The world shivered as the first dungeons tore through the surface. Mountains cracked, rivers shifted, and the air itself seemed to hum with latent energy. Kael'Ar was alive in a way it had never been before—the very land pulsing with raw potential, resonances of circuits, and unnatural laws bending to the will of the dungeons.
Across continents, those attuned to circuits—the hunters, the mercenaries, the scholars of energy—felt it first as a ripple, a faint tremor in the underlying currents of reality. Some mistook it for earthquakes. Others, more attuned, knew immediately: dungeons had begun to appear, and something new, something profound, was at work.
I observed silently from the shadows, unseen, untraceable. Let them scramble, explore, grow… the Era of Dungeons had begun, and the rules I had set were now in motion.
In the sprawling city of Virelia, a boy stirred. He was no ordinary child. White hair flowed freely, streaked with a bold line of cerulean at the front, framing sharp sky-blue eyes that seemed to pierce through the fabric of reality itself. He was only nine, yet the circuits within him pulsed with a gravity that bent perception. Time seemed… to hesitate around him.
He sat atop a crumbling rooftop, his small fingers tracing patterns in the air. Each motion sent ripples across the ambient energy, the air itself trembling under the manipulation of Chrono and Gravity circuits. Already, the boy felt the awakening of something greater within him—a presence, a guiding force he could not yet name, but whose echoes of authority were undeniable.
"Wha… what is this?" he whispered, voice trembling but determined, as a fissure tore open a street below, spewing molten rock and monstrous forms. A high orc, larger than the tallest man he had ever seen, lumbered out, claws scratching the ground, snarling with anticipation. Behind it, a pack of wolves, enhanced with unnatural strength, slithered and slunk with predatory grace.
Instinct and raw talent took over. He leapt, bending gravity around himself to shorten distances impossibly, spinning mid-air, observing time in fragments as if each second contained a thousand possibilities. One wolf lunged from the side; he twisted, altering momentum, sending it tumbling harmlessly into the debris.
His circuits pulsed, resonating in a dance of pure potential. "This… this is what I was meant for," he murmured, eyes narrowing with excitement. Every monster, every challenge, every threat feeding the growing hunger within him. He had felt it, even as a child: the world was no longer static. It would test him, and he would respond.
Elsewhere, across Kael'Ar, other hunters began reporting anomalies. Dungeons appearing in the mountains outside Karveth, in forests near Arkion, even in the deserts of the eastern plains. Each dungeon came with its hierarchy, from lowly common bosses to elite dungeon lords, the energy signatures exploding into the atmosphere, visible even from orbit to those who could see.
Circuit users everywhere felt it: the world had shifted. Some were terrified. Some were exhilarated. The whispers spread, carried across guilds, hunter academies, and mercenary networks:
"The dungeons… they're everywhere. Impossible levels. This… is the beginning of something new."
And for a brief moment, the planet itself seemed to pause, the eyes of its defenders turning instinctively toward the distant horizon, feeling a presence guiding this chaos—a ghostly hand shaping destiny.
Back in Virelia, the boy—already aware of his own burgeoning powers—focused. Gravity bent at his will, time slowing for him while moving normally for others. He could feel the dungeon's energy, its pulse, the rhythm of the monsters within. He clenched his fists, the air around him shimmering faintly with temporal distortion.
"This… is just the start," he murmured to himself, a grin forming. "If this is the world now… I'll master it."
From far above, a shadow passed unnoticed—Arata Kurogane, analyzing, calculating, and watching the emergence of the Era of Dungeons. Not a single action was random. Every spawn, every surge of energy, every hero rising, was part of the ecosystem I had imagined. The boy before me—the first hero of this age—was already beginning to challenge reality itself.
I allowed myself a faint smile. "Interesting. He feels it already. The hunger. The growth. The understanding. He will be dangerous… but not yet a threat to me."
And as the sun dipped beneath the horizon, golden light spilling across Kael'Ar, the first dungeons shimmered into place, monsters roaring and testing their domains. The hero leapt into the fray, bending gravity, slowing time, and already leaving a trail of awe and terror in his wake.
The Era of Dungeons had truly begun.