FLASH!!!
Light filled my vision as I was sent into the dungeon. To be exact my consciousness was sent into the core, or maybe my soul!? I'm not all too sure. After what seemed to be an hour, my awareness towards my general surroundings was restored.
I noticed I was floating in what appeared to be outer space, or at least some starry expanse. This place didn't have any concept related to gravity or the cardinal directions. If I was not careful, I could end up eternally lost. Luckily, that didn't happen as I looked towards the only other object in this space and saw an unforgettable sight.
What appeared before me was a castle resting on the back of a flying whale. The castle was pure white in color as too was the whale. At first, they appeared to be small in size, but I cast aside that thought as they approached me.
Within minutes the whale came to a halt in front of me, its massive size casting a deep shadow. Lowering its flipper, I was beckoned to climb aboard, to which I floated over. Once directly above its flipper, the whale gently placed me onto its back where gravity seemed to exist, causing me to land on the grassy field in front of the white immaculate castle.
After getting my bearings, I explored the outside of the castle, or at least tried to as some force prevented me from deviating from the path towards the castle. No longer attempting to go off course, I head towards the castle's large doors and notice a sign on the left door which said,
"Trails of Succession: No outside influences allowed during the trial. Only the challenger's soul has entered this realm of the dungeon core. All who enter must complete one of the trials-. Failing to do so will forfeit your life. Challengers must choose which trial they intend on challenging, with each trial having a different reward. Beware, you may only choose one challenge."
"Trails (You MUST select one)
1. Pawn: Remain in the castle for 1 day
2. Knight: Reach the throne room by midnight on the 3rd day
3. King: Occupy the throne for 10 days
4. Emperor: Defend the castle from invading forces for 15 days
5. God: Defend one of the designated territories and all facilities from invading forces for 100 days. Destroy or Occupy 2 invading territories in 100 days. (Challenger has 30 days to build, reinforce and prepare for the trial.)
Rewards
1. Pawn: Rights to dungeon resources on 1 floor
2. Knight: Rights to dungeon resources on 2 floors
3. King: Appointment- Floor guardian, rights to dungeon resources on 3 floors
4. Emperor: Limited rights as the Dungeon master. May not alter or move the dungeon in any way.
5. God: Full ownership of dungeon and all that dwell inside both friendly and hostile."
Now this is intriguing. From what I can gather, the trails are set up to determine one's position within the dungeon, either a servant or master but nothing in between. The trails missions even remind me of a few different games back on Earth.
One game made you spend the night is a spooky place. As long as you stayed inside the place and didn't get caught by the weird robots, you won. This was the Pawn test.
The Knight test was similar to a typical timed dungeon quest. In this quest, you have to slay everything in your path as you race to the end. The whole ordeal was simple enough, and required speed.
King gives me the feeling of playing king of the hill or something similar. Emperor was likely tower defense. However, the real challenge is the God trial. This reminded me of a world conquest strategy game which focused on building your army and territory. Then you can either ally with other players, or fight them for their territory.
If I want to complete my mission, I have to be the dungeon master, but it did not state whether or not I have to complete either of the 2 hardest trails. Originally, I never considered the possibility of being able to completely own the dungeon and move it wherever I please. But now, I like the perks of having a personal dungeon.
Additionally, this may explain how the dungeon ended up near Breilan 1500 sols ago. That and how the clan Elder of the Midknight Elves managed to be a DNA donor for the cloning treant. (Does this mean dungeons are the mobile secret bases of the demonic dragons?)
I wonder, were these dungeons perhaps safe havens corrupted during the Demonic Era? Not to mention, for some odd reason, I feel like the Nexus is involved with this matter in some way. Either that or may be connected to something else Nexus related. I wouldn't gain clues on the Nexus hub's whereabouts otherwise.
Regardless, I am going to challenge the God trail, it only makes sense I do. As a gamer playing with others, my motto was "always go hard or get off the sticks!!" Deciding on my trial, I proceeded to push the door open.
Once inside, I found myself in another void corridor. This time the corridor had 5 colored portals white for Pawn, purple for Knight, red for King, black for Emperor and gold for God. I didn't even bother to spare 1 thought on the other portals as I walked to the golden portal. Once through, I was greeted by an automated voice of some kind,
"Welcome challenger. You have selected the God Trial of Succession! Succession trail rules are as followed,
1. Note: time in the trial realm progresses faster than in the dungeon on a basis of 100100 days to 1 day spent in the dungeon.
2. You will have 30 days to prepare your initial defenses. Time of preparation may be extended or reduced based on tasks performed within your designated territory
3. You must protect your designated territory for a total of 100 days.
4. You must destroy or annex a minimum of 2 invading territories within 100 days.
5. If all 5 invading territories are destroyed or annexed before the 100-day deadline, you will be sent to an exclusive trail.
6. You are allowed to convert other beings outside of your designated territory as a means to conquer other territories.
7. You may not ally yourself with an invading force.
8. Any attempt to vacate the trail realm will result in automatic failure.
9. If you die in the trail, your existence in the real world will also die."
"Please choose the area you would like to designate as your territory."
Whelp, there you have it! I have to pass this test or there goes all I have been striving for. Once the voice stopped, 6 portals appeared before me, each leading to a different type of biome. One was a mountainous tundra, another a desert valley and the next a tropical forest surrounded by steep rockfaces.
The next options were an open field with no obstacles in sight, then a volcanic plateau overlooking a never-ending mountain range and lastly a rocky barren wasteland. Considering all the options, I chose the forest and walked into the portal. From here I will use everything at my disposal to survive.
-End of Chapter