Meeting Gaia again

Five froze when he saw his dungeon core's reaction. Did it want to eat Kroff's dungeon core? However, now was not the right time! In the corner of his eyes, Five could see that all the monsters started moving.

He was well aware that his threat was gone. With his current strength, it would be a miracle if he could damage the dungeon core right now! It was something he already predicted; he would be attacked as soon as the deal was completed, and it was why he asked for the right to leave immediately.

In his right hand, the teleportation crystal was already ready; all he needed to do was to crush it and he would be teleported away. However, his dungeon core was screaming to him to allow it out! It was an extremely powerful feeling! The core that seemed defenseless and friendly, revealed its fangs for the first time and it bared them at Five.

Behind him, Harriet was panicking at the sight of all the monsters attacking them. Since she was now Five's monster, it was her duty to protect him even at the cost of her life. She immediately opened her wings and floated right between Five and the Lion Man. In her hand, a bright red dagger was glowing.

She was not aware of the things Five was experiencing, all she knew was that she needed to protect him. It was the choice she made in choosing him as her dungeon master and she had no regrets. From the moment she was asked the question, no matter what decision she made, her status was already being threatened!

In Five's mind, the dungeon core was oppressively asking to be taken out. It was the first time he was experiencing that force and on the spur of the moment, Five naturally moved and the dungeon core appeared in his right hand.

At this moment, a bright red glow surrounded Five's dungeon core while a dark blue glow surrounded Kroff's!

"No!!!" shouted Kroff as he felt a dangerous feeling.

Five did not know what was happening! He was confused but there was one thing he knew; 5 thorns were flying towards him. If he did not crush the teleportation crystal now, he would definitely die!

Even Harriet was already being attacked from three different directions!

Despite the oppressive feeling of his dungeon core, Five decisively crushed the teleportation crystal. As he did that, a bright light surrounded his body; it was so dazzling that all the monsters there had to protect their eyes!

A few moments later, when they reopened their eyes, the monsters found no trace of Five.

...

When he crushed the crystal, Five felt the familiar feeling of anti-gravity and at the same time, the oppressive feeling of his dungeon core vanished. He could no longer feel the ground beneath his feet and it was hard to breathe but as he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in an ethereal room.

"What happened? What is this place?"

It looked like the floor and the walls were made of clouds. There was no roof and the room was modestly decorated. It was very bright; completely different from what he became used to in Kroff's dungeon.

In front of him, Five noticed a delicate figure looking at him from a throne. He immediately recognized her; it was the same person that threw him into Kroff's dungeon, Gaia.

The latter looked like a queen seated on her throne. She was wearing a short white dress, in her hand was a little piece of paper.

"Greetings, Five! It looks like you made good use of your tutoring period!" sarcastically said Gaia as she crossed her legs momentarily flashing her white thigh.

However, Five did not care about her seduction attempt. He did not even greet her, "Where is Harriet? Was she not supposed to come with me?" asked Five.

"Oh? You are worried about that harpy? Don't worry! She is perfectly fine and all her 'sisters' have also left the dungeon! You will meet them again when you go back to Zero," answered Gaia.

He let out a sigh of relief. Five was worried for a moment that he might have been too late but it turned out that Harriet was safe! What just happened was just way too close for comfort.

Recalling the last second event, Five took out his dungeon core that magically returned to his inventory. As he looked at the new information stats, he immediately noticed a difference!

[Core of Madness](Grade 1)(Upgradable)

Activate to found a dungeon at a specific location. (Cannot be used within 1 km of another dungeon core)

Effect 1: 100% chance to drop upon death

Effect 2: DP gained +3%

Skill: [Frenzy]

Not only did the DP gained increase by 3% but he was also given a skill:

[Frenzy(level 0)]

User temporarily sacrifices part of his Intelligence and Wisdom in exchange for an increase in Strength and Dexterity:

Intelligence and Wisdom -2

Strength and Dexterity +3

Duration: 2 minutes

Can only be used once per day.

When he saw the skill, Five did not know how he should react. That skill was a double-edged sword. It was sacrificing some attributes for others. The skill was definitely powerful but at the same time, had a huge weakness.

But a skill was still a skill. It did not mean he had to use it. It was still good to have more options.

"I see that you have already upgraded your dungeon core, congratulations!" said Gaia as she looked at Five's action.

"What was that? At the last minute, I felt a powerful force, as if a monster was sleeping inside the dungeon core," said Five.

The beautiful lady giggled, "You are not wrong, there is a powerful monster in your dungeon core! But that is something you'll discover later on. For now, since you are the very first dungeon master to have completed his tutoring, I'll give you some information!"

Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "Your dungeon core can mutate and become stronger. You should have noticed how your dungeon core went up a grade! It does so by eating other dungeon cores. If you want to become stronger, go and eat other dungeon cores!"

"Eating dungeon cores? Does that mean that Kroff is dead now?" asked Five.

"Fufu, it looks like you are not really fond of your teacher! But no, he is not dead. Your dungeon core was too weak! It was only level 1, how could it devourer a level 61 dungeon core in one go? It only absorbed an extremely small portion of Kroff's dungeon core but that was enough to allow it to upgrade itself," explained Gaia.

"Really? Then what are the consequences for Kroff?"

"That... I can't tell you. I already said a lot by telling you how to upgrade your dungeon core!" said Gaia with a teasing smile. "Don't ask for too much. Let's move on to the reason you are here."

As she said that, Gaia moved her hands as a giant map appeared in front of Five.

The latter wanted to ask for more information, but he immediately shut his mouth upon seeing the map. He did his best to memorize it!

"Now, you are going to set up your own dungeon! But you are given a chance to select its location. This is a map of Zero. Just point out where you want to spawn. You can see that there are some cities and towns marked on the map. You can make your own game plan. You can select any zones, but I would recommend going for the blue ones! They are the one where players are right now! The yellow zones represent the areas near capitals and are highly guarded. The red zones are the one that will be opened in later expansions but well, you can pick them if you want but it's at your own risk! As for the dark ones, they would only open when the players would reach level 60. If you are confident enough and patient for that to happen, then go ahead! You are smart. Make your choice!" said Gaia.

Five was immediately flooded with information, his mind processed quickly what Gaia said. A few seconds later, he asked; "What you told me does not matter, just tell me where they are, I'll go there!"

"Oh? Still very persistent. I see but that's some private information! I cannot tell you too much, but a hint would be, the Sylvester Empire"

With Gaia's clue, Five's eyes immediately combed through the map. He quickly located the Dominion Empire where Kroff's dungeon was built. To its west, was an archipelago of islands and even further west, he finally found the Sylvester Empire.

"Which city?"

"I already gave you the empire. Don't be too greedy!" answered Gaia with a teasing expression.