~~~
"Holy shit. We actually did it."
The massive Treant guardian collapsed with a thunderous crash that sent shockwaves rippling through the entire dungeon chamber. Ancient bark splintered and cracked, golden essence bleeding from the wounds Jin and Rudy had carved into its towering form like liquid starlight. The air filled with the sweet scent of sap and the crackling discharge of dissipating magic.
I can't believe we're still alive. I genuinely thought that second phase was going to be our funeral pyre.
Jin slumped against a moss-covered pillar, every muscle in his body screaming bloody murder. Blood trickled from dozens of cuts across his arms and face, and his essence reserves felt like they'd been wrung dry and left to bleach in the desert sun.
Beside him, Rudy wasn't in much better shape—his armor was cracked in three places, and that gash across his shoulder looked nasty even after their hurried field treatment.
But they'd won. Against all odds, against an opponent that should have been way beyond their current capabilities, they'd actually fucking won.
The author never wrote about anything like this. Guardian entities with this level of intelligence and adaptability? This is completely off-script.
"Ahhh… Damn," Jin wheezed, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "That was absolutely insane. That battle is going into my hall of fame!"
"Yeah, sure..." Rudy panted, his voice hoarse as he tried mimicking Jin's earlier confident tone. "'Rudy, it's a Treant, they're weak to fire!' you said. 'Let's set it on fire,' you said."
"Okay, stop it right there," Jin scowled, though there was no real heat behind it. "How the fuck was I supposed to know that instead of becoming kindling, it would transform into a fire-breathing piece of walking timber? That's not how plant monsters are supposed to work!"
"Sure, sure," Rudy replied with a tired grin. "Next time you give me advice mid-battle based on your 'extensive knowledge,' I'm asking for a written guarantee that the enemy won't spontaneously develop immunity to its supposed weakness."
"Look, in my defense, that was some serious bullshit right there."
Without warning, Jin's [Appraisal] skill flickered to life, the familiar blue interface materializing unbidden in his vision:
o______________________o
[TRIAL GUARDIAN: 100 YEAR TREANT - CORRUPTED FORM]
[STATUS: ????????]
[ANALYSIS: ????????]
[THREAT LEVEL: ????????]
[REWARDS CALCULATING...]
[ERROR: UNPRECEDENTED VARIABLES DETECTED]
[RECALIBRATING...]
o______________________o
Jin stared at the cascade of question marks flooding his display, his blood-soaked brain struggling to process what he was seeing.
What the hell?
"Oh, come on," he muttered under his breath. "Don't tell me the boss isn't actually dead and this is leading into some secret third phase. I swear to every god in every pantheon, if that thing gets back up..."
Then the interface cleared, replaced by something that made his heart skip several beats:
o______________________o
[TRIAL GUARDIAN: ANCIENT TREANT - CORRUPTED FORM]
[STATUS: DEFEATED]
[FIRST DEFEAT RECORDED]
[UNPRECEDENTED ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED]
[CALCULATING REWARDS...]
o______________________o
Okay, at least it acknowledges we won. It had me in the first half, not gonna lie.
Before Jin could explain the strange system messages to Rudy, something unprecedented happened that made every hair on his body stand at attention.
The dungeon itself began to speak.
"MAGNIFICENT."
The voice resonated from everywhere and nowhere, thrumming through stone walls and filling the air with harmonious tones that made Jin's bones vibrate. This wasn't the mechanical announcements he'd expected from dungeon lore—cold, programmed responses delivered without thought or feeling.
This was alive. Aware. And apparently, they were very impressed.
"IN ALL MY EXISTENCE, I HAVE NEVER WITNESSED SUCH TENACITY FROM FIRST-TIME CHALLENGERS. YOU HAVE EXCEEDED EVERY EXPECTATION, SURPASSED EVERY TRIAL, AND PROVEN YOURSELVES WORTHY OF MY GREATEST TREASURES."
Jin's jaw dropped. His mind raced through every volume of "Mantle of Gods" he'd ever read, every side story, every piece of supplementary lore about dungeon mechanics and reward systems.
This has never happened. Not once. Not even to the main protagonists in the later volumes, when they were clearing S-rank dungeons left and right.
"Jin?" Rudy's voice cracked with confusion and growing excitement. "Is the dungeon... talking to us? Like, actually talking?"
Wait. Wait, wait, wait.
Jin's eyes widened as pieces began clicking into place like tumblers in a massive lock.
The guardian's individual personality. The way it adapted to their tactics with genuine intelligence rather than scripted responses. The sheer power it displayed despite being listed as a basic trial boss...
"Rudy," Jin breathed, turning to his friend with growing excitement that made his exhaustion temporarily forgotten. "Do you realize what this means?"
"That we're both going insane from blood loss and magical exhaustion?" Rudy replied with deadpan humor. "Because that's honestly the most logical explanation I can come up with right now."
"No, you musclebrained idiot!" Jin laughed despite his exhaustion, the sound echoing through the chamber with genuine joy. "This is an unclaimed dungeon!"
Rudy blinked at him like he'd started speaking in ancient draconic languages.
"A what now?"
Jin grabbed Rudy's shoulders.
"An unclaimed dungeon, Rudy! This is the first run. The very first time anyone has ever set foot in here and challenged these trials."
No wonder everything felt so different. So much more real, so much more dangerous.
"Think about it," Jin continued. "Every trial guardian we've faced had personality, adaptability, and genuine intelligence. They weren't just magical projections following scripted patterns—they were actual entities with their own thoughts and motivations."
The Stone Warden's adjustments. The way the Seven Doors trial seemed to actively learn from our mistakes and adapt its challenges.
And now this Treant that fought like it was genuinely trying to kill us rather than just following a predetermined program.
Rudy's confusion deepened. "Isn't that how all dungeons work? I mean, I've never been in one before, but everyone talks about them like they're intelligent."
"No!" Jin shook his head vigorously. "Most dungeons have been run hundreds, even thousands of times. Each completion depletes the vital aura and essential existence of the entities within. By the time most people experience them, the guardians are just hollow projections, shadows of their former selves going through the motions."
That's why the main characters in the novels never experienced anything like this. They were always running pre-established dungeons that had been farmed for decades, fighting weakened echoes of former power.
Understanding began to dawn in Rudy's purple eyes. "So we're fighting the real deal?"
"Exactly! Every entity in here is fully primed with vital aura and existence. They're at their absolute peak power and intelligence." Jin gestured around the chamber with sweeping motions. "That's why our gains have been so massive, why we've been developing so rapidly. We're not just defeating weak echoes—we're conquering genuine challenges that have never been overcome before."
Jin spread his arms wide, encompassing the entire chamber. "This explains everything, Rudy. The insane essence gains we've been experiencing. The way our skills have been developing at breakneck speed that should have been impossible."
"THE YOUNG SCHOLAR SPEAKS TRUTH," the dungeon rumbled with what sounded distinctly like approval. "YOU ARE MY FIRST, AND YOU HAVE PROVEN EXCEPTIONAL. FOR THIS ACHIEVEMENT, YOU SHALL RECEIVE REWARDS BEFITTING SUCH A MOMENTOUS OCCASION."
Golden light began to cascade from the chamber's ceiling like liquid starlight, pooling on the ground before them and solidifying into two magnificent treasure chests.
But these weren't ordinary containers. Both were crafted specifically for them, Jin could tell immediately.
Holy shit. Custom rewards.
The chest that appeared before Rudy was crafted from deep purple wood that seemed to pulse with inner fire, its edges traced with silver runes that matched the color of his eyes perfectly. The lock bore the symbol of a mountain wreathed in flames, standing unmoved against wind and storm.
Jin's chest was something else entirely. Pale blue wood that seemed to shimmer between solid and ethereal, traced with golden runes that shifted and changed as he watched. The lock bore a symbol he'd never seen before—a tree bearing stars instead of fruit, its roots extending into infinity.
That symbol... It's related to my title somehow. 'The Soul Beyond the Stars of Fate.' But I've never seen it referenced in any of the novels.
"Jin," Rudy whispered, staring at his chest in awe. "This feels..."
"Awesome," Jin finished, equally mesmerized by the craftsmanship.
"OPEN YOUR GIFTS, YOUNG CHAMPIONS. CLAIM WHAT YOU HAVE EARNED THROUGH COURAGE, CUNNING, AND UNBREAKABLE BONDS."
Rudy approached his chest first, hands trembling slightly as he reached for the ornate lock. The moment his fingers made contact, the purple wood flared with brilliant light, and the chest opened with a musical chime that resonated in their bones.
"Oh my gods," Rudy breathed, his voice filled with wonder.
Inside, nestled in silk padding that seemed to be woven from captured flames, lay treasures that made their eyes widen with disbelief.
Jin's appraisal skill automatically catalogued the items, though the dungeon only provided basic identification rather than detailed analysis:
o______________________o
» [GREATSWORD OF FORLORN - 4 STAR EPIC GRADE | SOUL-BOUND TO: RUDEUS WHITEHART]
» [VILEAN'S BATTLE ENSEMBLE - 3 STAR EPIC GRADE | SOUL-BOUND TO: RUDEUS WHITEHART]
»[SKILL IMPRINT CORE: WILL OF COLOSSUS]
» [VARIOUS POTIONS AND DIVINE BLESSING SCROLLS]
»[TOME OF EARTH MYSTERIES]
o______________________o
Soul-bound Epic equipment that grows with the user. Rudy's going to be terrifyingly powerful with those.
"Rudy," Jin said quietly, his voice filled with genuine awe at what his friend had received. "Do you understand what you're looking at?"
"Equipment that's way above my pay grade?" Rudy replied, but there was reverence in his voice as he reached out to touch the greatsword's hilt. "Jin, I can feel power radiating from these things. It's like they're calling to me, like they recognize something in my soul."
"Put them on," Jin encouraged, stepping back to give his friend space. "They're yours now. The dungeon made them specifically for you, tailored to your Mantle and your potential."
As Rudy began carefully lifting the armor pieces from their resting places, Jin couldn't help but analyze what this meant for their future. Epic-grade soul-bound equipment would make Rudy a force to be reckoned with, easily capable of fighting opponents several ranks above his current level.
This changes everything. With gear like that, Rudy won't just be my tank and front-liner—he'll be a legitimate powerhouse in his own right.
"NOW YOU," the dungeon's voice rumbled with anticipation. "APPROACH YOUR REWARD, YOUNG STRATEGIST. SEE WHAT MYSTERIES I HAVE CRAFTED FOR ONE WHO WALKS BETWEEN WORLDS OF KNOWLEDGE."
Jin's heart skipped a beat at those words. Walks between worlds of knowledge. Does it know? Does the dungeon somehow understand that I'm not originally from this world?
Or does it just recognize that I have knowledge I shouldn't possess?
With trembling hands, Jin approached his chest. The pale blue wood seemed to glow brighter as he drew near, and those shifting golden runes began to spin faster, forming patterns that hurt to look at directly—like trying to stare at the sun through a kaleidoscope.
The moment his fingers touched the lock, reality seemed to hiccup.
For just an instant, Jin saw flashes of impossible visions—stars being born and dying in the span of heartbeats, ancient libraries containing books written in languages that existed before language itself, paths through possibility that stretched across infinite potential futures.
Then the chest opened with a sound like cosmic wind chimes, and Jin's world exploded into light.
~~~