Chapter Thirty, Forty Thousand.

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  He saw it in slow motion.

  The moment his body fully passed through the portal, his eyes locked onto the glaring anomaly within the room.

  A man. A tall man, with pale skin. His hair was white, and he was dressed slightly elegantly. Equipped in black, with a collar popped around his neck. His top was buttoned, from bottom all the way up.

  He had a hand extended, his pale red eyes staring directly into his soul.

  He saw his lips move, a wave of power bursting forth.

  "[Time Stop]."

  The world turned grey, the already dark stone, taking up an unnatural color. Everything was off. Completely frozen, unmoving.

  The elements didn't commune with him like they always did. He could not feel any energy in the air.

  He couldn't even move, but he was fully aware.

  He was not frozen in time, thanks to his passives. The mans grasp couldn't take hold of him, his energy was simply consumed. It breached his spatiotemporal warping with upsetting ease.

  Before anything else could transpire, he dug deep into his soul.

  Energy burst into his body, all of his Attributes being sapped from his children.

  Instantly, he was overfilled with energy, and he felt a massive change.

  His finger twitched, fighting against the elements that were locked in place. Under the white haired mans control, the elements did not make way for him as they usually did, nor were they capable of moving through him.

  He could not mask himself, he could not conceal his presence, and he could hardly move against their solidified spots in space.

  "Interesting... That power... Beyond A-rank. That's for sure." The man spoke, and his voice rung loudly in Jora's mind.

  Like a bell that boomed infinitely.

  He was confused.

  "Be confused. That is okay. I only want to understand what you are, and what you're doing here. My little friend doesn't seem to appreciate what you have been doing so far. I'm sure you know that, considering you made the effort to conceal your capabilities." The man spoke, and he stepped forward.

  Instantaneously, even under the frozen time, he was able to appear directly in front of Jora.

  He peered down, standing a foot taller than him.

  In that moment, he felt more energy fall into his reserves.

  "I can't inspect your Status... What is that little thing you do? You're diffusing my energy..." He questioned, a hand on his jaw.

  Who the hell was this guy?

  "I'm more interested in who you are... Don't worry, I wont dig into your mind. Laws forbid me from doing that. Morals, all that stuff." He spoke. "Though, I realistically don't have to abide by those right now... What happens in the Dungeon stays in the Dungeon after all..." A smile emerged.

  A scary one.

  At that thought, a small heat rose in Jora's mind.

  "[Calm down.]" And Ana's voice spoke to him.

  "The fuck is that?..." The man tilted his head, his brow raised.

  At that sight, he did not hear Ana any more.

  "There's a woman in your head... Are you a twin soul?" The man questioned.

  Through all of it, Jora was completely unable to move. Not even his mouth.

  He wasn't sure how he could possibly reply, but it was clear that the man could read his thoughts.

  "I can't tell if you're slow or not... I thought you would have noticed that the moment I spoke to you." He replied.

  The man circled Jora, his eyes hardly able to follow. Even with all of the energy coursing through his body, the man's grip on spacetime seemed to be unnaturally resolute.

  "Right. I see you've shown control over time and space as well. A great achievement, but you can't yet compare it to what I have done... I don't grow linearly." The man spoke, reappearing in Jora's vision.

  "But it looks like you don't either?..." He added, amusement in his voice.

  "Okay. Let's talk." And with that, he could feel the elements once more.

  Gasp!

  Jora's chest heaved, finding himself able to move once more. His hands raised up, his eyes darted back and forth. He felt his body, his legs stepped.

  "Not used to powerlessness are you?" The man spoke, and Jora uplifted his head.

  "Are you?..." Jora murmured. "...A god?" He heard the man chuckle. His back had turned to him, and he was a dozen feet away at this point.

  But he turned back around.

  "To you? Maybe? To the populous? I'm just a normal A-ranker, living in some backwater town... To royalty?... Perhaps I'm the closest thing there is to a World Talent... Well, I guess that's different now, thanks to the girl." He spoke.

  Jora absorbed all of his words.

  The girl, must have been referring to Jessica Bruchard.

  "Oh shit? You know Jessica? Interesting..." The man smiled. Jora wasn't sure of what to do.

  "Let's get this conversation moving though. Who are you? I can't view your Status, so I have to just take your word... Or perhaps I can brute force my way into it, but Status viewing without consent is already a breach of some rules..." The man continued to smile, nerves filling Jora.

  How was he supposed to answer that question?

  He was Jora? The man that awoke in a Dungeon? What more? Did he want the specifics? He didn't even have those...

  "Jora... Woke up in a Dungeon? What do you mean by that?" The man inquired.

  "I... Woke up in a Dungeon. No memories. I just woke up there." Jora replied. To that, the main raised a brow.

  "No memories?... At all? Not even one?" He asked.

  Was he trying to find out if he remembered his Talent awakening?

  "So then I take it that you did... Do tell, what is your Talent. What is it that allows you to so easily mingle with the world, and steal those monsters away without anything more than a ripple of space?"

  That was a hard question.

  One that he didn't want to answer.

  "You don't have much of a choice... You're a foreigner, equipped in my close friend's clothing, and stampeding through a Dungeon that we own... Diving without a license is a punishable crime." Jora's brows furrowed at that.

  He knew that A-rank man.

  "Alexander. So you have interacted with him. How did that happen?" The man asked.

  Alexander was his name? That inhuman man who made him feel a pressure he had never felt before, just with a glare... Much like this situation.

  The way he spoke few words, asking why he had killed the slimes... Telling him to find Tilmont and register in the militia? Become an adventurer, he had said...

  "Really? Sounds like him... Back to the main topic however. Your Talent. Your powers. Do tell. Don't worry, I just have to probe. Oh, and don't lie... I'll be able to tell." That made Jora falter.

  He wouldn't be able to hide it... His Talent.

  "Gluttonous... That's the Talent I woke up with." He spoke. The man nodded.

  "Tell me more." Jora bit his lips.

  "I can eat. What I eat becomes a part of me. I can siphon Attributes from those I eat, and skills as well." He watched, and his words caused the man's face to change.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  "Incredible. And is that skill called Gluttonous as well? Is it Intrinsic still?" The questions made him bite his lip harder.

  "...It's called The Glutton. It's a Soul skill. The portion that allows me to siphon Attributes is called Integration. The Glutton grants me the ability to eat, Integration allows me to assimilate." The man nodded.

  "I take it you have picked up some skills then? Spatial and temporal manipulation?... How long ago did you wake up in this Dungeon." He questioned.

  "I woke up... Four days ago. If I recall." The man nodded at that as well, but Jora could see his face change.

  "Yeah wow... Honestly..." The man murmured.

  "I've been trying to figure you out this whole time, and your skill is hard to breach... But I did manage to make it past for a quick bit... Give me a couple more minutes and I should be able to bypass your defenses... Direct contact would make things easier." Jora's eyes widened at that.

  He made it past his defenses?

  He honestly didn't even think that was possible.

  "Oh trust me. Many things are possible... Eerily, your Soul skill must be an insanely high level already... For mine to lose out in confrontation like this... It's a feeling I haven't had the privilege of feeling in a long while." The man explained.

  "Most importantly, I've been able to glimpse something." The man's face hardened, and Jora didn't like that.

  "You're actually not a human... Slime, and something else?... Maybe human is in there... But your closer to monster than person." A feeling of impending doom crept up Jora's back.

  "That means. You don't fall under jurisdiction of human laws. Or the laws of any of the High Races... Just another monster..." A smile crept up onto the white haired man's face.

  Jora understood.

  His base widened.

  "Good. Let's do it. Why not." And then...

  An overwhelming pressure descended upon him.

  Energy.

  So much of it.

  In an instant, he could feel his mana skyrocket.

  It soared up to fifteen thousand, just like that.

  "Phew... Your reserves are deep... But your soul isn't super strong yet... Just your mysterious Glutton skill." The man nodded in half praise.

  And then, he was right in front of Jora's face.

  Even with his Attributes beyond the thousand mark. He couldn't comprehend the man before him.

  He needed to understand just a little bit.

  His eyes flared.

  Jora's jaw dropped, as two pale hands surrounded his head.

  "Shocking, isn't it." The man laughed.

  He could hardly react, but he chose to do so.

  Within the smallest fraction of nontime, Jora activated everything he possibly could.

  His mind cleared, and he entered Meditation. He became more zoned in, Focused. He tapped into his weaving, manipulating time and space to the greatest of his abilities. He accelerated himself, and trying to decelerate the mans hands.

  But it didn't work all that well.

  And before he could do anything about it, the man had dug his hands into his face.

  And he had ate them?

  Instantly, power surged into his body.

  "How interesting." The man spoke.

  His hands dug deeper, and he consumed more.

  "Let's see."

  Confusion filled Jora, to the absolute brim.

  He was willingly feeding himself to him?

  Why?

  "I will adapt, do not fret. Just accept it. Nothing you can do anyway...." The man, Zenor, replied to his thoughts.

  Jora stood, frozen, not by force, but by will.

  And then he moved forward.

  He engulfed the man, excitement brewing over the confusion.

  He heard Ana ring in his mind, saying something along the lines of preserving the man's soul.

  But he did not care.

  He couldn't.

  He was overfilled.

  He had no thoughts.

  He was satiated, genuinely.

  It felt incredible.

  And he passed out.

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  Energy bubbled out of Jora's body, an aura unfitting of him, bursting into the surroundings.

  Instantly, a trio busted free of their spatial fold, dashing towards the far wall of the Boss Room.

  "What the actual fuck? Did he just kill himself? What is happening?" Annaliese scrambled, fright on all three of their faces.

  Elizabeth knocked down the wall with an implosion of space, and they quickly dashed into the Core Room.

  They were assaulted by language that was hard to understand, and a pressure they could hardly handle, but they heeded the instructions of Zenor Freid.

  In case something like this happened.

  They all placed a palm on the Core, and were transported outside.

  Instantly, they were greeted by another.

  Agatha Fent.

  On full alert.

  "What the fuck was that."

  "Lord-"

  BOOM!

  Before any from the trio could even speak, a massive burst of energy rippled out of Flamehold. The Dungeon folding in on itself.

  In a blip, the Dungeon doors no longer existed, and the Flamehold was no more.

  Just like that.

  "WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!" Agatha screamed, pure fear and confusion on the faces of the party.

  They stumbled to the ground, turning around and gazing upon where Flamehold had resided.

  The Dungeon had been there for far over a decade.

  And now it was gone.

  And it seemed as if Zenor Freid had gone along with it.

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  From the darkness, emerged a creature.

  A powerful one. A soul that writhed with strength. Strength, unpredictability, and no limits whatsoever.

  He gazed into it.

  He didn't understand.

  But it smelt good.

  He longed for it.

  And it longed for him.

  He grazed upon the soul.

  Things departed from it.

  Glowing pieces of power.

  They flew into him.

  He ate them.

  He felt nice.

  But the soul remained.

  It stared at him.

  It was happy as well.

  Intrigued.

  He was intrigued too.

  It asked him a question.

  A small nagging in the back of him told him to fulfill the souls request.

  It was a good idea.

  They would make good additions to Aeternum.

  And then the darkness receded.

  ...

  Jora found himself in another dark environment, different from the usual.

  He could feel his body.

  And he could feel things around him.

  Dirt.

  The earth.

  "[Just don't move...]" A familiar voice sounded.

  He didn't know why.

  But it felt like he hadn't heard that voice in forever...

  He dug into his mind.

  It felt like a lot of time had passed.

  Like he had missed out on things.

  Like from that weird interaction with Zenor Freid, until now...

  His time was empty.

  "...?" He tried to voice his concerns, but dirt fell into his mouth, and it cleared up a bit of room in this eerie place.

  So instead, he thought it.

  'Where am I?' He questioned.

  "[Just... Just come into Aeternum.]" Ana replyed.

  Things felt off.

  He felt rather hungry.

  But that shouldn't be right.

  He just feasted upon the greatest meal of ever? Didn't he?

  With small reluctance, his eyes closed, and his spirit awakened deep within.

  He floated within the air, far above the land.

  And instantly, he noticed a difference.

  Animals filled the skies. Birds he had never seen before. Strange reptilians.

  Young dragons as well?

  His eyes flittered all about.

  The world was vast.

  Infinite, it seemed.

  Thousands of times larger than before.

  The clouds were dense, and he could feel the energy as well.

  It had grown massively, but it was still just as dense with mana and elements.

  Even more dense.

  "What the hell?" He muttered.

  He floated within the air, and as he turned his head, a hand graced his shoulder.

  His head turned the other way, greeting a conflicting face. She did not look at him, but she gazed upon the world with him.

  "Let's see... Where do I begin?..." She smiled. A decently warm one.

  He didn't like that...

  "You're talking as if you're about to break some terrible news. Like my mother died or something." Jora tilted his head.

  At that, Ana laughed.

  "Interesting. Perhaps I have missed you!... You were asleep for a long ass time." She replied.

  At that, he frowned.

  "I was? I didn't enter any dream? I didn't get to train... I guess it's not every time I sleep?" He spoke.

  "No. You were just... Overfilled. A hibernation was induced, if you will... I'm glad I operate semi-independently, or I would have succumbed to the satiation as well... That would have been even worse!" She chuckled.

  Jora noted that.

  "So then... Where do you begin?" He asked, recounting her words.

  "Right..." She nodded.

  "It's been roughly thirty years in Yara, and almost forty thousand here. I've got it up to ten years per day outside, siphoning your energies... Doing so has helped you wake up quicker, since you're hungrier now... But you'll be in for a great surprise when you check your Status..." She said.

  "And the young gods have missed you... I see them every once in a while now, but when you first slept, I saw them very often. I told them you were off filling up the universe with more life, creating stars, more species, blah, blah... Made some sick lore for you, you know." She praised herself.

  Jora only listened, a bout of confusion on his face.

  He didn't understand.

  "Yeah..." Ana seemed to understand his feeling. "You ate the man, he let you. He thought his skills would win out, I'm surprised they didn't... But we had a conversation with his soul. He said that you and him were one in the same... Creations from beyond. He wanted you to take up his abilities, he didn't enjoy being so gifted... He saw your existence as a blessing from fallen heaven..." She explained.

  "He only asked for one thing. And that was to find his two friends, those two A-ranks we encountered. Remember them? He wants them to be brought here alongside him... I already distributed his soul into the world. I've recycled his lifetimes a few times, and he has lived well. I was waiting to retrieve the two others to give him all of his memories in one lifetime... Some sick reincarnation stuff. When they're all here I imagined linking them together, creating a soul tied trio that like, you know, has multiple iterations throughout history and nobody knows that all those trios are the same souls? Sick stuff, right?" She laughed.

  "I mean that's really it for that part though... I blame it on your stupid luck... I don't know why Yara had someone like him existing as well either?... Crazy if you ask me... You did gain all of his memories though, stripped him of that. Can't really give them back in full unless you do it... Gotta' evolve [Power Descend] through that front, to be able to replicate and descend all types of things to people. Don't worry, I've planned out a lot of things."

  He listened to everything she said.

  Staring down at the world, less focused on her figure.

  Even that, had changed. She looked a little older, more mature.

  Perhaps the forty thousand years as the god of this world? But then again, she was an ancient Dungeon beforehand...

  Maybe it was just his imagination.

  "Tch..." He laughed.

  "So?... I've just missed a lot of time? And gotten way stronger? Not much of a big deal? I can move forward like usual, right?" He asked, and Ana nodded.

  "Correct! I just didn't know if this little blip in time would disturb you or not..." She said.

  He gave an understanding look.

  "Honestly?" He spoke, Ana turning her head towards him.

  "I'm pretty hungry..." A smile emerged on both of their faces.

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