Chapter 141 Dungeon Core: “The Eternal Training Ground”

Pov Faris

It was so satisfying. It must be so painful for the dungeon as we melted its very being. Too soon, the beam cut off as the device cracked and then started to melt.

"Move in," I commanded. It might have been a good idea to take a larger break, as everyone was a bit exhausted, but no matter how satisfying using the melter was, we were still racing against time and who knows what might happen.

This was still something that annoyed me a lot. Not knowing and not being ready for everything was something I wasn’t really comfortable with.

As I watched our fighters rush into the labyrinth, I saw how they started to fight with the different monsters that were meant as traps. They were terrible creatures, a lot of them using deadly poisons, but they were out in the open now, so dealing with them was a little bit easier.

The tunnel deep into the labyrinth was quite wide, but the labyrinth was really tall, so we had some monsters dropping onto our fighters. We were still ready for that. Everything was going smoothly, so I was just waiting for something to go wrong, but it didn’t.

For a moment there, I expected the entire labyrinth to mobilize against us, but it seemed like the analysts were this time correct. All the monsters were part of traps, so if you didn't trigger them, they wouldn't attack.

Thanks to this, we were able to rush in quite fast, but even then, we still lost a few as accidents still happen and these poisons were truly deadly. It seems that I wasn’t the only one satisfied when we used the next melter, as almost everyone had a vindictive grin on their faces. Once again, I held my breath as we started to rush into the next section, but it seemed like this dungeon was finally out of tricks.

The last melter needed to be set up precisely as we didn't want to actually destroy the core. While they were getting set up, I decided to look around and admire this labyrinth.

I hated to admit it, but this was one of the more impressive works I’ve seen in dungeons that have fewer than 50 floors. The sheer complexity of the labyrinth and the way it turned into a true time sink for anyone who didn't have a melter.

Too bad its mind will now be so limited, but that didn't matter; we would take all its secrets and use them to finally trigger another making. We would not make the same mistakes again; I would make sure.

For a moment I thought I saw something deep in one of the labyrinth pathways but dismissed it. It was too dark; I shouldn’t have been able to see anything.

The forever darkness was also such a clever idea. The only reason we had light was because of the melter as it destroyed everything in the dungeon, even its rules. The darkness we witnessed was oppressive when there were some straighter pathways in the labyrinth. I couldn’t imagine spending years in this kind of darkness, but it was yet another good deterrent for anyone who didn't have a melter.

We, on the other hand, had multiple melters, and once again I enjoyed every moment of it as it burned through the walls, making its way deeper into the labyrinth. At the end of the tunnel this time, we saw light. It didn’t take us long to reach that light, and in fact, the tunnel continued to go past the source of light, but we had reached our destination.

The analysts were incredibly accurate, and we had a decent-sized doorway cut out of one of the corners of the core room. Our three remaining platinums and our other strongest fighters rushed in.

"It’s it clear." I heard them announce, and then I walked in. The entire room was bathed in white light that was coming off the huge core. "Well, that could explain some things," I heard one of the analysts say who followed after me.

It could indeed explain some things. It probably could store a lot more mana than was normal, and most likely, it also explained why it might be smarter than normal dungeons. The core was everything a dungeon was everything else is it just using its resources to build around it. We could all feel that thick sense of mana as it flowed through this core.

One thing that no dungeon liked was its core being touched. It was also dangerous, but I flew upwards towards the center of the sphere. It was truly a massive core, at least three stories high. I laid my hand on it. Normally, a free dungeon would attack me, but since it was going through a breakthrough, it wouldn't even understand why it felt uncomfortable.

I flew back down and deposited the chains underneath it. Then I flew away and gave orders for some of the analysts to activate it. Normally, I tried to be as emotionless as possible, but it was impossible to keep the grin off my face. It would be so enjoyable ordering this dungeon to destroy and create what I wanted, not what it wanted.

The device activated, and chains shot out. There were dozens of them; they continued to grow as they started to envelop the core.

My happiness, however, didn’t last long as the chains started to aimlessly search around about halfway up the core. That shouldn’t be happening. "What is going on?" I asked no one in particular. There was silence for a moment, but then one of my analysts answered.

"Perhaps the chains are too short; it is a huge core." That was the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard them say. Fortunately, an analyst whose voice I recognized answered back.

"The chains are capable of controlling a lot stronger cores than this, and a lot bigger ones. Did you not read the reports on this device?" No one answered, but I didn’t care about their stupidity; what I cared about was that the device wasn’t working as it should be.

"Go and fix it now!" I snapped, and immediately everyone got to work. "Perhaps this core is simply too perfect," the same analyst said who suggested that the chains might be too short.

Well, at least now I had a target that I could kill to lower my anger. No one answered him as that statement didn’t even deserve an answer.

"I mean, just look at how smooth it is. How transparent and that pure light. I truly am perfect. How could a device like this chain such a core?" I was about to yell and actually kill this analyst when I replayed what he said.

My eyes got wide. It was the dungeon speaking. "You're supposed to be asleep!" I yelled out, and as I looked around, I noticed that I wasn’t the only one to catch that mistake.

"Damn it, my legal team was right, I need more practice in deception. Well, it was fun, even if it was short. Nice to meet you all, I guess. My name is Eternal Training Ground and I’m afraid that I do not appreciate you causing all this damage."

It was hard to comprehend, and why was he so amused? "Get the melter ready now. Why are you not asleep? You are going through a breakthrough; you can't have already finished it?"

Hopefully, asking the questions would distract it so we could get ready. If it was awake, it could get a lot of monsters here fast, and we would soon be overrun.

"That's an easy answer: it’s because I wasn’t going through a breakthrough. I faked it so you would act." Absolutely everyone stopped working as we all looked in horror at the core.

"Too stunned to speak? I guess I can understand that. In all honesty, you guys did really well but, sooner or later—this time a bit later—someone messed up." I could feel the amusement in its words.

"You lie; I didn’t mess up," I retorted. It then started to chuckle in amusement. "So my legal team says that you are too good for me to test out my deception skills. The real answer is that you did mess up; however, it was from underestimating me, not from any mistakes you did inside the dungeon."

It once again laughed; it was a joyous laugh. "How are you not in pain right now? The melter should have caused you so much pain." There was a small pause.

"That was unpleasant, and I didn’t really appreciate it, but like so many of my creatures and adventurers, training for hardship is important. Learning to endure and dismiss pain is important, don't you think?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw the device almost ready to be fired; I just needed to stall it a little bit longer. "How could you have any presence on the surface?"

There was once again a small pause. "I have been counseled that explaining everything is not a good idea, but I’m not the only one who could use outside resources." His words puzzled me, but it didn’t matter; I was about to give the command to fire.

"Oh, that would be unfortunate. No need to use that device. I would like to have it for research purposes. But since you're so adamant about destroying this core, let me help you." As soon as the voice stopped, a large crack appeared on the core. Before we could do anything, the core shattered, falling into pieces.

"Now that that’s done, I think the time for speaking is over." Immediately, the surroundings turned pitch black, and the only light we could still see was from the broken core pieces that were slowly dimming.

From the distance, we could hear the roars of angry monsters. Why was it so hard to think? What happened? It was all just too much. "Retreat!" I yelled out, doing as I ordered as I started to teleport out.

For a second there, I felt my destination connect, but then it fizzled out. No, that was our innate skill; no dungeon should be able to influence that.

There was already fighting happening, and it was so dark already, only a few embers of light left from the dying core or whatever this deception was. I tried to use the communication crystal I had, but it was dim. That meant its pair was destroyed.

This could not be happening. "What are you, you monster? Anomalies like you should be shattered. You are an abomination, and you will never survive past your next floor. When everyone finds out about you..."

There was a short bark of laughter. "And who’s going to find out?" At that moment, the last pieces of the core’s light winked out, and I felt true horror.