“Did you win, son?” came the voice of Grim’s father.

Grim looked up from his assorted ‘gains’ from the Dungeon.

His original Cat doll which had proved a worthy distraction against Wyin the tree demon lady.

The other was that novel that was simply ridiculous.“Define...

win?” he turned on his chair.

His room was like a fort around him, every item in a semi-chaotic mess that he knew exactly where things were.

That pile in the corner with the empty sword sheath had his math homework for Mr Jones, the papers on his desk had about ten different ‘beginner-speak-easy’ spells he got from his ‘Adventurer Weekly’, and the bulging closet door held unfathomable nightmares and wouldn’t ever be opened again.It was a shame, Grim had a nice pair of shoes in there that might still fit.

The rest of the room had maps everywhere, forms of sword styles in different strikes, a massive star map on the ceiling for memorising the most famous stars.It was more a ‘war room’ than a bedroom but Grim loved it.His dad took up the entire frame.

Not as big as Deo’s dad, but Grim was beginning to worry he inherited his mother’s more dainty frame as he hadn’t grown in height and magically, muscles hadn’t just popped in overnight like late wisdom teeth.Grim’s Dad, Myne, was not a man you wanted to arm wrestle.

Grim watched his dad move his hand in the air as if trying to snatch answers.“Ya know...

beat the boss, got the booty, and all that,” the man said, trying not to stumble and Grim hid a smile.

His dad was a dork and Grim knew he had a half-eaten spoon in his pocket meaning that when it was time for dinner and Grandpa Pic was done cooking, they’d be a massive argument about who got a clean dessert spoon.Arguments got weird when two of the four people in the house just ate things when they got peckish.“Well...

Pic-ish,” he mumbled to himself, unable to hold back the words.

He fought the pun, he really did.“‘Loot’ dad, not booty.

I’m an adventurer, not a pirate,” Grim reminded him as he slipped off the stool with his new book.

His father turned puzzled, still smiling.“Pirates live on the water.

I go underground.” Grim said with no real heat.

It was easy to be annoyed at his parents for their attempt to get into Grim’s career choice but they truly were interested about him in the last few weeks.

Ever since Mana really hit the town, everyone had become slightly easier to be around.They were doing interesting things and watching his parents reveal sides tothemselves Grim had never seen was interesting.

Like how his mum liked to paint...

or his Dad loved terrible jokes.

Not quite puns...

but awkward lame jokes that made Grim actually prefer puns.“Right, loot! Well, I heard you beat up two different bosses in one run! My little Noir is kicking butt and taking names! You gonna take your old man on a holiday soon when you’re famous?” the giant man asked which made Grim flush at the neck.“Dad, I did one run and it was easy mode.

I’m not famous,” he insisted, waving off the words as they headed to the kitchen area where something delicious was stewing.“Hm, if you’re the first proper party...

I don’t think that’s true,” his father muttered as they entered the giant kitchen which had a pantry that would make any chef quail in terror.

The Pictus family’s tastes ran a little off-kilter than most.Like the bubbling copper ingots for Grim’s Dad as Grandpa Pic cooked something that might have been a fanged kidney or a spiky tongue.

Occasionally, when Grim was feeling sad or sick, Grandpa Pic would boil some fresh dictionaries and adventurer book tales for him like a porridge.The weirdest was his mother.She ate broccoli...

willingly.

All the males in the household feared her.“Dad, how famous do you become for clearing a Dungeon for the first time and being the first? I was never into the Dungeon thing,” Grim’s dad asked his own father.“The first group to pass a Dungeon gets recorded on the Star Arch.

Depending on how dangerous and rare the Dungeon is, the more prominent the place,” Grandpa Pic said easily, shaking some of the demonic druid brussel sprouts for Grim’s mother.Grim slowed in confusion.“Star...

Arch?” he echoed, first time hearing of it.“We didn’t tell you or really let any kid know because it's the worst thing you can tell a kid,” the old man admitted, gruffly, but more in sad remembrance than any real heat.“Do the impossible and get your name on top of this massive pillar and be famous.

There are too many broken families because of that thing,” Grandpa Pic nodded to himself.Bowls were set down and Grim’s puzzlement only grew as he tried to think about how that would work.“So, I need to write in and ask them to put my name in or something?” Grim asked after some time.

His Dad grinned.“I’m sure they’ll believe you in a letter, but nah,” his dad trailed off for a second.“It knows.

It’s connected to all the Dungeons somehow.

It’s the biggest broadcaster of a new Dungeon besides Fairplay.

It’s like two spiral pillars floating around each other...” he explained and Grim was starstruck.“Do you think my group got on?” he asked excitedly and his father shot his grandpa a look.There was a long pause.---Miles east of the Royal Capital, across a long strip of ocean and near a mountain which appeared to have been hollowed out by giant hands...

two pillars rotated around each other like hands of a clock.

One white and almost immaterial, more like mist and cloud than stone, the other dark rock with roots cracking its surface.They didn’t touch points, but in the space between them, a swirling sphere spun eternal since the world, sky, and stars formed.

The sphere was a study of magical scholars and enchanters as it was one of the true ‘global’ spanning enchantments capable of self-updating and growth.

The sphere didn’t look big until you needed it to be big...

it wasn’t detailed until you focused...

it seemed unique to each person glancing at it, but it never truly changed in itself.The sphere was a massive catalogue.

It was a work of art, with exceptions of ugly black marks where records were expunged as Dungeons became Abominations or were destroyed.To use the sphere seemed free.

It cost not mana, chi, chakra, soul, essence, psi, or any other known or complicated term for one's natural energy.

However, the sphere did take a little of something.A little of the dark seeds, just a little since it was never designed to truly be a solution.

It was a good choice made by the Brother and Sister since people flocked to the Star Arch.

A whole city outside the hollowed mountain had formed and the Sphere was working overtime to take as much of the darkness as it could.There was between a handful of people to a whole arena’s worth at a time assessing records, judging new trailblazers, getting excited when a new Dungeon appeared...

a whole stock-market of records and gambling on said records had become the city’s economy.Gambling on heroes and adventurers.The top three dungeons were recorded larger than the rest and focusing on them unearthed a dozen or more ‘sub-missions’ one could attempt to do.

It was strange the pillars were trying to make people spend as much time in a Dungeon as possible doing things that might not even be dangerous.Do 100 push-ups in a cleared boss room? Weird, but people did it for the glory.New times and new ways of completing the challenges had become something of a lifestyle.The top three dungeons currently on the arch were...The Beautiful Death.

The Ruby Dungeon of the Desert.The Golden Underworld.

The Royal Dungeon of the West.The Black Swarm.

The Temple Dungeon of Pit Jungles.These three weren’t exactly close.

The Royal Dungeon simply surpassed the other two by sheer time and visitors.

Ruby and Swarm were neck to neck but there were others nipping at their heels.

The Twin Hells, the Blue Depths, Dragon-dragon the dragon dungeon, and more.Everyone had their horse, so to speak.That was when on a day like any other...

quite a normal day.The Star Arch changed.The earth pillar had mushrooms growing around its base with long veins of orange travelling its surface and the sky pillar looked like dawn was shining through it, turning its white luminance to a soft orange.The entire city huddled in terror, wondering if this was the ‘death’ of the arch.The sphere now recorded a new top three.The Royal Dungeon.

The Ruby Dungeon.

The final one was simply listed as ‘Delta’.

Despite the record saying it only had 2 floors...

it was considered ‘sweet until you mess up’.

This caused chaos...Absolute bedlam.The only comfort they got was a tiny wooden sign that looked to be stuck in the sphere itself.

No one could remove the sign.It was simple enough to read, translating itself to all languages and tongues.

In the immortal words of Lady Spears, ‘Oops...

I did it again’.

- Nu