Meanwhile, Damien was standing in the mysterious space in a daze. He had no idea where he would end up, but what he saw before him wasn’t even close to what he’d have expected.
When Damien teleported into that bulbous layer, he had landed in what looked like a study. A human’s study. It was a long room with wooden flooring and ceiling.
The walls were lined with bookshelves and in the middle of the room stood a line desk. With the way the room was structured, there was no way to enter or exit, making one wonder if its design was a mistake.
However, Damien knew that there was no mistake. With the location of this study being between the spatial layers, the only method for entry and exit was some form of spatial power.
Being vigilant about the first man-made structure he’d seen in many months, Damien spread his mana sense to check for any signs of life. Confirming that he was alone, Damien moved to sit down, only to realize there was a chair in this room he could use.
Sitting in a chair was such a novel experience that one would never truly put much thought into it, but for Damien, who’s closest interaction with infrastructure in a very long time was a bed made by goblins, this experience was heavenly.
The soft sensation on his body, the support he felt on his back, the ability to recline to a position that was most comfortable for him, Damien reveled in this feeling.
‘Ahh, this is the kind of thing I miss. Now if only there was a tv or something this would be perfect.’ Damien smiled as he pet the large fluffy object in his arm.
‘Wait…’ Only then did Damien remember that he wasn’t alone. He was so caught up in escaping that he had completely forgotten about the human-sized wolf he was carrying in his arm.
Looking down at the wolf, Damien noticed that it was fast asleep, seemingly having passed out due to either fear or the strain of continual teleportation.
Once again Damien recalled something important. It was his first time attempting to teleport with another individual besides himself.
Luckily, his original skill had evolved many times over, so it seemed the burden of carrying more people with him wasn’t a problem. If he had tried this a couple of months ago, the wolf would probably just be a pile of mincemeat at this point.
As he relaxed, he looked around at the long rows of bookshelves around him, only for his eyes to pause on the desk in front of him. Gently placing the wolf on the ground so it could rest, Damien picked up the single book that was sitting on the desk and opened it.
‘Congratulations to whoever you are! It seems that you have been lucky enough to stumble upon an abode of mine. Well, I doubt luck had anything to do with it if you’re in this dungeon, but for the sake of the expression, pretend it did’
Damien read the book with a deadpan gaze. ‘It seemed whoever wrote this had quite the eccentric personality’ he thought as he continued.
‘Okay well I guess you got your laughs out with that last joke so let’s get serious. My name is Kurt Galloway, and I am what you would call a Spatial Grandmaster. Since you’ve stumbled upon both this dungeon and the subspace you’re currently in, it’s no doubt that you are a promising spatial affinity user as well.’
‘Well then, let me give you some backstory. The dungeon you’re currently in is one I’ve titled the First Dungeon. Why, you ask? Well, it’s because I’ve theorized that this is one of the oldest, and perhaps even the first, dungeon that was naturally created in our world.’
Damien scoffed at the terrible naming sense and kept reading.
‘Being one of the first dungeons to ever exist, the beasts contained within it have a much more substantial level of Godbeast bloodline than those that exist on the surface. Due to this, a harsher environment where all beasts are desperate to kill and consume each other’s blood to evolve was created.’
‘I entered this dungeon by pure coincidence, but upon my entry, I realized how strong the beasts residing here actually are. After all, I’ve mused that the strongest beast in this dungeon, the one who resides on the 100th floor, is a demigod level existence at the 5th class.’
This was the first time Damien had heard the number of floors this dungeon had in total, and it made him feel utterly hopeless.
‘A 5th class existence? How long will it even take me to reach such a level?’ But Damien wasn’t one to fall into despair without attempting to do anything, so he persisted in reading.
‘My purpose in entering this dungeon was to find myself a beast companion. And just recently, I found a dragon! Haha, an actual dragon! How is it, are you jealous?’
Damien rolled his eyes.
‘Kuhum. Well, let’s continue. I’ve spent many years searching for those I could pass my legacy to, however, I was never able to find someone fitting. For this reason, I’ve placed subspace like this one within many different areas in our world that are only accessible to those with extremely high affinity for the spatial attribute.’
‘Inside this subspace, I’ve left my insights on subspace creation and many of my other iconic abilities, a few treasures that will aid you in your path forward, and information regarding everything of importance in our world.’
‘Now, if I’m alive, I sincerely hope you come and find me, however, if I am not, make sure you showcase my legacy to the world once more and make sure my name isn’t forgotten in the annals of history.
-Kurt Galloway’
‘P.S. I bet you were really scared of that cliffhanger I left about the hundredth floor, huh? Weren’t you? Anyway, you don’t have to worry about that since I’ve set up a teleportation array on the 50th floor. Just defeat the boss and you have a quick trip to the surface waiting for you! Okay, goodbye for real this time.’
Damien sighed in exasperation as he read the final excerpt, but his eyes couldn’t help but brighten. He had finally found a way out of the dungeon, and not just that, he had found a way to advance his spatial ability and his knowledge of the new world he was in.
This way, he wouldn’t need to go in blind and randomly get himself killed by accidentally saying something he shouldn’t.
As Damien looked around once again at the rows of bookshelves that surrounded him, he couldn’t help but smile. ‘Well then, I guess it’s time for a real-life info dump.’