Even as I boarded the bus, the small thread of energy persisted to the dungeon. It felt nearly the same as the one connecting me to the cores. Would it actually stay attached when we returned home? If it did, that meant we would need to keep greater tabs on this dungeon somehow.

  I didn’t like the idea of splitting our resources, and would have preferred letting the government watch it. But if it was attached to me, there was just no way I couldn’t make sure it was protected. I sighed as the bus door closed behind me, almost glad to see my life continue to spawn new problem after problem. At least it meant nothing had really changed in the great scheme of things.

  “Connie, what was that thing?” I asked, my nerves finally starting to settle.

  “Not really sure. Gramps calls them outsiders on account of their not coming from normal space. The origin of the Stellar Opera came from him encountering one of these things, and as he tells it, a moment of brilliance in how to fight them, but I tend to think it had more to do with desperation.” Her voice broke several times as she answered. That was more fear than I’d ever heard from her. She had faced the Arena with total confidence so far. This didn’t bode well as a new problem.

  “It’s my fault it managed to break in at all. Well, most recently my fault. There’s a very long string of events where the fault doesn’t begin with me, but today I suppose I’ll take the blame,” a new voice joined the conversation. Karlinovo spoke fast, but every word was perfectly articulated in a deep voice.

  “What happened in there? Why were the penguins dancing?” I asked the man. This almost felt like a first meeting, but considering we had been talking for months in my mind, I knew it wasn’t. It was just strange to see him as a real physical being now.

  “Distraction mostly. At the same time, I sent you that message that the dungeon core had noticed me, but it was for an entirely different reason than I realized; it didn’t want to enthrall me. Right behind my form being pulled into this world came that outsider. Oh, and Trelione might be claiming to have named the monsters these days, but he didn’t. He also isn’t entirely lying about the inspired act of the Stellar Opera. These things are captivated by certain melodies. The rhythmic dance of the penguins worked well enough, but it took all of my and the core’s focus to even keep that up. I’m surprised it was so willing to work with me,” Karlinovo explained. The whole time he spoke, he kept running his hand through a messy black beard, entirely failing to straight it.

  “Wait, you know Gramps?” Connie asked, her voice instantly shifting from fear to interest.

  “Know is a strong word. Dave, correct me if I’m wrong, as I’m still trying to adjust to the idea of a physical form again, not to mention one that only has two arms. But did you take control of the dungeon from the core?” Karlinovo asked.

  “I did, at least I think I did. Let’s table that conversation until we are back. I want to know a lot more about what happened, but I want to have that conversation with a few more people. Is the new dungeon core safe to travel in that penguin form?” I asked. I honestly had thought dungeon cores couldn’t leave a dungeon inside a captured form like that.

  “I think I am fine,” a small, chirpy voice replied from the penguin.

  “Good enough for now. Timon, let’s get us home and we can discuss everything there,” I said, taking a seat and focusing on the line connecting me to the dungeon. I wanted to watch for any changes as we moved across the world.

  I closed the chat window as a strange feeling played in my mind. The idea of having Karlinovo alive and with us was something of incalculable value. But I suspected this meant I would be sharing my workshop now. I knew it was for the best, but a slight tinge of disappointment ran through me anyway. Considering I had already planned to share it with Gamma, it wasn’t that big of a deal, but still, I’d have to make sure in the future we each had our own private areas.

  Lost in my own thoughts and worry for the future, I barely noticed the return trip. The sparse conversations likely meant a bus full of people with thoughts similar to my own. What did Karlinovo’s appearance really mean for us? And most of these people were far more familiar with the Spiral and his work than I was.

  Mel was waiting for us outside the bus the moment we landed, a scowl mixed with a look of astonishment on his face. “What the hell is he? Some kind of mana beast turned human? Ain’t a dungeon core in there as far as I can tell either, but that thing has one. The hell were y’all up ta?” he said.

  “Let’s talk in the hall. Our communications should be as secure there as they are in the bus now,” Pryte said, trying to shut up any outside talk.

  “Beta, Gamma, can you go find Grant, Maud, Glorp, and Sanquar? I want them all here for this meeting,” I said, instructing the cores, who flew off in their respective tools without a word. We continued the walk to the hall in silence, Mel apparently having understood the need for it.

  “Someone explain before I have a hemorrhage!” Mel yelled the moment the doors were closed to the hall.

  “I am Karlinovo, apparently my fame precedes itself still. Thanks to the connection my soul formed with Dave, I live again. I believe it is in the best interest of all of us to keep that revelation as quiet as we possibly can. Someone once worked very hard to kill me, and I’d rather keep that from happening again anytime soon,” Karlinovo answered, as he lounged in one of the cushioned chairs near a corner.

  The door opened again as the others entered. “So you all know how problems like to compound themselves? Well, possibly for the first time, we have a problem that’s value far outweighs the new problems it creates,” I said, waving my hand to the burly man still fiddling with his beard.

  “Oh, yes, hi again. I’m Karlinovo for those who don’t know me. Which I think is all of you, other than Maud. Interesting to see your form is near identical to when you sleep. Dave, for some reason, is much more balding,” Karlinovo said, without moving from his seat. I choose to ignore the comment on how I still pictured myself.

  “Really, we’ve met before, haven’t we?” Sanquar said, walking over to the man, examining him closely. “Though I believe you used to have several more arms. What species were you then?” Sanquar asked.

  “Yeah, and you weren’t this bird form then either, so how about we keep the insults to ourselves,” Karlinovo said, and then burst out laughing. “No, no, you’re right, my mutations seemed to have vanished with my death. Honestly, good to see you again, not that we interacted much in my past life, but resurrection has a way of making you appreciate any old connection.”

  “Pick a new name, Karlinovo!” Connie yelled suddenly, surprising me. I hadn’t expected her, of all people, to care that much about keeping him secret. I had had the idea as well, and I was sure Pryte was going to get there, but why was she up in arms about it?

  “I’m not entirely sure why Connie is so worked up about it, but yes. You do need a new name. The name Karlinovo is never to be spoken outside this room. Grant, that includes when you tell your superiors we have a new resource. I’m okay with them knowing about him, but they need to be informed here, in a much smaller need-to-know group situation,” Pryte ordered.

  “Understood. The president already expected something with a classified type of information to come up, and we have a protocol planned for just such a moment. I will use that,” he said, nodding at Pryte.

  “Huh, a new name. What name fits someone who looks like me on this world?” the man in question asked, looking thoughtful.

  “You look like an Ivan to me,” Maud answered. She wasn’t entirely wrong. He did have the look of an older Russian man going.

  “Ivan, it is! Now for much more important things. What are we going to do with Dave’s dungeon that an outsider has already attempted to breach?” He asked.

  “What’d ya mean exactly by Dave’s dungeon?” Mel asked, his glare returning to me.

  “Oh, that was my fault! I accidentally let the weird monster in when I was trying to figure out what he was. I was very lonely and I could hear his voice, so I thought, why not give him a body, and then we could be friends!” the penguin said, pointing to Karlinovo.

  “Yes, what an odd dungeon core as well. None of the usual madness you would expect from one. In fact, quite on the ball as far as understanding the world goes,” Karlinovo replied.

  “Dave, I am going to have Traveler join us. We will need their opinion on this development,” Corey said, manifesting near me.

  “Good idea, go grab them,” I replied. This new dungeon core was vastly different than the other four as far as I could tell, and the fact that I now owned their dungeon was something I needed a more experienced voice to speak on.

  I have seen something today that has made me question all I know. I suppose it is my own fault for thinking I ever truly had a grip on the things that lurk in the eternal dark, but this time chaotic space has thrown even my sanity into question. It was not the monsters that broke me, no, despite their unfathomable appearances, it was what they were guarding. I believe I have found the gates to something beyond all we know, and I feel drawn to somehow find the way to pass through them.

  Voyages of Chaos by Captain Squidlen

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  Magic Card Apocalypse

  by Sun Wukong

  magical apocalypse was far outside of anyone's cognition for the end of the modern world—a chaotic new reality that humanity was simply thrust into, watching helplessly as everything they knew transformed around them.

  Blue Phoenix, had seized every opportunity within her means, clawing her way to the peak of humanity as the strongest Card Master and a revered leader of a great stronghold. Yet behind her legend lurked regrets and past mistakes—wounds that never truly healed. Even at her peak, she was nothing before the greater alien races and invaders, a single adult member of the dragon, angel, archdemon, or titan clans could wipe away everything she knew and had, were they so inclined. Strongest? Yes. But what was that worth really when you couldn't save all those you wished to and had to run, hide, and look away just the same?

  nameless mercenary with nothing to lose and no one who would mourn his disappearance. Fortune had abandoned him long ago, leaving him a pawn on a blood-soaked chessboard not of his making. He didn't know what kept him going, was it hate? unwillingness to succumb? desperation? It was all of those things, the harsh reality of who he was and who he never could be.

  What to expect:

  -Two protagonists (Female & Male, Kingdom building vs Adventure, Hero vs Anti-hero)

  -Lit RPG elements but no system or leveling (cultivation-based progression)

  -Unique cultivation system

  -Grim dark

  -Slow buildup to magic card battles