’Am I getting smarter?’

Dhruv mused, noticing the dungeon was feeding him knowledge faster than he could process it

He didn’t know what type of sorcery was used, but the more he moved around the dungeon, the greater his understanding of this place was getting.

And this insight wasn’t just on the surface level either. He was getting the hang of this place at a deeper level... no, it was something more like at a fundamental level.

And most of that knowledge was about the giant crystal floating in front of him.

"What sort of magic, Master..."

With a curious look, Lucian asked.

’Well, I don’t know all that yet either...’

Even though Dhruv had a rough understanding of the role, he didn’t exactly know what would happen.

So with a little bit of anticipation, he closed the distance to the core before he’d consciously decided to

Before arriving in the New World, Dhruv had experienced all sorts of emotions.

His childhood was filled with the grief of losing his family because of disease... despite some improvement, the grief’s cycle didn’t fully resolve even when he reached adulthood and became a mercenary.

To cope with all this grief, he had turned toward self-harm and taking all sorts of drugs and the escapism they brought. He had sought warmth in women when he could find it. And in his last moments, those he trusted had put a bullet in his chest.

But no matter how hard he tried to remember, Dhruv couldn’t put a finger on a time he had felt this great emotional turmoil. And all of it was happening just by looking at the core of the dungeon.

It was as if butterflies were dancing in his stomach, or he was like a hungry newborn looking at his mother’s chest.

And the closer he got to it, the greater it became.

’It’s like a part of my soul that I’ve been missing is here...’

Not wanting to wait any longer, Dhruv moved closer and touched the core. A moment later a prompt appeared asking for his permission.

[Authority Confirmed]

[Do you like accessing the Administrative Section of the dungeon]

[Yes/No]

Dhruv simply nodded his head in anticipation.

[Dungeon Tier: 1]

[Dungeon Rank: Unique]

[Dungeon Master: Dhruv]

[Dungeon Co-Master: None]

[Dungeon Function: [Abilities] [Floors] [Summons] [Guardians]]

[Dungeon Points: 1000]

’Even dungeons have their abilities.. that’s great...’

Skipping past everything else, Dhruv clicked on the abilities section of the dungeon function. There was only one ability there.

’Hmmm!... okay... WHAT?’ As he read the ability, Dhruv couldn’t help but rub his eyes... then did it again and then again. Only after pinching himself and feeling the pain did he realize he wasn’t dreaming.

’Shit!... this fucking cheat of an ability being allowed to have for free should be a crime... no, you didn’t hear anything, cube, for all the misery you have presented in front of me there ought to be some reward as well.’

Even with the panel still blinking, Dhruv couldn’t believe his eyes. What made it even more unbelievable was that it was not even an active ability but a passive one.

’This is a nice start...’ Grinning ear to ear, he moved ahead.

[Floors]

[Floor 1:

Terrain Modification

Create Building (Unavailable)

Build Traps

Room

Guardian]

After playing with these functions some more, Dhruv understood what he had to do next.

’First... there is only one floor in the dungeon with the underground cave type of style. As the first terrain modification is free, I can change the surroundings and make it more livable... no, when did I begin thinking like a twelve-year-old, I have to seize this opportunity to maximize the lethality.’

The mention of the free cost made him go bonkers as Dhruv began thinking about all sorts of traps and diversions to add to the terrain. But the moment he went for the modification, it all came crashing down.

[Modification: [Jungle], [Desert], [Snow Field]]

’Fucking clickbait of a system you are, cube.’ With a mixture of disappointment, he didn’t select any modification and moved away.

Dhruv wanted to create some facilities as well, but because of the absence of any builder-type summons, the [Create Building] option was unavailable to him at the moment.

The dungeon provides some basic traps for free, but if he wanted to have something complex, then he had to summon builders or hire someone, both of which were unavailable at the moment.

Dhruv didn’t have anything in particular in mind for [Room] and [Guardian], so he just took a peek at both sections before moving forward.

’Now it’s time for the summons...’

Having had a taste of the starters, which was honestly a disappointment, Dhruv moved toward tonight’s main dish. Summoning monsters was his purpose for coming here, so without any further delay, he clicked, prompting a list to open in front of him.

[Summon: With the help of Dungeon points, you can summon beings to help you. [Dungeon Of Greed] only favours monsters with [Greed] authority in them. If the preferred beings didn’t have a greed authority in their nature, you can add it before proceeding with the summon.]

He understood everything about the first line, but after that, it made him stop and think for a moment.

Looking at his master lost in thought like that, Lucian couldn’t help but interrupt.

"Master, is something wrong?"

"Huh!!... Ohh! No, no. It’s just that I think there are restrictions on the type of monsters we can summon in the dungeon."

Because of his profession and the type of work he did in the past, Dhruv knew very well about the power information holds within it. And the same was true for what he was saying now.

But even then, the reason he told everything without hesitation was because the little thing beside him was someone he had created himself. Even then, he wouldn’t have said anything if it weren’t for the [Loyal] tag in its nature.

With all this, he was sure there was no chance of any information leaking from Lucian... intentionally, that is.

"What type of restriction, Master?"

Hearing the question, he looked at Lucian and explained.

"It says that we can’t summon a monster that doesn’t have any authority with Greed. And if we want to summon them, we have to add the authority before summoning."

"Ohhh!"

Lucian muttered with disappointment, finding itself unable to be of any help.

"...Well, there isn’t much we can do about it, so let’s see what we are working with here..." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Kael was about to continue his task of summoning monsters when Lucian’s words interrupted him once again.

"Master, if every monster in the dungeon is required to have authority with Greed, how am I an exception? You see, I only have authority with blood and curse."

Hearing its words, Dhruv couldn’t help but check its status. And sure enough, there wasn’t any Greed in the demon’s authority.

"T-that is right..."

Whispering, Kael pondered.

’How come it is an exception to the rule... is there something wrong with the system?’

Questioning the authenticity of the dungeon, Kael wondered, trying to come up with some answer.

"Do you feel some sort of restriction placed upon you? Like, there was more in you, but something is pulling you down? Or that you can’t perform fully because of something you are feeling. Like, are you feeling cursed?"

Dhruv tried his best to explain the negative effects one gets in games if the character doesn’t match the game’s requirements.

"No, Master, there is nothing like that. Instead, I feel great. I feel alive like I haven’t until now..."

Lucian began its blabber about how great it was feeling, leaving Dhruv with his thoughts alone.

’If it’s not that, then what could it be?’

As he was pondering the reason, he suddenly remembered the passive ability of the dungeon.

’Could that be related to it? Maybe that’s it.’ As if he had found the hidden piece of the puzzle, he looked at Lucian.

"...and then you were there giving me a name.."

’He is still going on?’

Interrupting his speech on gratefulness, Dhruv asked,

"Lucian, do you feel like sacrificing any item, I mean your belongings, to the dungeon?"

"Yes..."

Hearing the question, Lucian replied without any hesitation. It was so fast that even Dhruv was shocked at the speed.

"Ohh!"

’Well, that solves one problem... if the dungeon is picking the target of the passive ability like this... doesn’t that create a never-ending loop within itself? Hmm! There must be more to it than that and we will see after an hour anyway..’

Dhruv thought, looking at the little demon whose existence had barely passed the half-hour mark. Putting a close end to this problem, he was about to move on when its words interrupted him again.

"...But I think sacrifice is a strong word, Master."