22 Chapter 21: Hope?

"I know you are happy to see me," Drizen said.

"Yes, but now I'm about to be drawn into one of those grand plans of yours." Kaftan said, "Go ahead, what would you like me to help you with?"

"I need you to find someone to clear this dungeon." Drizen said, "It is the only way I can leave this place."

"You truly built yourself into a corner, huh?" Kaftan said, "You loved to create new challenges for the citizens of Vos to push their limits. Now, you've created a trial that even you can't overcome? Please entertain me on how it happened." Kaftan smiled.

"Argh, fine." Drizen said, "When we cast the spell, a fragment of myself fell into a deep crevice. At the bottom of the ravine, I found an orb. It emanated a strong aura of power, so I subconsciously reached out for it to recover my energy. The moment I touched it, I became a Dungeon Master. I was excited at first since it was the best way for me to create new challenges. I was so engrossed that I created 100 floors."

"One-hundred floors! Are you crazy? I remember the last challenge that you created was only ten floors, and 90% of the population couldn't even get past the first five floors." Kaftan said.

"What do you expect me to do for a century?" Drizen retorted, "Anyways at first everything was under my control, but as I created more and more intelligent monsters. They became self-aware and knew that the Dungeon Master controlled everything, and 'He' could delete them at will. As a result, several monster clans worked together to seal me on the 100th floor."

"You got sealed by your creations?" Kaftan exclaimed, "Wow, this is impressively new. You always had some contingencies in place so that all the challenges that you created wouldn't go out of control. How did they find a way to seal you?"

"They told me they created something that would allow me to travel to places far beyond the dungeon. I stepped into the device and had my consciousness sealed on the 100th floor." Drizen sighed. "You know I wouldn't do something like deleting them, right?"

To Kaftan, it was somewhat true. Drizen wouldn't take the initiative to get rid of something. In the worst-case scenario, he would put whatever he created out of misery. But it was undeniable that experimenting with living creaturs was a bit out there, even if it could advance Vos by several years.

"Alright, where is this device?" Kaftan asked.

"It is on the 99th-floor guard by the Silver Dragon Clan," Drizen said.

"You created Dragons!?" Kaftan exclaimed. The dragons left the continent ages ago because they were almost driven into extinction by Hunters. The Hunters were a chaotic organization that hunted sentient creatures and traded parts of them on the black market.

"Not exactly? I crossbred a giant lizard with a bat and imbued them with growth magic and elemental magic. Then, I accelerated the time flow on the flow and allowed the law of the survival to do the work. It created a Dragon look alike, but they are not remotely close to a Dragon. They are powerful fighters, but not the brightest race on the 99th floor. But that was a long time ago." Drizen responded.

"How long ago?" Kaftan asked fearfully.

"I don't know. I only woke up because I sensed a fragment of Vos in the dungeon." Drizen then tapped on a crystal ball in the center of the room. Instantly, a hundred 3D holographic images appeared in the room.

"Interesting, the first to the thirtieth floor seemed to be taken over by a single race. Are those..." Drizen quickly zoomed to the top floor. A thriving city was build at the top of the dungeon. About a million people were moving within the first thirty floors of the dungeon gathering or transporting various materials, food, goods, and resources. Drizen proudly smiled as he watched. His dungeon converted the barren wasteland nearby into a thriving metropolis.

"Hello?" Kaftan said, "Do you want to get out of here or not?"

Drizen broke out his stupor and said, "Of course! I can't wait to talk to the citizens. I need someone to destroy the sealing device on the 99th floor here."

Drizen pointed at a spot surrounded by several large creatures. Then, he noticed that a different race dominated every floor beyond the 50th floor. Looking at their stats, all of them were significantly stronger than the people on the surface.

"Would they have to go through each of the floors to do so?" Kaftan said.

"There is a teleportation array on each floor that acts as a sanctuary for the adventurers. As long as they can collect all the required materials from the dungeon, the teleportation array can be activated. Then, they can use the teleportation array to teleport up or down. If they teleport down, they have to clear the next floor before they can teleport up." Drizen said.

"Are the materials hard to get?"

"I didn't update the required materials for a long time. As long as they can survive on that floor, it should not be hard to find them."

"What do you think about those three on the 50th floor?"

"The two adults look like they can get to the 70 floor without any issues. Anything beyond that, and it will be quite dangerous. The boy looks like an apprentice in training. Wait, did you give a key to Vos to the boy?" Drizen asked.

"Yes, he is a <Traveller>. Based on what he has showcased so far, I have high hope for his future." Kaftan said.

"You sure? Based on his stats, he can barely pass as a beginner adventurer."

"All he needs some experience. From his memories, they had something called the 'Internet' that gave everyone who has a 'Computer' access to several thousand years of information from all around the world. Just imagine the amount of progress a civilization can make with that technology." Kaftan said.

"You think that he would be able to make something like it? I can already tell that the requirements would far exceed what we can fulfill when Vos was at its peak."

"He has only been here for about six months, and he already created his unique magic system. Give or take a few years, and he would be able to do so much more."

"Alright, but that is if he can live that long. Several races are fighting for survival on that floor. I hope he doesn't get drawn into them, or else he might never escape."

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"Ac-choo!" Xylos sneezed in the middle of the night. He wondered if someone was cursing him. Ignoring his pointless thoughts, he rolled onto his side, pulled a blanket over his entire body, and returned to sleep.

A pair of emerald yellow eyes watched silently from the shadows...