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Chapter 889: Dark Star Experiment

When I scanned the item with my World Sight, I discovered that the material composition was no different from the item within the game. However, its energy profile had changed slightly. Where I could previously sense the lit and unlit specks of mana from the binary magic system, this had faint runes floating through it. So, the binary system most easily translates to runic? I guess that makes sense, given that binary is essentially just another form of language.

Dana looked at the black whip that she had materialized in her hands, in awe of its creation. “This system is really… wait, and this is reverse compatible?” Her eyes lit up at that idea.

“Doesn’t that mean that we can create something on Earth, and then translate it to Lorek without the risk of catastrophic meltdown. Or, wait…” Dana’s eyes went wide, her body entirely vanishing from the Citadel. I don’t know where she went off to in such a rush, but it seemed like she was eager to try something.

Within the world of Deckan, there was a floating island seemingly wrapped in a barrier of darkness. Even when it flew through the air in the middle of the day, night seemed to spread in its surroundings. This was an ancient and iconic dungeon of Deckan at this point, one famous for its history as the victor of the very first Dungeon Master War.

Within this dungeon, shadows seemed to twist and distort, coming alive and breaking off to form large monsters. Sometimes, these monsters sank back into the shadows, and other times they flew around the area that the dungeon governed. Unlike some dungeons, this one did not change its external activities after the appearance of instanced zones. Rather, it considered its activity and influence over its surroundings to be a tourist attraction.

Deep within the dungeon, there was a figure of pitch black crystal sitting on a stone throne. As he had nothing to do with his time usually, he would idle in this position while remotely controlling one or more of the guides in Tower’s dungeon city. It was rare for anyone to come and challenge this dungeon in earnest, especially after the countermeasures that its old master had helped it to establish.

Yet, at this moment, a being appeared immediately before it. A short, elven girl with long black hair, wearing a black dress. She held a whip coiled in her hands, and smiled up at the dungeon’s avatar. “Hey, Shade!” She called out as if familiar with the entity.

This was the first time that she had appeared in this dungeon, and her sudden arrival instinctively set off his defensive measures. The girl vanished, being sent into the maze of shadow worlds that Petra had created long ago. By the time that the dungeon’s avatar realized what had happened, she had already been sent away.

He let out a sigh, preparing to retrieve her manually. After all, it was incredibly rude to trap a guest like that, and he had only done so due to a startled reaction while he was distracted. However, before he was even able to make the attempt, she appeared before him again, still smiling.

She didn’t even take three seconds to leave the twelve shadow layers? Shade’s confusion was understandable, as the rare expeditions that made their way to his dungeon had to pack for months, or even years of adventure. Each shadow layer was not just a maze, it was a complete cycle with only one way out. Every shadow served as a portal, either bringing you closer to your goal or further away from it. However, there was only a single shadow in each layer that could bring one closer to escaping the maze.

After struggling to understand what had happened, Shade finally recognized the being in front of himself. “I see… Dana Jafer, am I correct?”

“That’s right! I came because I want to test something out, with your consent of course!” Dana said with that same, bright smile.

If Shade’s crystal avatar had eyes, they would be arched. “Go on? I suppose that it’s the least I can do for someone from the Keeper’s Citadel.”

“Great!” Dana nodded her head quickly, reaching into her shadow and pulling out a large, metallic device. “Are you familiar with what this is?”

Shade looked the object over for a moment, before nodding his head. “That’s right. This is the new Digital Conversion Device released by Darkflame Technologies. One of my brothers is partnered with them.”

“Oh, good! That makes this easier! See, this device lets you translate something from one world system to another. But really, it’s more like printing an identical copy, then modifying that copy to adjust to the new world’s laws. Right now, people are using it to bring items into Fragments of Acidia, but it can also be used to translate things between this world and Spica or Lorek!”

Shade looked at Dana in confusion. “You wish to send my shadow crafts to Lorek to test if they can be sustained through stellar magic?”

“Not quite.” Dana grinned widely. “It can also print entire entities. With your permission, Shade, I would like to see if a Dungeon Core can be printed and converted to exist within Lorek’s law system.”

Shade’s crystal eyes widened slightly at that. He was well aware of what happened to a dungeon core that entered Lorek, as tests had already been conducted. The individuals conducting said tests… did not survive the experience. “You want me to put my life on the line for your experiment?”

“Well, no but also sort of yes?” Dana tilted her head, blinking. “It won’t be you, you. Instead, it will be a clone of yourself. If it works, there will be one Shade here, and one Shade in Lorek. If it doesn’t… the clone will die, but you will be perfectly fine. You might need to explain to the other cores that you’re okay, though, if your connection would send some signal about you dying.”

Shade thought about that for a moment. If there was truly no risk to himself, the ethical concerns were greatly diminished. “And if this does succeed, what will become of the other Shade?”

“I don’t know!” Dana admitted with that same wide grin. “I just want to know if this works in the first place! See, this item operates directly through the system, converting things into a suitable form for the new world. You guys are basically living magic items, without any true biology to speak of. That’s how you can possess eternal life without needing any kind of sustenance, right?”

Dana’s words weren’t entirely wrong, but they were rather direct. “I… suppose that you could say such. Very well, what do I need to do for this experiment?”

“All I need is to scan your core with this device, and we’ll be good to go!”

When he heard that, Shade immediately agreed. He knew that there was no risk to his core from Dana. If she truly wanted to destroy his dungeon, she could easily do so without playing a charade of asking permission.

The black wall behind his throne shifted, a blue gem slowly floating out of it. Dana grinned, pulling out seven more Digital Conversion Devices. These items were able to perform either internal or external scans, depending on the size of an object. Smaller objects could be placed inside of one device, and easily scanned without problems.

For larger devices, however… Dana began moving the devices into place, setting them up like the corners of a cube. She even attached half of them to the ceiling, holding them in place with her magic. Afterwards, thick cables were extended between them, linking them all together.

Eight cones of light shined on the core, emitted from the eight devices. These points of light then moved along the thick cables, pivoting the direction that they were scanning from constantly. Shade could feel multiple passive energies through the light, piercing the surface to scan his internal structure.

Once the lights had made a full rotation, they flicked off. Dana walked over to one of the machines, grabbing the file from it to register with her system. “Okay, Shade, that’s it! With any luck, you’ll become Lorek’s first proper dungeon!”

Shade’s avatar nodded his head at that, the core once again floating back into the wall behind it. “I look forward to the results of your experiment.” As soon as he had finished saying that, Dana disappeared together with the devices that she had brought with her.

Within the boundless space of Lorek, Dana’s body manifested from the void. She had a look of excitement on her face, wanting to put her sudden idea to the test. Naturally, she wouldn’t get any real benefit if the dungeon cores were able to appear in Lorek this way, but she would be opening up the possibility to others.

Alright, Ryone, I’ll be counting on your help for this. Dana wasn’t one to underestimate the mana reserves of an entity who passively spread its mana over a radius of more than a kilometer, wrapping the area in an eternal night. Thankfully, she was the Apostle of Ryone, who had blessed her with a vast mana reserve.

Dana opened up the system interface, navigating to the Digital Conversion tab, and quickly found the new file. Once located, she selected to print it immediately. She kept her whip in hand, ready to be used to defend or flee if the experiment went wrong.

It must be said that the system worked quickly. Dana’s mana drained out of her in a moment, forming a blue sphere in the empty space in front of her. Her eyes went wide, happy for the apparent success, before cracks began to appear on the surface of the sphere. Through those cracks, an intense light could be seen shining.

“Oh no.” Dana’s eyes shook, her wrist flicking and causing the whip to spin around her, wrapping her in a protective black layer. The newly created dungeon core exploded in a violent burst of light and heat, like a star erupting in its final moments.

“Wait… they can’t be translated? That goes against the system standards!” Dana complained loudly within her protective bubble, her voice easily reverberating despite the empty void around her.

Sorry, dear. Ryone’s voice spoke up a moment later. Dungeons are spawned by the system in the first place. We… tried something similar long ago, spawning dungeons in Lorek. The results were the same as what you are experiencing.

I would have liked to know that five minutes ago! Dana complained back at Ryone with a small pout, causing the Goddess of Magic to laugh lightly.

Sorry, I was busy. I didn’t know what you were up to until your prayer just a moment ago. It would have been nice if the transplant worked like that, but once I understood your intentions I had the feeling it wouldn’t. The only way for dungeons to be created in Lorek are manually, such as through Aurivy’s divine power. She’s been working on a way to create a similar race in Lorek’s laws, but the fundamental properties of the dungeons are what has caused this.

Dana could only sigh at that, waiting for the explosion of light and heat to subside around her. I thought that I had been onto something, there.