Starlight Necromancer

Chapter 74 - The Dungeon Core's Incarnation

"We... did it?" Kyla muttered from behind the group, slowly approaching them so that she could quickly heal everyone that needed it. She was clearly giddy and excited about the fact that they were able to clear this dungeon.

Meanwhile, Foster just stared at the message in front of his eyes.

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[411 Experience Points Rewarded]

[You have leveled up!]

[Your {Martial Necromancer} Skill has leveled up!]

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"Awesome, I leveled up again." Foster said with a light smirk, as he opened his status window to see what changed, "Hm, strength and charisma by two, and the rest just one?" He sighed slightly, although he could feel his muscles slightly tensing up and bulging in response to the increased strength. But then, he quickly moved on to his skill that leveled up, which he was a lot more interested in. But just before he could open the skill window, he could hear an unfamiliar voice in the room.

"Hm, you four managed to clear the dungeon? Huh." The clearly tired owner of the voice said, as if they had just woken up from a nap. Everyone immediately turned around toward the source, and soon saw a young man, maybe in his late-twenties, standing there. He had ruffled, sholder-length black hair that stuck up in every direction, as well as a quite slim build. While the clothes he wore seemed high quality at first, upon closer inspection, they were slightly torn up and quite dirty, especially the long white leather coat, similar to a labcoat in appearance, that he was wearing.

More things of note were his tired, slouched stature and his characteristic eyes.

Immediately, three of the four party members quickly turned toward the last remaining, Foster, before Lynol slightly squinted, "Do you... know him by chance..?"

"What? No, obviously I don't know him, what makes you think that?" Foster asked with a wry smile, and Lynol immediately replied while Octer and Kyla just awkwardly looked back, "You've got the same cold, dead, bloodshot eyes, as well as the dark rings underneath."

"Fuck off." Foster said with a blank expression, "The dude appeared out of nowhere, and you're looking at his eyes? Also, I have insomnia, so don't judge me."

"Erm, could we get this over with? I didn't expect anyone to come here anymore, so I kinda got into a habbit of not talking to anyone. You're kind of interrupting said habit." The man pointed out while tiredly scratching the back of his head.

Kyla returned to staring at the man, and took a few steps closer, "Are you... are you the dungeon?"

"Well, technically not. I'm the Dungeon Core, but it's practically the same thing." The man replied, "Anyway, there's a bit of a thing I've gotta do or something. Yada yada yada, congrats on killing the boss, yada yada, you get a gift, yada yada yada, hurry it up and leave."

"W-Wait, I came here to talk to you! Could you... could you tell me more about yourself?" The cleric asked with a broad, excited smile, but the dungeon's incarnation simply rolled his eyes, "Listen, I really don't want to. I made this dungeon the way it is to meet someone again, but that's not possible anymore, so fuck off and leave me alone."

"Huh?" Kyla replied, "What do you mean? You made the dungeon this way on purpose?"

"Yes I di- Listen, missy, did you not hear what I said? Tell me what gifts you want, and leave." The man groaned loudly, clearly annoyed, "If you don't tell me soon, I'll give you all random stuff, alright?" He sighed, all the whilst cluttering in the background was annyoing him quite a bit. He turned his head, watching as Foster exhaustedly took off his dented chestplate for once.

But then, the man saw the symbol on the martial arts uniform that Foster was wearing. The incarnation's bored, tired eyes shot open in excitement, as he rushed over toward Foster, "Th-This! Where did you get this from?!"

"What? I bought the armor in town..." Foster replied, really unsure what this guy wanted from him, but the incarnation immediately pulled on his uniform, "Not that! I mean this! This! Are you... do you know Thiodrus?!"

Immediately, Foster's eyes opened up wide as he looked back at the man in front of him, frowning deeply, "Am I supposed to know who that is?"

"Considering that you're wearing this sigil on your chest, I'd fucking hope so! Come on, now tell me, how'd you know him?" The dungeon's incarnation asked, and Foster sighed, deeply annoyed, "Just fucking let go of me, will you? Explain why you want to know first, and then I'll maybe tell you what I know."

"Right, of course!" The incarnation said with an excited expression on his face. Octer and Lynol, knowing which 'Thiodrus' this man was talking about, stared at Foster nervously, while Kyla was simply jealous about the dungeon's incarnation being so excited to talk to Foster.

The man placed his hand onto his chest, and quickly explained, "You see, this place used to be a hidden research center, researching ways to turn necromancy into a weapon without actually having to let necromancy flow through your body. It's practically a poison, after all, feeding off your own life to sprout. That's what those orbs you must have seen on the boss were. Using them, I managed to create independent slime sources that didn't need my supervision, so that I could create a place that only a being like Thiodrus, already long dead, could traverse. The slime would hold off weak adventurers, while I restricted my natural ability to grow so that I would be unappealing to those who did have the power to clear me, with the exception of those that had a close connection to necromancy itself. It had worked, and nobody got past the second floor, until you four showed up." The incarnation quickly explained, a story that Kyla was absorbing with every fiber of her being. But even then, she slowly realized something. A 'long dead' man named Thiodrus with a connection to necromancy. Thiodrus wasn't too uncommon a name, but the rest of the information made it obvious to her as well.

But before she could ask, Lynol asked something, since Foster was mostly thinking about what he had just learned, "And why were you waiting for him..? Why were you waiting for Thiodrus?"

"Why?" The man replied, his brows slightly raised, "Well, because he is my father, of course."