The ancient oaken door stood there, towering above Jack's head like an unyielding giant, asleep but unshaken in its vigil, the ancient door having stood closed for who knows how long. 'Could this too be because of me present? Yet another special event for those of incredibly high rarity class, deemed worthy to witness it?' A rather peculiar thought, though not one without basis, popped up in Jack's mind as he reached out, his palm closing in and just mere moments later touching with the aforementioned door right at the metallic 'roots' connection.

  'Cold. Unnaturally so.' That was the first thought that surfaced in Jack's mind, the seemingly metallic material exuding chill much unlike what it should. His appraisal had clearly stated that the door was enchanted, multiple times over sure, but not one of said enchantments were connected with cold, sensation interference or soul tampering. 'Could it be connected with whatever it is that remains hidden within?' the logical question popped up in his mind, his curiosity stirred further as it did so.

  "Don't mind if I do." Jack murmured as he willed his spirit sense and class into action with a single, focused thought at the center of his capable consciousness and mind- a key to open these doors. Mana converged on his location, creating an unnatural wind as copious amounts of it surged forward, bending the world around him to his will bit by bit, until no later than a few minutes, the door seemingly came alive.

  The metallic roots creaked and groaned as they began their retreat, untangling and creeping back towards their respective corners and slowly releasing the ancient oaken door from their grasp as they did so, leaving ancient looking grooves behind them. One might even make a guess that some sort of a corrosive tentacle like appendages had crept over the doors, leaving behind their own unique mark.

  Once the metallic vines had retreated, the door creaked as it slowly opened, its hinges wailing in protest after who knows how long a time of being unused- allowed to slumber peacefully just like the rest of the place. And all of that while not shoving the slightest need for any sort of a maintenance- not a single blotch of rust covering them. A tiny gap slowly appeared between the two large doors as they parted- slowly but surely- and as it happened, stale and heavy air exploded outward, as though an entity the same size as the ancient and forgotten tower had been keeping its breath in for who knows how long, finally allowed to exhale.

  The air flow hits Jack like he was some sort of an unyielding and untouchable wall, breaking upon his frame and splitting to both sides as though too scared to contend with his strength and will, wisely avoiding unnecessary confrontation and fight. Watching from afar, the maids could also clearly see it all, the air escaping the tower tinted a slight shade of purple. They were obviously worried about their master, but were smarter than to act, obeying his previous command to stay away. Good thing too they did, as a few moments later they clearly saw how the purple tinted air, no doubt filled with some sort of a substance, landed on the ground not too far away from the doors themselves, slowly but surely sinking deeper and deeper into the ground, devouring any matter in its path, corrupting it even as some sort of a shadowy, tentacle like figures sprawled at places.

  Jack stood seemingly untouched though, the area around him- a meter or so in radius- stood untouched, creating a rather weird sight of a lone man, standing atop a small island as everything else around his safe harbour was consumed and corrupted. He narrowed his eyes as he gazed around him, his sight locking onto the corruption forming around him. He exhaled a large breath of air, seemingly concentrating on what was happening before his eyes, then, he slowly stepped forward, mana all around him once again stirred to action, drawing it into him and creating an imbalance that was soon enough leveled by the environment around him, and the dungeon itself as well.

  Faint ripples spread from his position, as though slowly crawling across the land that had just been exposed and layered by the towers stale air, slowing down the devouring of the corruption that had been carried out by same said stale air. An invisible battle had begun, one where two unseen, intangible forces were vying for ultimate control, doing their level best to extinguish one another. Thankfully, without an actual force behind it to give it direction, the corruption slowly failed, push back bit by bit, until nearly an hour later, the last traces of it were extinguished completely, leaving behind nothing but the aftermath- a rather deep, seemingly corroded through patch of land, devoid of life of any kind, as though cursed to be barren for eons to come.

  Beads of sweat had begun pouring down Jack's face some fifteen minutes ago, proving just how much he was exerting himself in this metaphysical battle, his entire focus locked on the task before him. Now, finally earning a reprieve after a battle hard fought, he could allow his mind to wander- to ponder the deeper implications for what the chaos and eldritch energy here meant. The most likely answer was clearly that whoever built this place had found an alternative of sorts to ascend to the same- perhaps even higher- level as divine entities and must have researched chaos and eldritch energy and beings that lived in the endless void- a place between dimensions and worlds, though entirely unlike the abyss that he had fought and crawled his way through.

  One could think that such a realization might just turn Jack away- surely after the exertion he had to put in just to cleanse the area that had been momentarily engulfed in it, but they would be sorely mistaken. Not only was Jack an incredibly stubborn, and perhaps slightly mad as well, he knew for a fact that he had just dealt with the largest concentration of the aforementioned energy- his coming battles guaranteed to be much smaller in both scale and difficulty. And while it was true that he was about to 'mess around' with forces one should be insanely careful with, he had both the knowledge and will to do so with minimal danger to him or his.

  And while it was true that the void and eldritch entities were highly dangerous, even by their mere proximity, it was also true that innumerous possible paths for one's own attempts to grow further still could be found there by merely observing and asking the correct questions, then acting as the answers would demand. Still, the number of traps and pitfalls along such a path were endless, with the chance to stray and fail much, much greater than the probability of success.

  Only after spending some more time to allow the exhaustion and fatigue to leave his body and mind, did Jack advanced. His steps slow and measured, though confident and sure at the same time. He was no overeager young adventurer, all too hasty to get his hands on the first ever treasure he had found, hoping to make it in to the big leagues- be it through wealth or power he would acquire. No, he moved with the grace and caution of an experienced scholar, one who had seen plenty of overeager fools rushing to their deaths. On who had already earned his place among the greats, only drawn to continue his search through sheer love for the occupation.

  The air inside was stuffy, suffocating and sour, even despite the now widely open door and the supposed air circulation in full effect. The reason was clear as day though, as his eyes slowly took in the first floor of the tower. Twisted, blackish purple colours dominated the interior, with tentacle like appendages growing from walls, floor and even ceiling, seemingly moving according to some non existing wind. That or they were actually alive of sorts- the plant matter of the eldritch variety.

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  Jack's spirit senses unfolded, stretching out and inspecting everything that was soon covered by it, only to just barely envelop the whole floor. Jack could feel a clear suppression from the environment around him, the chaotic nature of the place limiting his ability to scout far ahead to an extreme level- though still not enough to force him to rely only on his biological senses. Lesser beings would also have to worry about the corruption seeping into their very essence, slowly morphing them into something between both worlds. Jack, as a divine being- even if only half at the moment- as well as an aspect of creation and destruction, could easily sense the warping effect and fight against it, allowing him to proceed with mostly eased mind, though he still acted with plenty of caution. One never knew just what kind of messed up thing could be found here.

  Unlike how he had fought against the corrupting influence of the void, here he simply walked by, all too aware that it was futile to even try. Too many years had passed and the very essence of this place had been changed, requiring absolute destruction and then creation to remake it all in the form that belong to this world. Luckily, since the actual catalyst of corrupting force that had permeated this place had already been both expelled and neutralized, the location could be left as is, assuming one locked it down tight and prevented ordinary fools from wandering its halls.

  The first floor was rather desolate, with not a single furniture in sight, nor any decorations adorning the walls- that is if one did not consider the tentacle like growths as such. In the case one did, the place was rather packed, though Jack refused to even try and come to a conclusion regarding the taste of whatever force had governed said growths. Jack's time and mind power was better spent on other endeavors.

  Soon enough he reached the staircase- winding around the central pillar that reinforced the towers structure, built of the same old and otherwise unassuming stone, whispering more nonsense as Jack listened.

  "Ha! HA ah ha ha ha! I knew it. The path forward is so clear. How could I have not seen it before. Soon now. All I need is to finish my tower, finish the altar and step beyond. So close now! So very, very close! Ha ha ha ha!"

  The short string of sentences repeated themselves again and again, as though a record player had been plugged in, set on repeat and forgotten, though since made from some unreasonably high tech and quality materials, had kept on working. Jack had to wonder, just how far gone the owner of this place had been when he had begun the construction, his mind too single minded and locked into some seemingly perpetual thought cycle.

  Jack slowly stepped forward, his feet carrying him upwards, closer and closer to the next floor, leaving behind the slightly swaying tentacles undisturbed, with only a fresh trail left behind in his wake- his footprints remaining as he moved ever forward, betraying the presence of a new visitor after countless years.

  There were no doors that separated the stairs and the hall of the second floor, the place seemingly much more inhabited than the mostly desolate first floor. Old stone shelves lined the outer walls, with green glowing crystals embedded above them illuminating the floor. Some remains of books could be seen here and there, the repositories of knowledge not surviving the passage of time. A slight pang of regret hit Jack at the sight- how he would have loved to collect all those books, using the system to crack the language behind them, and then devour the knowledge within, no matter be it theory on magic, mathematics, philosophy, or simply tales of the time. Books were a legacy that should always be treasured.

  "No!. No, no no no! It's wrong! It's all wrong! Why can't I make it work? It has to work! IT HAS TO!"

  The memory tied to the place was growing more and more erratic, the path ahead was clearly not as easy at the owner of the place had first assumed it would, getting stuck on some rather unpleasant roadblock. The voice was growing less and less 'human' as well, with barely perceptible humm's and hisses added here and there.

  "So you could not see the corruption seeping in. You poor bastard." Jack shook his head, already beginning to guess how it had all unfolded. Since there was nothing else of interest here, he proceeded further upstairs, his spirit sense never reaching any further than the floor Jack was on at the time.

  "Are you still here? Twisted and corrupted beyond recognition, waiting for someone to come and put you down?" Jack asked to himself, the thought somber and even pitiful towards the owner of this place. It was a horrible way to go- to be corrupted and twisted into a creature who had lost all sense of self, driven by the obsession that had created it.

  Third floor greeted Jack with the smell of rust and decay, though not of the organic kind. The passage of time had devoured what seemed to have been a laboratory of sorts- the last bits of alchemical tools and apparatus still remaining within.

  "That's some archaic tech." Jack raised and eyebrow, seeing glass flasks of different sorts, reminding him of middle school chemistry class, though a few centuries older, as well as what could only be classified as the remains of some fucking witch's cauldron.

  "What were you cooking there, children?" Jack joked, trying to chase away the somber feeling that permeated the air, seemingly trying to cling to his skin, seeping into his flesh and bones.

  "Jea, no." he shook his head a few moments later, realizing what was happening, "Not this guy, nuh- uh." he smirked, his own mana flaring as his aspect powers came to life- both destruction and creation swirling around him, eliciting a near imperceptible screech of sorts. A few moments later, at the far corner of the floor, a small, purple, worm like creature seemingly came into existence, its caterpillar like body, equipped with large, arm sized mandibles, writhed in agony.

  "Not all that pleasant, is it now?" Jack smirked as his eyes locked on the creature- clearly some sort of mind an eldritch entity, though clearly extremely low on the pecking order- how else could it live here while not corrupting the whole continent, perhaps even the world itself. No, this one was what could be considered plankton of that side, though clearly much, much greater threat for creatures as simple and primitive as humanoids and beast men.

  Jack's sword materialized in his hand as he drew closer and closer to the worm, his arms ready to strike at a moments notice. He might have had to deal with beings of that side only once or twice as a divine, but he knew better than to approach this whole situation half assed. He wasted no time at all once he was close enough either, driving his blade into what seemed to be the head of the eldritch worm. It was a testament to the toughness and danger of the beings from that side, as even with the worm effectively disabled and Jack armed with a sword that could cut through anything below T3 like a hot knife through butter, he had to put quite a bit of strength behind his attack to penetrate the creatures skin, driving his sword into where its brain should be. Thankfully, it seemed to have worked, with the creature stopping its wriggling a few minutes later, the last shreds of life leaving its form.

  As though recognizing an alien form within its body, the moment the eldritch worm stopped moving, it was seemingly torn out of this world, twisting and disappearing right before Jack's eyes. It seemed that the eldritch worm had some sort of a camouflage ability, concealing it from the world while it was alive. Now that it was dead, the world had been made aware of the unwanted parasite, expelling it the moment it had happened.

  "Oi, that was my kill." Jack scowled- it was all he could do at the moment. "I better be rewarded for this shit." he added a moment later, still at least slightly irritated. "Fuck it, there must be something interesting further up still. Ain't no way that not the case, not with this little fellow stuck here. Nuh- uh."

  Jack moved towards the stairs leading further up, anticipation now building more and more. Just what was behind this tower? What was the principle, the idea that had pushed the owner hear as it had, and what would he find at the top of the tower?

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 31

  Class- Awakened twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(Ex)

  Stats unassigned: +4

  Attributes:

  Strength- 34 (14+7+13(gear))

  Vitality- 28 (12+8+8(gear))

  Dexterity- 29 (15+6+8(gear))

  Intelligence-20(15+ 5(gear)

  Spirit- Spirit- 30 (20+10)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX), Origin of matter(EX), Unbound by laws of the lessers(EX), The end made manifest(EX). Destroyers presence(unique legendary).

  Spells- none.

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. Monster debugger.The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme. Slavemaster.

  Gear: Two handed sword(t3)+ 5 str +5 vit: Armor 3str +3 vit +3 dex; Ring 1 - spatial storage, ring 2 +5int, ring 3 +5 str; amulet +5 dex.