djarcher

The people of the alpha plane have made it their hobby to enter the dungeons of other worlds and conquer them. Naturally not everyone is happy with this as dark undercurrents begin to work against the conquerors.

As some people die in the dungeons they are made an offer. To give up their humanity in order to live on. 
Guy, a veteran carrier, is one of them, he can't bear to leave his family alone and accepts. From then on he must fight in the dungeons but as a monster while simultaneously continuing his life in the alpha plane in the shape of a human.
Jade, an elite adventurer, also accepts the offer but her intent is solely to get revenge on those who killed her and make humanity suffer for her life.
Monica, a little girl not native to the alpha plane is pulled into the happenings due to her childish innocence.

Counter Dungeon-Delving

Would I have grown to that level too if I had been allowed to stay with master Oden? I can't help but wonder what if...


Don't get all philosophical with me. I know I can't change the past but I still wonder what would have happened.


<Sigh, Jade, don't do this to yourself. You long for the past and if you get too attached you will get tangled up. Those attachments will turn into chains that slowly wrap around you and strangle you.>


<Don't laugh it off. You will soon be reaching the point of your first crisis. Weathering that is hard enough as it is even without complications like your feelings.>


First crisis? What is it this time and why are you telling me now?


I did ask myself that but I just figured Darwin had done something since everything he touches seems to just work out.


So what exactly is going to happen to me once I realize that I died?


<Depends. Most likely you'll experience some sort of depression ending in multiple more or less successful suicide attempts. You can't really die after all.>


So I'll go crazy and attempt to kill myself, fail over and over and then?


Got it. I'll try not to think about all the things that could have happened, happy?


Is my venom all you see me for? My sanguine boost can give me a thirty percent boost to all my stats and the only flaw it has is that it is temporary.


<Right, you do have that. Still, be prepared to have your range of movement restricted. You are only a lesser wyrm so if you encounter an actual sub-dragon you will be outmatched.>


I tune out Navi's superfluous advice as the void around me fades and is replaced by a cavern-like structure. I can see ores, glowing gemstones, and luminescent plants all around me. The gray stone walls are lit up by the gems and plants in an uneven manner that indicates the natural growth of those plants and the random formation of those gemstones. 


I can see rock lizards flitting across the shadowy rocks and hear the clicking steps that I believe belong to kamikaze hermit crabs. This place seems almost peaceful, serene even. If it wasn't for the giant claw mark etched deep into one of the walls along with fallen stalactites that are girthier than Darwin's belly.


Whatever broke those stalactites is no joke.


A drake, huh? Those are the four-legged ones, right?


<Sigh. Quick repetition on common sub-dragons. Four legs, no wings, drake. Two legs, has wings, wyvern. Two legs, no wings, lindworm. No legs, has wings, amphiptere. No legs, no wings, wyrm.>


So the ruler of this territory is basically an oversized lizard?


Back to the topic at hand. I open up the dungeon map and take look...


This dungeon is a veritable mess. It looks like a series of caverns and caves that were naturally formed and then brutalized by a bunch of crazy digging moles.


I mentally dismiss the map since I feel like every second I spend looking at that chaotic three-dimensional image of chaos and wanton destruction gives me brain damage. Navigation isn't going to play into this much, is it?


I choose a random direction and begin to slither along determinedly. There seems to be little to nothing going on in these tunnels and caverns. I am the biggest monster around and all the small beasts scatter the moment I approach.


Sanguine venom (2)