Chapter 15: I'm a MALE!
Darkness.
That was what Zach felt at this moment. But it was a different kind of darkness not like the nights without light, nor like the one when he closed his eyes. No, this one was pure darkness. The dust-like things swirling around him were dark, the ground and sky were dark, and he couldn't even see a single part of his body.
Just when he was wondering if he had died, he suddenly felt a pull on his body or maybe his soul, whatever it was but something was dragging him away.
[Initializing…]
Hearing that robotic voice in his head, or so he thought, Zach shook as he woke up in a small cave, barely six feet in diameter and twenty feet deep. He opened his eyes or whatever it was that constituted his sight to find everything in darkness, yet he could still faintly see.
The entrance of the cave alluded to the outside world, a faint glimmer of moonlight shining inside.
He wasn't alone in this cave. There was also a large, brown, panther-like bear, along with a small pile of bones a mixture between those of animals and humans.
'Why am I floating? No wait, why can't I feel my body? It's like I exist in another form,' Zach thought to himself. He felt strangely calm, like his emotions were more controlled than before. That much was true, as he no longer existed in human form, meaning the dopamine and other factors triggered by the brain no longer affected him.
"System, what am I?" Zach quickly asked, he knew he used to be a human but now... Floating midair he was confused.
[Host was killed… Soul saved as host is a beginner, and this is the beginner's package.]
Remembering all that had happened to him from being tortured by the sadistic knight to being fed to a bear, which Zach suspected to be this one he let out a soft sigh. Karma really was a bitch. 'Well… at least the bear didn't try dinner and a movie first. Bastard just skipped straight to the eating part.'" he mutters, anyway no one was around to hear his dry jokes.
"System, can I see or feel my current body? Also, I want to see my information."
[Status initialization complete.
Loading...
Start-up complete.]
Suddenly, Zach began to feel his body. Well, if he could call it a "he" body. For the first time, instead of just an uncanny 360-degree field of view, he could feel what he had become.
His current body was a crude, rhombus-shaped crystal approximately two feet tall. He didn't have any physical appendages, but he did have tentacle-like mana tentacles that could sense the surrounding area and even drag him through the air. They were also what kept him mysteriously floating.
"My God! I'm no longer a human. My assets, my mana, everything seems to be gone! …Wait. My dick—?!" He almost panicked, then remembered he didn't even have a body. "Well, at least I won't need tissues anymore, but still...." He wished he could cry and roll on the floor in tears. Who wouldn't after waking up and discovering they didn't have a body anymore? Especially the weapon he was so proud of, "System, show me my information."
[Species: Dungeon Core
Name: Zachary
Mana: 100/100
Exp: 0
Level: 1
Abilities:
- Dungeon Creation
- Mana Control
Looking at the information, Zach felt the drastic change. His race was no longer human but a mere core, confirming what he thought. Instead of diving deeper into those thoughts, he paused, as he had more pressing issues at hand such as the panther bear if it can be called so, which had just woken up and was now staring at the strange, glowing, blue prismatic crystal floating in its cave.
The bear felt no threat from the crystal. It didn't look or smell like food. It also didn't make any sound, yet gave off a strange, intimidating presence. Being a territorial animal, the bear didn't take it lightly.
Curiously, it stepped closer to the crystal, which instinctively swung its intangible mana tentacles at the bear while drifting slightly backwards.
The mana tentacles couldn't touch the bear's physical body, simply passing right through it. But they did cause the bear to feel a pain, like electricity passing through its snout. Now feeling threatened, the bear roared at the crystal, only for its snout to be struck again when it got closer, causing it to flinch back once again.
Like any other creature, the bear was afraid of the unknown. It quickly learned that moving close to the crystal caused it pain, and it seemed to be inedible. Wary of it, the bear moved away and lay down while watching.
Zach the crystal waved his tentacles threateningly, unaware that the bear could not perceive them. Once he was satisfied and a strange stalemate seemed to be established, he explored the landscape around it curiously.
As his tentacles reached into the ground, they seemed to merge and become one with it as a new window appeared in its mind.
[Connection established.
Do you wish to establish a new dungeon?
Yes / No]
Seeing this, Zach didn't hesitate to choose yes, now without a body, he need to level up and regain his body before doing his journey to the west for women and to grow string, he need to level up and to level up he needs to be a dungeon master.
[New dungeon
+ 100 exp
+ New skill: Dungeon Control
+ New skill: Basic Dungeon Construction
+ New skill: Trap Construction
+ New skill: Mining
A new screen replaced the old one with the new skills Zach had acquired by forming a dungeon. His vision also stabilized. Now, instead of being an all-round panoramic viewpoint from the crystal, it had an omnipresent sight of everything in the dungeon.
Unfortunately, he still couldn't see outside beyond the small window to the outside world.
Zach quickly opened his status and inspected the updated information.
[Species: Dungeon Soul Core]
Name: Zachary
Mana: 100/100
Exp: 100
Level: 1
Abilities:
- Dungeon Creation
- Mana Control
- Dungeon Control
• Breeder – 50 mana, 20 biomass
- Basic Dungeon Construction
• Scan – 10 mana/m³
- Trap Construction
• Bait – 5 mana, 5 biomass
• Spike Trap – 20 mana, 10 stone
• Pitfall Trap – 10 mana, none
- Internal Resource Storage
• Physical Material – none
• Liquid Material – none
- Mining
• Basic Material Identification
Resources: None
Monsters: None]
The status panel had undergone a massive change from how it was moments before. He spent a long time inspecting each item, trying to understand them, but nothing was properly explained. He was, however, able to rely on knowledge that he didn't know the origin of to speculate.
'So I'm a dungeon core, and by establishing a dungeon, I became the dungeon itself. Kind of like becoming the town hall in an RTS kingdom-building game… except I *am* the entire kingdom. I can feel myself, my blood flowing through the walls—or whatever passes as my lifeforce.'
'I can control everything, but it's sluggish. I'll need to find ways to speed up my progress. Maybe build some villagers or something.'
'It appears I have enough experience to level up, but let me get familiar with everything first. Using mana, I can do detailing and finer control of parts of me, but I can't touch anything that's not "me," such as that damned bear. How dare it stay inside me!'
'Aside from that, everything else is basically straightforward and just needs some experimenting. But how am I supposed to get monsters? I don't appear to be able to summon them. Is this one of those games where you need to lure them in to take up residence in the dungeon? Like I would let that happen!! Filthy things! I thought I will build a dungeon of monster girls!'
'The Breeder seems oddly suspicious… like, what am I breeding? Monsters? Beasts? Also, the most disturbing one is, am I the one doing the breeding or getting breed?! System, don't tell me I just unlocked the hentai DLC!'
He had the image of a group of horny humans, goblins, and beasts impregnating the dungeon's walls and floors, and was so aghast he wanted to throw up though the only actual change was his mana becoming chaotic.
"'I am male! One hundred percent, definitely male! I. AM. MALE! …Okay, maybe ninety-nine. But unless this crystal comes with boobs, I'm sticking with male gender! I rather be the one digging into their home rather than being pegged.'"