"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…"
He lay alone on the ground, his gaze fixed on a white expanse that seemed to go on forever, while a voice in his head whispered sweetly… almost seductively.
[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 void. He looked around in search of… anything.
But there was nothing.
Empty.
An area void of everything but himself.
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 it felt real.
Very real.
And, real or not, 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 from his right, left, and below him.
The golden streams crashed together. They then curved and danced repeatedly through the air, intersecting until they began to swirl together harmoniously instead of discordantly.
More lights shone. The dancing incandescent streams began to condense and swirl faster, almost like flowing water.
The coalesced golden lights then 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 with pink words shone in front of him.
♥︎♥︎♥︎
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, called Vale by most — a 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 gaze instantly fixed on the unfamiliar object next to him in the white expanse.
A pinkish light now hovered slightly in front of him, replacing the vibrant light show.
[Explore your dungeon!]
Vale felt an unusual compulsion. It was as if his instincts were being disregarded. 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 'mothers', the few friends he had, or anyone really.
He had the dungeon, and that was all he needed!
Vale knew what he had to do.
He cautiously lifted his foot and then delicately set it back down on the empty space. Vale feared he would begin to fall and then plunge endlessly, but he was relieved when 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 as if he was pressing against an invisible barrier, which was no barrier at all.
He instinctively could tell what he had to do.
Slowly, he made his way to the swirling pink mass.
As Vale got closer, he felt an almost gravitational 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.
He reached out his hand and slid it into the pink light.
In the next moment, the pink began flickering and spinning like a vortex before being consumed by darkness.
The darkness felt ancient, all-encompassing and all-powerful.
When the darkness faded, it 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.
'It seems more like an alcove carved into the side of the mountain.'
The gray, rocky walls surrounding him had only one exit.
A seeming exit, at least.
But an ominous, slightly translucent obsidian wall was blocking it off.
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?!"
'Destroyed?'
"Like dead? Destroyed as in die?"
'What the hell?!'
Vale didn't sign up for this!
It wasn't hard to figure out his situation to some extent.
That floating ball of light in the corner…
'That must be the Dungeon Core. I must be in the dungeon right now.'
Vale must have exited when he touched the mass of pink light. If he touched that core, he could return to the white void if he so wished.
And, if that core was destroyed…
'I die?'
Vale clenched his fist.
'Seriously?! I didn't ask for this!'
'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.
'I knew this damned situation wouldn't be one filled with peace.'
Most kidnappings weren't, to be fair.
And this was the weirdest kidnapping of all time!
Vale 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 is Aether? Satisfaction? I have 10 of both. But what is being quantified?'
Also, why did only the Champion cost Satisfaction? 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?'
…
An icy 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 the corners of her lips curled upward.
"Are you the one who wishes to be my master?"