"Tempered by flame
Forged by fate
Where fires cry
New life awakes
Tempered by flame
Reforged by hate
In the world that drowned
I await."
***
[You've been chosen!]
[Assigning random dungeon…]
[You are now the master of the Fifth Vice Dungeon: Dungeon of Lust!]
"What the…"
A lone man lay sprawled on the ground, staring at a never-ending white void and listening to a sweet… almost seductive voice in his head.
[Commencing Dungeon Master tutorial…]
[Think of the word 'Status' to awaken the system and claim your rightful legacy!]
The lone man sat up in the white void and looked around in search of… anything.
But there was nothing.
Literally, he was in an empty void. He had no clothes to cover his naked body. Nothing solid took form on the ground. Nothing hovered above in the endless sky. No wind tickled his thick, velvety raven-black hair with wisps of purple.
It felt as if he'd been cast away from anything worldly, left to float in an expanse with no beginning, middle, or end.
He would have loved nothing more than to claim this all a dream… but for some reason, it felt real. Very real.
So… why not entertain this odd voice in his head?
'...Status.'
In the next moment, blinding rays of golden light shot down from above, followed by more golden streams from his right, left, and below him. Every direction, really.
The golden streams bashed into each other, then curved and danced around the air repeatedly intersecting until they started to swirl together in harmony rather than discord.
More lights shone, and the dancing incandescent streams began to condense and swirl faster, almost like flowing water. Then the coalesced golden lights burst, sending a shockwave that forced the man to raise his arm to shield his eyes from the overbearing light.
When he reopened his eyes, a golden frame of light with pink words shone in front of his eyes…
♥︎♥︎♥︎
Name: [Valentin Laurent]
Title: [Fifth Advent of Lust]
♡♡♡
Dungeon Class: [Vice]
Dungeon Core Rank: [Nascent]
♡♡♡
Aspect: [Lust]
Class: [Vice]
Core Rank: [Nascent] - (0/700)
♡♡♡
Aether: [10]
Satisfaction: [10]
Traits: [Rudimentary Shapeshifter] [Charm] [Ember of Lust]
♥︎♥︎♥︎
'That's… my name.'
'What's with all the hearts…'
'And… what is a Title? And why is mine Fifth Advent of Lust!'
'I'm not lustful! Well… I'm respectful at least! True lust is vile!'
[Congratulations!]
[You have awakened the Dungeon Core.]
[You have awakened your Aspect.]
"What the hell is going on!"
Valentin, colloquially called Vale by most — a personal preference rather than Val for… personal reasons — jumped to his feet and swiped at the weird translucent screen before him, causing it to disappear.
Vale's eyes were immediately drawn to the new thing that stood beside him in the white void.
Left behind by the wild array of light. There was now an aura of pink light hovering a little in front of him.
[Explore your dungeon!]
A weird force started to compel Vale… like his instincts were being overridden. Naturally, he felt he should be scared and apprehensive about this foreign environment. However, he felt calm… and accepting, as if he were meant to be here and nowhere else.
He didn't even long to see his family, friends, or anyone really. He had the dungeon, and that was all he needed!
Vale knew what he had to do.
Carefully, he picked one foot off the ground, or whatever constituted for it, and then gently placed it back down on nothing. Vale was scared he'd start to fall, then plummet forever, but much to his relief, that wasn't the case. His foot just floated back to the ground and eventually stopped as if he'd stepped on something, yet no feeling actually coursed through his body.
It was like he was pressing against an invisible barrier… which was no barrier at all.
In any case, he instinctively could tell what he had to do.
He slowly made his way to the swirling pink mass.
As he got closer, he felt an almost gravitational-like pull caress his body and draw him in; though it must have only been mental because he had no physical reaction. His hair stood still, and his steps unimpeded.
Slowly, he reached out his hand and slid it into the pink light.
In the next moment, pink filled his vision, flickering and spinning like a vortex before being consumed by darkness.
The darkness felt ancient, all-encompassing and all-powerful. Then the darkness faded and swiveled into a muted gray, and finally the vibrance of regular sight returned.
But… while his sight had returned, regular and unimpaired, it was a little questionable how he could see in full color and all when he found himself in the mouth of a cave, bereft of a light source.
No, it wasn't a cave… more like an alcove carved into the side of the mountain. The gray, rocky walls that surrounded had only one exit… a seeming exit at least. But currently, it was blocked off by an ominous, slightly translucent obsidian wall.
'Also…'
Vale turned around and faced the furthest point in the room from the black wall and saw a pink sphere that hovered a little in the air, floating slowly up and down.
[If the Dungeon Core is destroyed, you and your Legion will perish.]
[You can enter the core by making contact with it.]
[Think 'Map' to pull up the map of the dungeon to visualize and customize it.]
[Think 'Store' to pull up the store.]
"What?!"
Vale had figured out his situation… to some extent.
That floating ball of light in the corner… that must be the Dungeon Core, and he must be in the dungeon right now. He must have exited when he touched the mass of light. It seemed that if he touched that core, he could return to the white void if he so wished…
And, if that core was destroyed…
'I die?'
'What the fuck! I didn't ask for this!'
'Shit! Shit! Shit!'
Vale didn't know what would actually threaten the Dungeon Core, but he was almost sure its safety was anything but guaranteed. It would kind of be nonsensical if it weren't with everything going on around him.
He hastily locked in. He wasn't going to treat this situation callously if his life was on the line!
'Map!'
In the next moment, a 3-D model of the alcove appeared in front of him with a little arrow pointing in from where the obsidian wall was. He cautiously reached his hand in and then touched the replica of the sphere, nudging it a little to the side. Simultaneously, the actual sphere in the room moved a little.
There were a couple of other options, but they were all grayed out for now.
'I see…'
'Then what about…'
'Store?'
Recruitment:
Champion: [10 Satisfaction]
Worker: [1 Aether]
Warrior: [10 Aether]
Archer: [15 Aether]
Mage: [100 Aether]
Random: [25 Aether]
Items:
Starter Kit: [10 Aether]
[Congratulations!]
[Summon your first Champion and then purchase the Starter Kit!]
[First challengers: 2:59:59]
'Huh… first challengers?!'
Vale knew it.
He knew this odd situation wasn't going to be one filled with peace.
He didn't know exactly what challengers were, but they were most likely entities looking to kill the Dungeon Core for one reason or another.
While he'd love to show defiance to his situation, with his life supposedly on the line, he had no choice but to comply.
'How do I…'
He slowly, in his head, wished to purchase a Champion, and a moment later, another window popped up.
[Would you like to purchase a champion for 10 Satisfaction? Y/N?]
"Yes…"
A weird feeling ran through his veins like he was being drained of something…
Alone in the alcove, Vale quietly waited as he began to ponder… what was Aether and what was Satisfaction. He had 10 of both and just spent all the Satisfaction on the Champion.
But… why did only the Champion cost Satisfaction, whatever that was? And, how could he get more of that or Aether? And, what was a Champion exactly?
[Perform coitus with the Champion to satisfy and claim them!]
'Huh… what?'
A cold chill ran down Vale's spine as a towering woman walked out of the pink sphere…
The woman was pretty tall, probably around 180 centimeters — just a little shorter than him — and had majestic black bat-like leather wings made of an odd array of quills sprawling from her back. Each quill contained a purple, almost pink, under glow.
She had long raven-black hair tied back in a ponytail and two curved black horns protruding from the sides of her head, glowing pink eyes with black slit pupils, and a neon pink earring dangling from either ear.
She wore a one-piece, cropped corset that tightly contained her thin waist, the top splitting around the cleavage, accentuating her large breasts.
Her plump, smooth thighs were adorned only by a single strap from a garter belt, which snaked up and connected to the sleek, black felted bottom of the corset.
Behind her, a thin black tail that ended in an almost heart formation wiggled back and forth.
Black bracers covered her wrists, and small belts wrapped around her biceps, mirroring the black collar she wore around her neck. Her thin hands ended in what looked to be pink spikes, but were just her fingernails, which were fashioned like claws on a delicate kitten.
Her smooth, alabaster skin was harshly juxtaposed with the pitch-black outfit, which had only a few faint golden lines here and there.
Her plump lips looked soft, delicate… inviting.
The woman stopped. She flapped her black wings while pressing her hand to her chin, partially covering her mouth with her fingers, and smiling.
"Are you the one who wishes to be my master?"