Now, I know you came here expecting a story, and we will get to that, as telling stories is one of my favorite pastimes, but first, let's talk!
First of all, yes, I know of you, and your wonderful world, part of the quirks of being such a powerful being as myself, if you don't mind some boasting on my part.
You peer into countless universes through mystical devices and travel around at such incredible speeds, though still believe your world doesn't have magic? Hah! The things mortals will rationalize.
Anyways, we are getting off topic. I am… humm who am I? I have had countless names over the eons you see, sometimes one gets lost in all the titles. Best go with simplicity eh? You can call me The Storyteller. As the name implies, I peer into countless universes looking for interesting stories.
Then, when some wandering soul with too much free time comes across me, I regale them with fanciful (and true) tales of young adventurers going against evil tyrants, or of some poor sod who tried to grow vegetables in the desert. Really depends on my mood at the time.
Oh, hah! The one of you who was walking has walked into a pole! I warned you after all!
Anyways, where was I? Ah yes, stories, wonderful stories! There's power in them, you know. Unlike some of my compatriots who enjoy conquering and devouring universes, or making one sided deals with mortals for their souls or something, I prefer to collect the mortal experience. Makes my power source less contested you see.
Now enough dawdling, let's go meet our protagonist, I'm sure they have minimal personal relations in their current world, which is a reflection of yours by the way, with the funny quirk of some major product names being slightly different.
And don't forget their up and coming date with a large fast moving vehicle, but that's enough spoilers for now. Let's get to it!
Dexter woke up to the blaring of his alarm clock, a relic he found in the garbage of his apartment complex and decided to fix up.
After checking his phone, to a grand total of 3 messages, 2 of which were of his robotics classmates giving an excuse as to why they wouldn't show up today to work on their project, he got up with a groan, already dreading the day ahead, counting the days until he could finally have some free time.
Looking around his small messy bedroom, he found some clothes that were mostly clean, and went to take a quick shower to wash away the last of the sleep, at least until his first class of the day. One last look in the mirror showed him what he always saw, medium length chestnut hair that was threatening to cover his eyes, a pair square glasses covering a plain looking face.
Quite frankly, he looked about how he felt, completely average. After a lightning quick breakfast of some BootLoops, a colorful cereal in the shape of boots for some reason, he dashed out the door, hoping to catch the bus in time so as not to be late to his first class of the day, again.
Dexter was an excellent student, when he applied himself, which wasn't often. He was more interested in messing around with mechanical devices. An interest he could trace from when, as a kid, he dismantled his dad's lawnmower to find out how it kept cutting the grass at such a determined height.
If there's one thing Dexter could say he's good at, it's fixing things. At Least non living things, which probably explains why any relationship he's had has always ended in disaster.
After the daily classes he went to the designated meeting spot for his robotics team, where, as usual, he was the only one there. Resigning himself to another late night of working on their end of semester project, a battle bot that could levitate for a few seconds due to an ingenious design by Dexter himself, he set off.
Now, Dexter does love this kind of work, you could say he even lives for it. But who wouldn't be upset at having 4 people to help you, but they never show up? As he walked into the unused classroom they re appropriated as a workshop, he found himself thinking of the past.
He was an only child, with a decent relationship with his parents, though he Isn't as close to them as he used to be due to them wanting him to go into law school and him firmly choosing engineering. After moving out to go to college, he's had a handful of conversations with his parents, usually ending in a disappointing way or with meaningless pleasantries.
Back to the present, he, as usual, lost track of time working on their as yet to be named robot, and was about to miss the last bus home. Rushing out, he ran across campus, startling the few janitorial staff who work this late.
After reaching an empty intersection, he looks both ways, certifying that the roads clear, before making his way across. All of a sudden, he's lit up in bright headlights, and then, nothing.
Well, that's that! Young Dexter there met a frightfully quick end. As some of you mortals tend to say, at least he didn't suffer.
What? You were expecting a longer story? I never promised that! I'm a storyteller, I didn't specify the length of my stories. But…. Hmmm. I guess I could pull a few strings and contact some acquaintances of mine, to, let's say, lengthen the story.
I know of a world that always has a need for a few extra souls after all. But, between you and me, you owe me. Now then, let's go find ourselves a wayward soul shall we?
Dexter woke up, though I guess waking up is not the correct term for realizing you are awake when you never went to sleep. He looks around, then down, and if he could make a sound in such a timeless place he would.
Quite simply, Dexter is a disembodied soul. He looks around the sea of other souls around him, all listing along, all little balls of light.
And he just went along with it. Kinda hard to have emotions when you're just a little glowing basketball. With curiosity, he notes that his soul is steel colored, like a well polished piece of metal.
He floats for a while observing the souls around him, all seeming to be going somewhere, while he just stays resolutely in place. As if daring to be different in the void.
Then, he jumps with a start, having gotten the impression that he's being watched by something, or someone. A presence so huge, all encompassing, that in the brief moment he felt it, he almost got lost in it.
An eon later, or maybe just after a few seconds, he feels another distinct, though no less powerful presence, this time pulling him in a determined direction. Dexter seemingly speeds up so much it reminds him of the faster than light speed travel of the Space Wars movies he liked to watch.
All of a sudden he stops above a massive planet. If he were to guess, it would be 5 maybe times the size of earth. Then he goes down to the surface, speeds past what seems to be a lush forest, before he plunges into the rock.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Strangely, his vision doesn't go dark, as one would assume traveling through kilometers of rock would be, but filled with points of light, in all colors of the rainbow. They seem to be fixed in spot, unmoving, though there's a sense of power behind them, flickering for the smaller ones and a veritable bonfire for the largest.
Looking down he seems to be nearing an empty space between the lights then, while he approaches, he blacks out once more. The next time he comes to, he notices something.
He's a crystal, shaped like those dice with the 12 sides, hexagons on all sides.
Then he panics. His mind seems to come to the realization that he's not supposed to be a dice crystal thing. Dexter seems to agree, and spends the next few hours screaming in his head trying to come to terms with the situation.
After an embarrassingly long time of screaming, and one can only scream in their head for so long before they get bored, Dexter notices that he's being supported by a pillar made of bones, leather, and other miscellaneous objects, things that look like some ancient tribe would craft and worship.
Then he looks around, noting he's in a roughly circular room, with random piles of junk scattered around. There's a pile of rocks to one side, leather scrap on the other, a small pile of metal plates and ingots, among other things.
He starts getting really confused. Then it happens, out of nowhere. A screen pops up in front of him. Or did it pop up in his head? Dexter can't really tell and is more shocked at the contents of said screen.
DUNGEON SYSTEM INITIALIZING…..
HUMANOID DUNGEON FOUND
MONSTER TYPE: GOBLIN
DUNGEON RANK: CANDLE
INITIALIZING DUNGEON MENU…..
PRESENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS DETECTED…..
DUNGEON MENU INITIALIZED, SHOW?
Dexter hastily selected yes, and before long another screen showed up.
HUMANOID TYPE GOBLIN DUNGEON
RARITY: COMMON
RANK: CANDLE
CORE INTEGRITY: 100%
MANA: 1000/1000
AVAILABLE SKILLS:
TERRAFORM
Use 10 mana to modify 1 m2 of anything of your domain. Summons don't fall into this category.
SUMMON WORKER
Use 150 mana to summon worker, plus 100 mana per item you generate to equip said worker (FIRST SUMMON IGNORES THE LAST RULE)
SUMMON WARRIOR
Use 300 mana to summon a warrior, plus 200 mana per item you generate for said worker (FIRST SUMMON IGNORES THE LAST RULE)
SUMMON SUPPORT
Use a variable amount of mana to summon a minion that specializes in something that isn't either of the listed categories above.
Dexter looks over the options for a while. He mentally selects the worker option and a preview of a creature appears in his head.
Dull green skin, a large bulbous head with a long nose and a set of teeth that would make your average dentist cry. Long spindly limbs and a body with a pronounced stomach akin to a beer belly. Clothed only in a ragged and torn loincloth. All in all, your average fantasy goblin.
Before has a chance to look at the other options, he hears a voice in his head, almost as if it's very far away say:
No no No! A goblin dungeon? Definitely not. The only thing that surpasses a goblins' stupidity is their smell, and they are quite the unintelligent beings. I refuse to have this in my story. Now, don't worry dear reader, I won't interfere with the story this often, there are rules, even for beings like me. But I will not have a goblin dungeon. Too cliché quite frankly. Let's see if we can make things more interesting shall we?
Dexter watches as his screen seems to glitch out intensely for a few seconds, before more text shows up.
ERROR ########### ERROR####
UNAUTHORIZED SYSTEM ACCESS DETECTED ######## CONTACTING SUPPORT STAFF ######## ER
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THERE WE GO! WASN'T THAT DIFFICULT. HAVE FUN WITH MY PRESENT DEXTER, AND DO TRY TO MAKE AN INTERESTING STORY WILL YOU?
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DUNGEON SYSTEM INITIALIZING…..
HUMANOID DUNGEON FOUND
MONSTER TYPE: GOB######### ERROR
MONSTER TYPE: AUTOMATON
DUNGEON RANK: CANDLE
INITIALIZING DUNGEON MENU…..
PRESENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS DETECTED…..
DUNGEON MENU INITIALIZED, SHOW?