[ Side-Quest #2: Dungeon Master El Reid is dying, save him. ]
[Reward: 5,000 mythical exp ]
[Note: Since you are the main cause of his current state, there will be deductions.
Sheila, the supposed guide of Dungeon Master El Reid, stood up and the streams of light that surrounded her disappeared. She walked towards the other end of the room, where Dungeon Master El Reid is currently dying.
Yes, despite having his whole body blasted to the wall, he didn't die instantly and is instead grasping for straws. Still, with the various broken bones and brutal wounds he has, he would die a minute later if he isn't healed.
The sound of her steps echoed in the empty room, and is accompanied by the continuous dripping of blood. The sound stopped when she was only a meter away from his body.
She flicked her hand and weaved strange gestures, and dark markings appeared on the body of the Dungeon Master. Every marking that appeared on the Dungeon Master's body glowed and gave off a gentle light.
When his body was fully covered with markings, she stopped moving. Her whole body glowed a silver light with a tinge of blue.
"Heal and Reform"
At her command, the light from her body and his, like a growing and raging tide, entered inside his body. As if his body was sentient, they joined and repaired themselves, until not a single scar was found in his body.
After using her powers, her face was as pale as a sheet. Wiping the sweat of her face she looked at the system notifications.
[ Side-Quest #2 Completed ]
[ Reward: 5000 mythical exp ]
[ Because you caused this in the first place, deduction of 6,000 mythical exp. ]
"I expected this much", she remarked. "I hope you won't disappoint me Dungeon Master."
She sat down near his body, and entered a meditative state. However, this time, there were no longer any faint streams light, or Mana, surrounding her.
———————————————
I opened my eyes, and was greeted by a strong ache coming from all parts of my body. The pain made it hard for me to see. Thus, I can only make out the figure of a girl sitting in front of me.
'If I remember correctly, I was sent to my dungeon by that damned system. How come my body hurts so much? and then there's this girl.'
"You're awake."
Her voice was very pleasant to hear, it was comparable to the voice-actors in my last life.
"... Yeah, and who are you?"
"I'm Sheila. I'm here to be your beginner guide in the world called Meta Plane."
'Beginner guide? Considering my situation, I really do need one.'
My sight regained its clarity and I could clearly see her now. She was remarkable beauty wearing a deep azure robe. Her hair was doused with the color silver and her eyes shared a similar color to her robe.
She pointed her finger at the empty air, and suddenly, something similar to the holograms in sci-fiction works appeared. It was the hologram of four planets, each looked completely different from the other. Every planet has four moons, and each moon is located at the different ends of the planet.
I noticed that all four planets have this one chain all connected to what looked like a floating continent. 'Is this the Meta-Plane?'
"This is the Meta-Plane. The Meta-Plane is composed of four different planets, all of which are linked by the astral chains from the central realm. This is because the life force of the four planets stem from the central realm."
'So that floating continent is the central realm?' "Do Gods and the like live In the central realm?"
"This information is beyond your level of permission," she answered in indifference. "Let me continue, the planet we are in is the Primal Exodus; and the continent we are in is the Aleora Continent."
With a wave of her wand, a planet similar to Earth appeared. Unlike Earth, there were only three large continents, all of which are very far apart from the other. She pointed at the continent located at the middle part of the Planet.
"Now, let me discuss the existence of dungeon masters. Dungeon Masters are the proclaimed fourth calamity of the Meta-Plane. Your very existence is for the sake of sowing chaos and destruction."
....If it were still a game, it would have been fine. However, the beings of this "Meta-Plane" are definitely made up of real flesh and blood.
Seeing my reluctance, she indifferently said " This is your destiny as a Dungeon Master. You can't avoid nor change it. Even if you were to act merciful and spare everyone, would it guarantee that everyone else would be the same. You are not the only Dungeon Master after all."
"Plus the entire Meta-Plane views your existence as a plague and would do everything in their power to annihilate you."
"...."
That's... correct. But I wasn't really reluctant about the fact that I have to kill. I sighed and asked her another question.
"Okay, Miss Sheila. Could you explain what do I have to do as a Dungeon Master?"
She flipped her hand and the hologram changed into a mountain surrounded by a thick forest. At the bottom of the mountain, is a large opening.
"This is a dungeon entrance. This is your dungeon entrance."
'That's my dungeon entrance?' That large and crude looking opening is my dungeon entrance. Aren't dungeon entrances supposed to be something grand like a huge door inscribed with images that scare the spirit out of those that want to enter?
Then the hologram changed again, now into what seemed to be the infrastructure of the mountain. Three rectangular figures stacked together were highlighted. She pointed to the upper rectangle and said "This is the first floor of your dungeon and successively below is the second and third floor."
Then she pointed to the left most corner of the lowest rectangle, it was a square and in it was a flame marking.
"This is the Dungeon Master's room, where the Dungeon's Soul Flame is located. If the soul flame is extinguished, the dungeon dies along with it's master. The converse is also true. If you die, your dungeon dies along with. Why? Because the soul flame is both your and the dungeon's source of life. In other words, you and your dungeon have the same soul."
'... That makes.... no sense at all. How did my soul materialize into a souf flame? Wait, is a soul flame a physical entity in the first place. More importantly, does that mean my current body right now has no soul?' Theoretically, if a body doesn't contain a soul, wouldn't it be a conscious-less bag of meat?
Oblivious to my internal dilemma, she grabbed my body and pulled me out of the wall. '... How come I was in the wall in the first place?'
She let my body lean on hers and pointed at the center of the room." That's your soul flame."
I followed her finger and saw a grey flame that constantly released a feeling of death. 'So that's my soul flame. 'This strong sense of familiarity, it's similar to seeing your long lost brother after years of separation.'
"Hey, Miss Sheila, does the soul flame embody what kind of person its owner is?"
She nods and continues saying in indifference "Lastly, for the sake of protecting the soul flame and realizing the ultimate goal of you Dungeon Masters, you have been bestowed with the Dungeon System. It allows you to modify your dungeon, place traps and create monsters. Either to defend or invade."
'This sounds interesting, Dungeon System is it?' Although destroying civilizations and taking the lives of millions of millions of beings isn't my thing, I don't have that much of a choice. Since that's the case, I might as well ride the tides and seek high.
With this new found aspiration, I confronted her with blazing eyes.
"So how do I use this Dungeon System?"
She tilted her head and tapped against the floor. I couldn't tell what she is thinking with her emotionless face.
"Dungeon Master El Reid."
She pauses and looks straight at me, before she continues.
"You have to be LVL.0 at minimum to access the Dungeon System."
Her words emptied my head. The silence flowed for a long time until I asked.
"Seriously?"