Dungeons

I am lost within the swirling mass of knowledge. Its tentacles ran deep throughout everything and anything. Too much. It was too much. Even with the modifications the system gave me, it was still too much. The burden was too great to bear. The MIND/Blown mode lasted for a microsecond in reality. But to me, it lasted years. If I hadn't undergone the system's modification, I wouldn't survive the initial blast of knowledge.

'Fuck you, system!'

[What's wrong?]

'I don't really need to know how being penetrated by various animals feels like, do I?'

[You need that knowledge though. You're working with animals. If you don't know how it felt, how can you create a safe dungeon for others? We don't want to give our PP source some traumatic experience, do we?]

'Urk. Just because you are correct, doesn't mean you are right. We don't want our PP source to be traumatized, but you don't want your host to be traumatized too, right?'

[You have a point. But your body and mind have been enhanced to the maximum. I don't see the reason why you would be traumatized by anything.]

I took a deep breath.

'Listen here you little shit, I am this close.'

I pinched the air.

'I am this close from punching you in the face.'

[But I have no face to speak of?]

'I am talking figuratively! Get some EQ simulating programs on that CPU full of shit!!'

Deep breath. Inhale… exhale… don't let that stupid system get you off from your favourite thing to do. I swear to god I'll die faster from high blood pressure, than from every extra bullshit this world has to offer. With that said, I looked to my left and then to my right and found no one behind me or in front of me. I started the process. I created a temporary audiovisual jammer with a click on the menu. The modification chamber created it on top of my palm. After it had been crafted, I used it immediately. A transparent cylindrical wall was erected five metres away from me, with me acting as the centre.

I ordered the modification chamber to change its form from armour into a crafting station. This is the first time I saw the modification chamber on this form, and not gonna lie, it was pretty cool. It still got its silvery white with pulsating yellow lines look, but now, there are a bunch of robot arms and holographic control panels present. Unlike those sci-fi movies, it was very silent. You won't even recognize there was such a machine if it was not in your line of sight. I have to give it a slightly subpar score in the design department though. The machine looked modern and no-nonsense without any useless parts. But it was not really my kind of style.

The holographic control panel gave out a prompt. It asked me if I want to connect with the modification chamber. I chose yes. The machine could feel me, and I could feel the machine. I am one with it. The first phase of the dungeon creation process was to create the base components the portable spatial device will use. That is the energy source, the container, and the control module. The power source came from nuclear fusion by fusing Deuterium and Tritium. The container was created by using Spatium-induced Ferrite. Finally, the control module itself was a combination of various components which mainly consists of Carbon, Silicon, Ferrite, and Cuprum (Copper).

With the components done, I started putting them together into one. The first to be done was the control module which was then booted up by connecting it to the power source. It came to life and started controlling the portable spatial device. Apparently, the control module was created the same way as the modification chamber, albeit a little downgraded. That's why it suddenly turned to liquid and assembled itself on the container. The Spatium was activated, and the portable spatial device was ready to be used.

"What do you think, system?"

[That's good, now you can decorate and program it as you wish. All the knowledge needed was already in your head.]

"Yeah. I'll start now."

I used the modification chamber to program the portable spatial device which I named Dungeon – 1. It only took me briefly to finish. The technology to connect myself with the machine really helps a lot. It did what I need it to do, and it gave me various help in accelerating the progress of the dungeon creation.

Done with the programming, Dungeon – 1 was ready to use. However, it needed an entrance. That's why I created a Japanese-styled gate (Torii) in the forest, in my effort to make Dungeon – 1 as mysterious as possible. The gate acted as some kind of tripwire. When someone crossed the gate, the portable spatial device containing the dungeon will swallow the being who crossed it. Because the knowledge within could only be used by humanoids, I made it a rule in the control module that Dungeon – 1 could only be triggered by humanoids.

I finished what I have attempted to do. Dungeon – 1 was online and it was located 500 metres from the village. It released signals periodically that have the effect of luring humanoids in. With my job finished, I undid the temporary audiovisual jammer. It was at this moment the fighter came to view.

The fighter was intrigued by the cultivator in front of him. He managed to stay invisible without any indication of Qi emission at all. Usually, only immortals were capable of such a feat by using the heavenly laws.

"Sir Cho."

"Ah, young Lin. You caught me as I released my technique."

"That's a good technique, what's its name?"

Thankfully my good friend lent me most of his eastern fantasy books. I managed to borrow a name from one of those books.

"I call this technique the Ghost Turtle Art."

The fighter was not convinced. But since the cultivator was his benefactor, so he let it go and stated his purpose.

"The caravan is ready to leave, sir Cho."

"Is that so? Thank you for informing me."

I went with him to the caravan. After I went back, we left almost immediately since this village was only a temporary stop. The caravan was going to a big city that was located south of here, where they could sell the goods they managed to buy from the Spirit Sword Sect. The way there was easier than before because of the paved public road and the conveniently placed lanterns. Even with all the advantageous conditions such as the public road and lanterns, we still failed to reach our target city because another wagon broke.

I think I'm cursed with misfortune and my luck brought down the average luck of the caravan. I shouldn't have entered that coffin–I mean modification chamber.

Seeing that the place was safe enough, the caravan head decided to camp on the side of the public road.

Just when we started unpacking our foodstuffs in order to cook a meal, another caravan approached. They kept on going and never stopped. When they passed by the front of our caravan, our caravan head called out to them. They didn't take him seriously at first, that was until he exchanged guild memberships with the other caravan's leader. This kind of exchange was looked upon as a welcoming gesture, that no matter how big you had become, in the end, you'll still accept the other party with respect. That was the theory. The other caravan leader who knew who he was dealing with, got cold feet.

"Leader, how about it? Should we keep on going?"

"Are you stupid? The great merchant Abdullah Rahsyid camped on the side of the public road so that his members won't be tired. If we don't follow along, then we have to be ready to say goodbye to our careers."

The same thing happened when other caravans passed by. In the end, both sides of the road were full of caravans that used this chance to sell their goods to other travellers on the path. It somehow became a sudden night market, one that won't happen again for who knows how long.

"Do things like this usually happen when you're with Mr Abdullah?" I asked the fighter next to me.

"Not really, we don't really meet with other caravans much on the road. Something like this is an exception rather than the norm."

"I see."

"Sir Cho?"

"Yeah?"

"That technique from before, what was it?"

"Oh, that. Do you really need to know?"

"I… I don't. But I'm really curious."

"Why are you curious?"

"Because I was once a cultivator, and I never saw anything like that."

"Your dried-up spirit root?"

The fighter nodded.

"I won't push you for the details. But since you already told me that you were once a cultivator, I'll give you the answer you seek.

I leaned a bit to the fighter.

"So, how did you do it?"

"It was an item I crafted."

"Item? How can an item do that?"

"Oh, you have a lot to learn. Not everything is about cultivation."

The fighter looked to the night sky. He stared at the stars in deep thought.

"I've been told all my life that without cultivation, I'm nothing. Now you said that not everything is about cultivation. Which side should I choose?"

I squatted down and made a compact ball of dirt. I invited the fighter to also squat beside me. With a small stick, I poked a tiny hole in the dirtball and traced it so the line meets at the marked dot.

"Do you see this, young Lin?"

"Yeah? What are you doing, exactly?"

"Now, now. Don't rush. See the line I traced there?"

"I do see that line."

"Now what if I traced another line but this time from a different angle?"

"You'll end up in the marked dot even if you missed it the first, second, and third time. Are you trying to tell me that all roads will lead us to the Great Dao?"

I poked another dot in the dirtball.

"I'm trying to tell you that there are many goals aside from it. Some created heaven on earth for themselves and their friends. Some pursued heaven relentlessly until they got what they wanted. While some saw that heaven itself as a distraction from their passion."

"So, which side should I choose then?! Give up trying to cure my spirit root? Or go all in without care that I would even throw common decency out the window?!"

"If you cured your spirit root, what will you do next?"

"I'll take revenge in my mother's name."

"After that?"

"…I don't know."

"When you know what you'll do after that, I'll tell you the way to cure your spirit root."

I left the fighter who was mulling over our conversation and headed out from the caravan into the woods.

With this free time in my hands, I'll create another dungeon. The motif will be about merchants this time around. In order to be a good merchant in this age meant that you need a certain degree of influence over your rivals. That was what this dungeon would address. A technique that will allow you to strengthen your mind and lessen the minds of your rivals. It came from the planet M1rAcL-33314 where templar assassins of the Hidden Temple once reigned. It granted the usage of psychic energy, something far different than Qi, an energy that anyone would be able to wield as long as they took an Oath, or a Restriction, and kept it. The harder the Oath or the harsher the Restriction, the stronger they would've become. If the Restriction chosen was not leaving the ground, then the user would be invincible as long as they touched the ground.

This cultivation manual of the templar assassins doesn't rely on the user's spirit root. Instead, it relied on the user's own power. By practising a set of moves, the user strengthened their body in order to be ready for the next step which is cultivating their psychic energy with Oaths or Restrictions. I believe this kind of cultivation would be beneficial to those who had great forbearance, such as the guy who pursued martial arts when his path towards heaven got blocked.

The system showed up after I finished designing the dungeon.

[Rule 1 of the Multiverse's book of law which was signed by every species that already achieved the Multiversal age, stated, that interfering with a civilization's growth by bringing in an element from another civilization, is a capital offence. Since the templar assassins of the Hidden Temple could be categorized as a cultivation civilization, and there's already a precedent of such a manual here, then there's no problem. But please remember that rule.]

'Alright, will do.'

The process was still the same. It involved creating a temporary audiovisual jammer and creating a portable spatial device from scratch. The stage this time was not a maze, like Dungeon – 1. It was a big open area that was reminiscent of the Hidden Temple. The players won't need to fight this time. They could only learn the ways of the templar assassins and chose to accept the psychic energy at the expense of their Qi, or leave the dungeon. Each player could only enter once. They must depend on themselves for how far they'll gleam into the psychic energy. With time acceleration within the dungeon, no matter how long they took, it will only amount to a second or two in reality. There won't be any trigger condition for the dungeon. Anyone could come inside, and they could freely leave. This dungeon will be named as Dungeon – 2.

I know the name is kinda boring, but it gets things done.

I left Dungeon – 2's Torii on a beaten path somewhere, a little far from the caravans.