1 Prologue: Before the Game Could be Made...

Far underground, the funk of damp mold and rotting bones clung to the air. No signs of light were anywhere to be found. 

There was a constant pitter-patter lightly echoing through the corroded caverns; the sound of tattered bones scraping against the wet stone floor. For most, the non-stop clatter was enough to turn a man mad. 

However, that wasn't the case for the duo turning the corner. 

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Rat-t-t-ttle…

White flames flew down the corridor, consuming a slew of meandering skeletons. And a man in a plain cloak strolled past the flames without any second thoughts. He was too busy rubbing the head of a teeny tiny fox, who was lying on the man's shoulder.

"Hmmm… I'm bored." 

"You already told me, Bowzer, not even five minutes ago."

"Cause it's true…" the hand-sized fox sighed. "Why can't we just let Dragov burrow to the bottom? Then we could get in and get out without needing to camp in such a stinky place." 

"Because then I would be bored," answered the man, walking through the dark cavern without any need for torches or lanterns. 

The small fox scoffed and laughed, "Oh yeah? That's rich coming from the guy who used the same strat back at Earthen Keep."

"You know that's a different story! I only speedran Earthen Keep because I was pressed for time," argued the man

They turned the next corner to find another batch of wandering skeletons. But, instead of sparing them any attention, the man ignored them while the teeny fox spat more white fireballs to clean the mess in seconds. 

"Besides," the man continued his reasoning, "You have no idea how many times I cleared Earthen Keep back in my gaming days. I wanted to challenge myself with something new, and setting a speedrun record is no joke."

"Come on, Jack…" Bowzer groaned. "Please? Just this once? We've already gone through too many of these things to count, all for a stupid item that shouldn't exist." 

Shrugging, Jack corrected the fox, "No, we've only run two hundred and forty-seven ruins while looking for it. Along with three hundred and sixty-two auctions." 

"Exactly! We're all bored of these crypts and catacombs," Bowzer stated. "Can't we just rush to the end now, and then take a break at an underground volcano? Or an ice world? Anywhere but another tomb." 

Jack shook his head and turned another corner. But there was no more undead awaiting sudden cremation. "See? That's what I meant when I said you're not cut out for dungeon crawls."

"I'm perfectly fine at dungeon crawls," Bowzer retorted, raising his snout and pointing it away from Jack. "But only you're crazy enough to dedicate one of your bodies to non-stop ruin runs. Krax1, if it weren't for Eliza, Maura, and Daliea, at least half of your bodies would be living in dungeons."

Shrugging, Jack laughed, "You say that like it's a problem." 

As the duo continued their stroll, the stench of bone rot was lessening. When the trail of undead went cold, Jack stopped. 

"Finally my nose can take a breather!" Bowzer enjoyed that rush of mostly clean air, savoring the lack of all things decomposing. 

Jack, however, took a moment to think out loud. "This isn't adding up. Not only do the mobs get weaker the deeper we go, but now there aren't any at all. What the hell is up with that…" 

Bowzer snootily remarked, "Well, maybe that's our cue to leave and try another one, after taking a break from these crypts." 

"Come on, Bowzer," Jack teased the fox, rubbing his fluffy head. "Be a good boy and help me find where the scent picks up again." 

"Just because I'm a good boy, doesn't mean I have to do everything you say!" 

While shouting back at Jack, Bowzer tilted his head to make sure Jack could itch all the good spots behind his ears. "I'll only do it because I want to. Nothing else." 

The small fox hopped off his shoulder perch, and Bowzer instantly grew to be just as tall as Jack while standing on all four legs.

"... Any luck, Bowzer?" 

"Don't rush me. Be happy that I'm a good boy and I'm willing to work together," taunted the fox, sniffing the floor for the pungent scent of undeath. And, to Bowzer's displeasure, it only took a couple minutes to pick up that repulsive funk once more. "Oh! That's– Way worse!" 

Bowzer hopped back to Jack's shoulder, shrinking in mid-air. 

Jack accepted the fox with another round of head rubs. "That's the way! Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?" 

"I am! I already know that…" Bowzer embarrassingly replied, still accepting the rubs and pats. 

The duo resumed their trek through the dark caverns with a new trail to follow. However, while the scent was getting stronger and stronger, there was still a complete lack of undead to find and burn. 

"What the Krax…" Jack casually cursed, now well accustomed to universal jargon. "Any guesses on what's coming up, Bowzer?" 

The fox shook his head. Bowzer also made sure to cover his snout with his front paws. "No clue. But whatever it is, it stinks! That's one of the worst things I've ever smelt!"

They wandered deeper still. As the caverns started to wind less and less, the smell got to a point that Jack also covered his face. It was a horrid aroma assaulting them both. So badly that the scent alone made it feel like they were trapped in a coffin with a moist, moldy corpse. 

Still, their travels eventually brought them to the aroma's origin. 

Behind them was the winding cavern they'd traversed for the past few hours. In front of them was an enormous pit with a stone walkway encircling the gargantuan drop into nothingness. 

"Hey Bowzer, look over there." 

While the fox stared across the extraordinarily large pit, Jack asked, "How much do you wanna bet those are for the other paths?" 

"You know I don't like betting," grumbled Bowzer, still covering his nose. 

"What do you mean? You made a bet with Phoro and Dragov about getting here first!" argued Jack. 

Bowzer scoffed, "Well yeah, but I don't like betting with you!"

Shrugging, Jack spent the moment staring into the seemingly bottomless pit. "You only say that because you always lose." 

"Exactly!"

"Fine, then how about a different bet." Jack egged the fox on with another rub behind the ears. "I'll bet that we'll find what we're looking for in the pit. And if I'm wrong, we'll go wherever you want next." 

"DEAL!" Bowzer barked.

Not letting the fox cut him off, Jack continued, "But if I'm right, then you have to join me on whatever dungeon crawl I want." 

The fox squinted back. "... Fine. But only one dungeon! I'm not agreeing to any of those dungeon chains, or anything like that." 

Next thing, Jack and the shoulder fox were shaking on it with a hand and a paw. 

With more on the line, Jack stared at the inviting pit with an excited smirk. "Alright. Now it's time to get serious."

Jack strolled to the edge of the circular walkway and didn't stop. He stepped right off the ledge, enjoying the plummet straight down into the pitch-black pit. 

... As the ground eventually came into view of Jack's night vision, he covered his feet in a layer of cosmic energy and walked down the air the last few meters. 

"Damn. That's got to be at least a five-hundred-meter drop. Maybe a kilometer," Jack stated with a loud whistle. 

At the same time, Bowzer leaped off of Jack's shoulder. The fox grew again, standing at over five meters tall on all fours, fangs bared. 

Rat-t-t-t-ttle… Ker-clump-clump… 

They found themselves in a chamber immensely wider than the mouth of the pit. And they could both hear what sounded like a mountain of bones constantly clacking against each other.

"Don't hold back, Bowzer!" Jack shouted with a shit-eating grin. "But I think we finally found it!" 

"Shut up! There's only one way to find out," the fox scoffed, already barreling toward the far-off undead being. 

"Do not count us out!" 

"We're here as well!" 

One by one, four more figures plummeted down the pit, each landing in their own way. Two were in human form, mimicking Jack's landing from a moment ago. The other two shifted into their bestial forms, becoming a twenty-meter draconic bird and a seventy-meter purple dragon. 

"I saw it first! So I win!" Bowzer howled mid-dash, spewing hellish fireballs with every breath. 

Raaaaahhh!!

Aside from the clatter and creak of bones, the enormous undead being wailed as it tanked the white flames without shirking. 

"Bowzer, don't get ahead of yourself!" Jack let out a booming laugh. "And don't let it grab you, whatever you do!" 

"Got it!" 

Everyone present had night vision thanks to Jack, as well as years of growth and training together. But seeing the enormous undead endure Bowzer's white flames added a touch of demonic appeal and power to the being's dark, murky aura. 

"What the krax is that thing?" Dragov asked, currently in his human form. 

Jack equipped a magic monocle as he replied, "No clue. But I'll just call it a bone behemoth."

The undead towered over the six-man group, including the twenty-meter minokawa and the seventy-meter dragon. 

It was a moving mountain of bones and skeletal remains. Black-red sludge held it all together, allowing it to form a functional body with thousands and thousands of bones as some form of exoskeleton. As a head, it arranged layers upon layers of skeletons to create a makeshift skull with black-red ooze dripping from its eye sockets, missing nose, and open mouth. 

"Shall we go full-size?" 

Shaking his head, Jack looked back at Jinbei. "Nah. At least not yet. Let's see what this thing can do." 

Meanwhile, the other three beasts had already begun their onslaught. 

Phoro the Minokawa breezed around the behemoth like it was stuck in slow motion. At the same time, barrage after barrage of wind blades clashed against the bone behemoth's skeletal exterior. 

Bowzer was busy zig-zagging around thrown globs of ooze, large enough to engulf Bowzer in one hit. He tried to ignite them as well. But the sludge was fully flame retardant, even against Bowzer's black-white hell fire. 

Karronteel took a different approach. 

First, the Spectral Dragon unleashed his spatial breath, lacerating the outer layer of bones protecting the undead behemoth under a stream of concentrated spatial energy. That strategy fizzled out quickly, though, as more bones were pulled out from inside the creature, casually fixing its armor in the heat of battle. All the while, it seemed like the spectral breath was doing nothing to the actual sludge. 

So, Karronteel decided to go for an internal strike. The dragon became a specter; becoming intangible as he flew straight for the undead creature's torso. 

"Watch out!" 

Jack's shout caused Karronteel to reassess his situation, though nothing felt different than the norm. The behemoth was reaching for the charging dragon, and the intangible Karronteel was already prepared to search for some sort of core within the ooze. 

That plan, however, was destroyed the moment Karronteel felt the ooze latch onto his phantasmal body. 

"Help him!"

Fwoosh! Fwhirrrl!

Exploding fireballs and sharp tempests crashed onto the undead's outreaching limb. The attacks failed to destroy the arm, but it lost its shape for a few seconds, allowing Karronteel to escape its grasp mostly unscathed. 

"I am fine," shouted the dragon. "Our shared regeneration skill is enough for this wound." 

Even if that was true, it was jarring to witness anything grab the incorporeal dragon, let alone damage Karronteal's scales with only a touch. 

Sighing, Jack looked at the two standing beside him. "Well, that proves it. We've found it, and now we've just got to take it. Can I count on you two to hold that thing down?" 

Dragov and Jinbei shared a crazy stare. 

"I only need one second, three at most. And leave its chest exposed," added Jack. "Unless you've got a better idea." 

Neither man objected. Rather, they both shifted, letting their human frames multiply in size hundreds of times over. 

The three on the offensive were quick on the uptake. They focused on ranged attacks from all angles, keeping the bone behemoth from moving around too much. It led to a flurry of thrown sludge going everywhere, but the three beasts managed to keep the undead from moving away. 

That pestering was exactly what Dragov and Jinbei needed to get in close. 

Both of them were gargantuan beasts in their own right. Jinbei's monstrous Mantis Leviathon form matched the behemoth in size. It was hard for Jinbei to evade all that sludge while being so large and while out of water, so he didn't even try. Jinbei focused on grappling the behemoth's arms instead.

As the undead's arms were momentarily restrained, Dragov's ungodly long centipede body wrapped around the base of the beast's torso, as well as its ooze-spewing skull. 

"Thanks for the opening!" 

Suddenly, despite being held back and grappled by the now-enormous enemies, the bone behemoth turned its makeshift skull toward the surge of energy a hundred meters away. 

Yet, it never got the chance to recognize what that energy was.

CRACK!! Ker-clump! CRACK-CK!

Before the undead creature could realize what was happening, that intense surging energy had appeared behind it. And there was now a gaping hole in the center of the creature's torso, with no sludge or bone left at its core. 

The creature's body was already losing shape. Bones began to fall out of the sludge and clatter against the wet, stone floor.

Raaahh… RAAAHHhhhh...

Wailing, the undead cried to the heavens for the final time, unable to retain its form as the sludge turned grey and lost all essence of life. 

"Finally! We got it! It's about time!"

Flying in loopty loops, Jack cheered and clenched the item pressed against his chest. 

White-black flames surrounded all of Jack's body. Behind him flapped his purple, streamlined dragon wings. Jack's upper arms had the claws identical to those of the behemoth Draconic Centipede. From Jack's elbows sprouted feathery, minokawa wings. And Jack had grown a second, lower set of arms. Those became the pincers of a Mantis Leviathon, with a relentless grip on the item in question. 

"Should you not be worrying about the sludge…?" asked Karronteel. However, the purple dragon was already rethinking his question. 

What was formerly black-red sludge whithered away under the heat of Jack's engulfing flames. There were some acidic burns on Jack's body, but he was already healing faster than the lifeless sludge could evaporate. 

Bowzer took a different approach to questioning him. "You did know that would work beforehand, right?" 

"Well, I thought it was worth a shot," Jack laughed, reverting to his human self. "That thing wasn't a natural undead, so it had to have a foreign source of power. By removing the battery, it should all power. And it worked!" 

"Says the man who melted half his face, after telling us to not touch it," Bowzer teased. 

Laughing, Jack pulled out a palm-sized crystal, "You're just mad that you lost the bet!" 

The fox was going to respond, but Jack was already calling someone in his excitement. 

"Yo, Locke! You still got that nexus? … Yeah, the big one I asked you to keep off the market." Jack bantered through the dark purple, almost black crystal. He was brimming with jubilant eagerness while feeding energy into the communicatory gem. 

"Well, I'm finally ready to buy it and one up Gramps… Hey, I've got my own secrets to keep… Just know that I've got something that Daruun wishes he had back when he made Kartonia. 

"Hmm… Fine, I'll pay cash. But you'd better not be lying! … If it's not bigger than Kartonia's nexus, I expect a full refund!" 

While Jack went back and forth with negotiations, his five beast companions couldn't help but laugh. 

"I haven't seen him that excited in a while," Phoro chuckled. 

Bowzer nodded. The huge fox stretched and sighed, "Yeah… We can finally focus on actually building these worlds instead of just gathering materials day in and day out."

The purple dragon shifted back to his human form, asking the fox, "Has Jack already finished the leveling system?"

"Nah..." Bowzer shook his head while shrinking back to the size of a pup. "He didn't see a point in making the system before testing how that thing interacts with a nexus. But I think Jack's just procrastinating so he can keep dungeon crawling."