyson's questions.

“We have managed to take out the leaders of the failed dungeon cores, but our purpose was to save Madam Erin, so I guess depending on how you look at things, it will determine if you think we failed or not. What do you know about where we went?”

Dyson: “Before Akil fled your dungeon he said he sent you to the world crystal, and I mean I get the idea, but to think something like that actually exists? It's not something I have even heard of in the wildest of fantasies.”

Ceres: “It is most definitely real, and the failed cores were attempting to take control over it like they were with Madam Erin's dungeon, or were going to try to do to you. We managed to stop them but not before they, to put it simply, killed the world crystal's dungeon core. Magic, monsters, dungeon cores, and I'm not even too sure if humans would have survived without the world crystal having a core, so our only option was to finish what the failed dungeon cores had started.”

“Madam Erin sacrificed herself to become the world crystal's dungeon core...”

Ceres: “But the damage was already done. The world crystal controls all aspects of [Menu], and contrary to what you might think, isn't limited to just dungeon cores. Every time any creature gains xp, levels up, learns a skill, or even casts magic, they are tapping into [Menu], and even with Madam Erin taking it over, everything has started over from scratch.”

Dyson: “I felt it when it happened, and it effected everyone else, but I don't feel any different.”

“The last thing Madam Erin managed to do before completely becoming part of the world crystal, was stop a few things from resetting.”

Ceres: “She managed to stop the justicar system from resetting and in turn, we justicars were not completely reset. It seems the higher the dungeon core number the more she was able to prevent from resetting, so I am in pretty much the same shape as everything else on the planet, but higher number justicars, like you and Two-Twelve's twins managed to get by without any personal reset.”

“It said my reset was only 33% complete, but so far the only thing I can tell that hasn't reset is my known spells, but without my skills or level, I don't have any magic to cast any of them.”

Ceres: "There are other problems too. The reset should only affected levels, making them as if they never began training, but [Menu] has been altered enough over the years that the world's crystal couldn't possibly have done so properly. I am not sure in which ways, but I am quite sure, things will be very different from this point forth."

“I know there is a lot we need to do, but if Dyson can still use his teleport spells, I would like to ask a selfish request. I received a ton of messages, and even though they all want to know what is going on, Inari is the only one that seems to be in any immediate danger. She was in the process of trying to destroy one of those corrupt dungeons in Shima, and even though she could use a justicar teleport to leave, she would be loosing all of her sentient monsters.”

Dyson: “We still don't know where Laura is, either. And with Madam Erin gone, we are the only Elders left, so if the justicars have not completely reset we are going to need them for what comes next. I'll go get Inari's monsters to safety, and bring her back here along with your other daughters, so let them know to expect me.” -He then turns to Angela and Desiree.- “You two stay here with Two-Twelve and Ceres, I'll be back as soon as I can.”

Angela looks like she wants to argue, but neither one says a word. Dyson gives each of them a gentle kiss before turning and giving Ceres and I a nod before disappearing from the room.

“So what do we do now?” -I ask while I send messages to the girls.-

Ceres: “The dungeon core's xp consumption is really going to take a toll on most dungeon cores with all their xp suddenly disappearing, and humans will likely not be entering dungeons for a while. The dungeon cores that do weather this however should have a clear advantage. With every human back to level 1 as well, dungeon cores can, I assume, still summon monsters, so even if they have to break down half their dungeons, they will hold one hell of an advantage over the humans.”

“I agree. We have been trying to improve the relationship between the dungeon cores and humans for a long time now, and this can either be the perfect thing to bring us together, or the thing that makes it impossible. You already came out telling the humans you are a dungeon core, and I think it is time I do the same. I have met with more than a few of the kingdom's leaders, so I say after Dyson returns with the girls we get the human leaders together as well.”

Ceres nods and then begins looking over her [Menu], she seems rather distressed as she does, but not enough to say anything. I meanwhile start sending some messages to some of the other dungeon cores that messaged me. I also send a message to Belinda, and to the bunnies in the dungeon.

If I knew my xp was going to reset to zero I wouldn't have broken down all those items this morning, but there is nothing I can do about that now. I tell the bunnies to break down some more stuff to at least cover the xp consumption, while I figure out what we are going to do next.

It takes Dyson a little longer than I expected but he finally returns, along with Inari, Maeve, Dawn, and Twilight.

Inari: “Thank you, I didn't think we were going to make it out of that dungeon alive.” -She says while giving me a hug, squeezing really hard.-

Contrary to the smile on her face, when she hugged me I could tell she was still shaking. Dyson went to get her first, so for her to still be shaking after this much time has past, whatever happened in the corrupt dungeon must have been worse than she is letting on.

“I didn't really do much, it was Dyson that saved you.”

Inari: “Still, thank you.”

After Inari finally lets me go, Dawn gives me a hug as well, and although she is wearing her ring making her appearance that of a young human girl that only comes up to my chest, she was largely unaffected by the reset, so when she hugs me she squeezes hard enough I can feel my bones pop.

After I have to tap out of the hug Dawn quickly apologizes for squeezing to hard. Twilight is in her original avian form, but neither she or Maeve give me a hug. They just give me a simple nod while Ceres and I tell Dyson about our plan to bring the human leaders in on this as well.

Dyson: “If it is true that we are the only ones to avoid the reset, I don't think there is a army in the world that could stand in our way if we decided to crush them, so I have no problem with it.”

“We are going to try and broker peace, not war...”

Dyson: “You do realize that many of these leaders that you are speaking about, don't get along even on the best of times, then you add the uncertainty of what just happened, and that's on top of confirming their rivals are cooperating with dungeons. Something many of them could only speculate for decades or even centuries. We'll just see how this turns out...”

This room Ceres transferred us to isn't really big enough to host all of us on top of all the kingdoms' leaders, so we relocate to the large underground room between Ceres's and my dungeons. We don't have the xp to decorate, but I manage to pull a few things from my dungeon inventory to make it at least presentable.

While we do that Dyson leaves again to start rounding up the queens and kings. To make things a bit easier he brings each one back before getting another, and even though I was able to contact Belinda's father and Exeter's queen with communication parchment, the others are not really getting any warning or choice in the matter.

Belinda's father is the first to arrive, and that gives us a little bit of time to be able to talk.

Rondsom: “Even with all the events that have transpired in the past, I still find this quite difficult to swallow. I however can't deny the fact that something did happen. I only wish it didn't come at such a difficult time, with the loss of Tobes, our kingdom is in distress. How are your townspeople handling the relocation?”

“They were handling it the best as could be expected, but the one thing Tobes had was stronger than average citizens, so without many wagons readily available they were carrying the supplies with them. After the reset they can't move the supplies anymore, and with that many people the trip was going to take at least two weeks, so they will never make it as it stands. Belinda is trying to convince them that there is no other choice but to return here, but the people are scared and she is having trouble convincing them.”

Rondsom: “If they return, can you provide for them? Tobes has grown so quickly, that even with the dungeon the infrastructure was having trouble keeping up as it was.”

“In truth it was the town infrastructure holding us back. The dungeon can easily supply the needs of the people, it was doing so without making them aware the dungeon was doing it, that made things difficult. Like the wells and foundations of buildings having to be constructed by my own people so the citizens don't realize they can't dig more than a few feet down before it becomes indestructible. The sewer system of Tobes was unsightly and rather rudimentary at best. Removing waste with the dungeon is so much easier.”

Rondsom: “I see...”

Dyson then returns with Exeter's Queen before leaving back out again. I did little more than just warn her that Dyson was arriving to bring her to a meeting, so to say she is a little confused and not to pleased would be a understatement.

“Forgive me for the short notice.”

Exeter's Queen: “I see by the use of teleportation magic not everyone was effected by whatever it was that happened. Do you care to explain what happened, and where we are?”

“I will, but first Dyson is gathering the rest of the kingdoms' leaders.”

Exeter's Queen: “What of my son, and his wife?”

Rondsom: “They were affected like everyone else, but for now they are safe back home in my castle. I don't know if your son informed you about the situation going on in Tobes before everything changed, but to be on the safe side they were moved there to prevent incident.”

Exeter's Queen: “My son was rather tight lipped about the situation, but I did indeed hear a few things. Was the attack on Tobes related to all of this?”

“Not directly, but I'll explain everything once everyone else has arrived.”

Rondsom and Exeter's Queen are on rather good terms so Rondsom speaks with her further while I greet our next arrival. The next queen to arrive is one of Belinda's aunts, and although she looks almost identical to Belinda's mother I have never been formally introduced to Duscae's Queen.

I introduce myself, but things don't go very well, it isn't until Belinda's father, and Exeter's Queen start speaking with Belinda's aunt, that she finally calms down enough to take a seat. That is also about the same time we receive our next arrival as well.

It hasn't been that long since I was kidnapped in Longolia, but due to the war with Gowen, and several other internal problems Longolia's royalty has changed several times since then, so I don't immediately recognize the young man that arrived, but once he sees the others he seems rather nervous.

The kingdoms' leaders start to show up rather quickly after that, and most of them are quite angry, as Dyson basically kidnapped them all. Some of them become less angry once seeing the others, and others get even more angry, but it isn't until Aaron arrives that Dyson sticks around afterwards.

Aaron: “What is the going on, where is Laura?”

Dyson: “We can discuss what to do about Laura after this meeting, but for now we should get started.”

Now that everyone has arrived I try to call everyone's attention, but kidnapped kings and queens are not exactly the easiest people to get to listen to you.

Dyson is not much of a spell caster, but being one of only a small handful of people that can even cast magic at the moment, when he fires off a loud spell to get everyone's attention, the room becomes silent.

Dyson: “If you want to go home in one piece I suggest you listen to what Two-Twelve has to say, and you might just learn something important as well.”

Including the smaller island kingdoms there are at least twenty members of royalty suddenly turning their attention to me, so when I go to speak my voice fails me. I finally clear my throat and say. “Welcome... I know the manner of your arrival was less than ideal, and I am sure many of you are quite busy with everything that has happened, but its my hope we can come up with a solution to this that might benefit everyone.”

I start to walk around the table and all the eyes follow me as I go making me a bit more nervous as I say. “Many of you probably don't know me, or at least haven't met me, so let me start by introducing myself. I am Two-Twelve Gowen 5th prince of the Gowen family, I'm also one of three dungeon core elders that is tasked with looking over the dungeons, in addition to being the dungeon core of a dungeon myself.”

This causes a bit of a uproar among those at the table, but surprisingly less than I expected. The Midden Badlands isn't exactly a traditional kingdom, but Dyson is technically the king of it, so he has found a seat among the others, and after the uproar begins to get out of hand he slams a fist into the table causing several of the people to jump.

Dyson: “I'm sure you know all know me, or have at least heard the legends. I'm not in fact some lowly descendant to the hero Dyson, like I led you to believe, but the very same Dyson that many of your ancestors had begged for help when I was wandering the land, and I too am a dungeon core elder with my own dungeon under my castle. I was also unaffected by what has happened to everyone else, so take that in mind before disrespecting me, or Two-Twelve again.”

Everyone grows silent again after Dyson's words, and you can also feel the fear building in the room. I try to ease the tensions in the room by continuing what I was saying.

“I promise you, we didn't bring you here to threaten you, but to give you information, so we can move forward with a better understand of what happened and what we can do together, moving forward. I'll start out with the information about what happened to you and all your people several hours ago.”

It seems I finally got their attention so I continue. “To make this easier I will first explain what a dungeon is. I am sure you all know that dungeons have a crystal in their depths that act like a heart, or a mechanism that keeps the dungeon alive, but in addition to the crystal every dungeon also has a dungeon core like Dyson and myself. The dungeon core can be of any race, or even a type of sentient monster, and they control every aspect of the dungeon. We can go further into that later, but I wanted to point that fact out because like a dungeon, the world itself has its own crystal and core.”

Many questions seems to be floating around everyone's heads, but nobody dares interrupt as I continue. “Now the world crystal and core, thankfully, doesn't work exactly like a dungeon crystal and core, because a group of people found the world crystal, and in an attempt to become some kind of god, they tried to take over for the world crystal's core. Their plan failed miserably, but they managed to kill the world core in the process. The dungeon core responsible for The Tower of the Gods, who you might know as Madam Erin, sacrificed herself becoming the core for the world crystal, and in doing so saved us from a far worse fate than we are facing right now.”

Calhoun's King: “Madam Erin? You mean she was master of The Tower of the Gods? Is that the reason the tower began to collapse the same time everything else happened?”

“Her tower is collapsing?!” -I say quite surprised. I should have known her tower would fall, but for some reason I guess I still can't see Madam Erin as being dead...- “Dyson, I made a promise to Madam Erin, can you bring her family back here while I continue?”

Dyson nods and disappears from the room. I am worried about Elexia and Cambion, but hopefully Dyson can find them without problem, and I can't really do anything for them right now, so I continue.

“I'm sorry, I didn't realize... Yes, that would be the reason her tower began to collapse, and that is also the reason for everything else. When Madam Erin sacrificed herself, it stopped magic from disappearing from the world, but she wasn't able to stop it completely.”

I use my [Menu] to take out the stone that the Adventurer's Guild uses to determine ones abilities and hand it off to the Exeter's Queen. “Your level, the xp you have acquired, your hidden talents, and your magic was all controlled by the world crystal, and even though Madam Erin kept that all from disappearing from the world, she couldn't stop it from being reset to a time before you began training.”

Aaron: “What about Dyson? He said he wasn't affected.”

“With Madam Erin's last bit of strength she was able to prevent a few people from the full effect, and they are Dyson, myself, and the other young ladies here in the room.”

I introduce the girls to the kingdom's leaders, and to no surprise many of them know Ceres, but they are quite shocked to learn she is a dungeon core. Everyone else seems to have no issues with the others except for Twilight. She is the only one that doesn't appear human, so they are more wary of her, especially the Dailian king, he looks at Twilight with extreme prejudice.

“Now, what you do from here is what matters. I said Dyson and myself are two of the three remaining dungeon core elders, and even though we are capable of contacting the other dungeon cores, we have no control over them. They were affected just like your people were, so many of them are probably on edge like you are. That leaves many of them quite unpredictable, and how we deal with them depends on you.”

Belinda's Aunt: “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Dungeon cores gain xp from those who enter and/or die in their dungeon or at the hands of their monsters, and unlike humans they require xp to survive. Depending on the size of the dungeon depends on how much xp they are required to survive, and with all of them loosing every bit of xp they had stored up, many will be desperate to acquire more.”

Adra King: “They are going to attack our towns and cities?”

“The smarter dungeon cores will shrink the size of their dungeon to reduce the amount of xp they need to survive, but many of the older, more stubborn dungeon cores will probably, like you said, send monsters out to make up their loss.”

Korta King: “If you are in charge of them, you have to stop them.”

“We are talking about hundreds of dungeons, and with Dyson the only one still capable of teleportation, we couldn't stop them all even if we wanted to. We will do what we can, but my suggestion to you, now that you know that all dungeons have an intelligence behind them, is to make a deal with the dungeons around your towns and cities. If you can work with the dungeon cores in your area this situation could go over much more smoothly.”

Dyson reappears and gives me a nod before saying. “This shouldn't come as a surprise to any of you. Many of you have already worked with dungeon cores at some point or have at least heard legends of it. We are just suggesting instead of doing it to get a leg up on the neighboring kingdom, you do it for mutual survival.”

Dailian King: “To suggest we work with monsters is preposterous!”

Dyson: “You have filled the ranks of your soldiers with dungeon monsters for years, so lets be honest for a moment. Two-Twelve wanted me to bring you here so we all may benefit from this situation, but I couldn't care less. Out of respect for Two-Twelve, if he says he is willing to work with you, so will I, but at any point you decide we lowly “monsters” are beneath you, I could just as well wipe your kingdoms from the map.”

Dyson's words fill the kings and queens with fear, and I can't help but sigh at my plan backfiring on me.

“Look, I didn't want this to be a threat, I brought you all here because I thought you deserved to know what has happened to everyone, and to warn you about the possibilities of the dungeons attacking so you could better prepare your people. Not all dungeon cores will be willing to negotiate, but I honestly believe the majority of those that remain will. And although I don't agree with the way Dailian has handled their deal with the dungeon they work with, it is a prime example of what can be accomplished if you work with a dungeon.”

I continue on by telling them a bit more about dungeons, what happened at the world crystal, and even volunteer to act as a mediator between any of them and a dungeon if they so wish. Each of them has seemed to at least hear what I had to say, but once they begin gripping among themselves we decide to start sending them back home.

Exeter's Queen asked to stick around and I wanted to discuss more about Laura with Aaron, so eventually it is down to just them two along with Belinda's father. I am not sure how Aaron feels about letting the others know about Laura, so for now I ask Ceres to entertain Exeter's Queen and Belinda's father while I speak with Aaron.

“We have so far been unable to learn any information about Laura's location other than the fact that the failed cores claimed to have her captive. Do you have any idea where they might be holding her?”

Aaron: “She left to speak with Lucille, but I haven't heard from her since. I guess it is safe to assume that after the reports I have received and by the way you were speaking that Lucille is dead?”

“We can't be certain of it, but it does seem to be the case. I think finding Laura quickly is imperative, because we don't know what her captives might do to her, after they lost their strength and learn their leaders have failed.”

Aaron: “So what do we do?”

“First of all, how much access do you have to her dungeon? If she is unable, someone is going to have to break-down some of her dungeon to make sure she stays alive until we can find her. I know Laura and I haven't seen eye to eye, but right now, we need every elder we got, so I promise I will do my best to try to find her. Even if I manage to find her, you are going to have to ask for Dyson's help, because he is the only one that would be able to go to her aid.”

Aaron: “I understand...”

“You can speak with Dyson when he returns, but I should probably see what Exeter's Queen wanted to speak with me about.”

Aaron looks discouraged, but he nods. I then go over to speak with the others.

“I'm sorry for keeping you waiting, but I had an important matter to discuss with King Aaron. Now, what can I do for the Queen of Exeter?

Exeter's Queen: “I think it is safe to say you can call me Millie, if you like, or Queen Millie if you prefer.”

“Millie...?” -I say with some skepticism.-

The queen laughs and says. “Yes well, what my parents expected me to live quite a different life than the one I lived, but I guess none of that even matters now. I feel as weak now as the first day I picked up a sword.”

Ceres: “What about your subjects? Exeter has always picked its royalty by strength rather than lineage. Do you think you will maintain your title as the Queen?”

Millie: “That is actually what I wished to speak to Two-Twelve about. Everyone is still reeling with what has happened, and I suspect at first I will remain unchallenged due to nobody wanting take over the kingdom while it is in shambles, but after a few weeks of thought I am sure there will be a few takers.”

“So what is it you want from me?”

Millie: “My one advantage, is everyone else is just as weak as I am at the moment, so I would ask you several favors. First of all is my son and daughter-in-law, I ask you to keep them out of Exeter for the time being until I can be sure my place as Queen is secure.”

Rondsom: “Tanya, is my daughter as well, so you have my word.”

Millie: “Thank you. Secondly, most of the stronger dungeons in Exeter have recently collapsed leaving my choice in training grounds quite limited, but I ask you to speak to one of the remaining dungeons on my behalf in hopes of reaching some kind of an agreement.”

“I will do what I can.”

Millie: “Thank you. And lastly, I heard you did an exceptional job whipping my Exavier into shape, so if all else fails, I ask you to do so again. That way even if I fail, my son at least has a chance to one day retake the throne.”

“I hope it doesn't come to that, but we will do what we can.”

I speak with Exeter's Queen, and Belinda's father a bit longer as Dyson returns to speak with Aaron. Once their conversation looks to be complete Dyson leaves with Aaron and returns just long enough to take Millie home as well.

“With Dyson being our only means of teleportation, I fear it may be a while before Belinda and Rory will be able to stop by for a visit.”

Rondsom: “There is still the communication parchment, so we won't be completely out of touch. I am also interested on hearing how things go with the rebuilding of Tobes now that you can give it your dungeon's full support."

“Of course.”

Since Rory was born it seems every time I see Belinda's father he acts less formally with me, but I am still surprised when Dyson returns to take him back home, he shakes my hand while telling me to take care, before departing with Dyson.

Ceres: “We have informed the humans, now I think it is time we start sending the message out to the other dungeon cores.”

We spend the next half hour or so drafting a message to send out to the dungeon cores. We include what happened concerning the failed cores, the reset of [Menu], and tips on how to resupply themselves with xp without sending monsters out to terrorize the humans.

After sending out the message we decide to look for Laura. If it is a dungeon core holding her hostage, our message just informed them that their bosses failed, so we need to find her before they decide what they want to do with her.

We spend the next few hours using the [Justicar Menu] to try to locate her, but by what ever means they seemed to have her stashed away, doesn't seem like it was affected by the reset.

Between trying to find Laura, answering messages we receive because of the one we sent out, and trying to figure out what we are going to do next, we run out of daylight rather quickly.

Meave: “I don't mean to rush you Papa, but we are not really getting anywhere, and I am going to have to return to my dungeon. I wasn't as lucky as Dawn or Twilight so my xp has been completely wiped out, I am going to have to do some restructuring of my dungeon to meet my xp consumption in a few hours.”

“We will continue looking for Laura, but with Dyson the only one still able to use teleportation magic it may be a days or a few weeks before we find out just how much this reset is going to affect everyone, so I guess for now we should call it a night.”

Inari: “I'm sorry to hear about Tobes. My level may have reset, but my dungeon xp, magic, and even my skills are still intact, so if there is anything I can do to help, just let me know.”

“Going to Shima to train might be more important then ever, but I will first have to build my level back up enough to use my [Gate] spell again, so we don't have to bother Dyson all the time.”

Inari: “My xp is in a rather good spot, so I may have enough to build another secondary dungeon. I could place one near Tobes so we can transfer back and forth if that makes things easier.”

“We still don't know all of the reset's affects, so for now I think we should hold off on any huge xp expenditures like that.”

Inari then gives me a hug and says. “Well the offer still stands if you decide to change your mind.” Dawn gives me a hug as well, and then Dyson teleports out taking the girls with him leaving only Ceres and I left.

Ceres: “It looks like Dyson stopped by the waiting room and got Angela and Desiree, so I guess he doesn't plan on returning again tonight, so what are your plans for the rest of the evening?”

“Right now there is enough room for everyone in your buildings, but if some of the other residents begin to return tomorrow, we are going to need some more space. I am going to look over my dungeon and see if I can make it a bit more hospitable, so they can take shelter there until we can begin rebuilding Tobes.”

Ceres: “Alright, Take care.” -She says before transferring from the room.-

I step over to my side of the room, let out a deep sigh, and then transfer to my dungeon's core room.