With an interdimensional .

Those insidious whispers found me at my lowest possible moment. They trickled into my mind, dark tendrils probing my thoughts and seeping into my soul, finding it insensate with rage, drink, and grief at the loss of the man I’d considered my one and only friend. I’d been working myself up to this state over the course of the day, since that sham of a trial. I’d quietly seethed all day, outraged beyond reason at what I saw as a gross miscarriage of justice.

Two years, that’s what my friend’s life had been worth. Two years behind bars for the rich prick that murdered him in cold blood. He’d been minding his own business, or so I was told, merely driving himself to work. The kid, some politicians’ spoiled progeny, ran a red light at an intersection, slamming into the side of my friend’s vehicle.

The kid had been off his tits on some ****, and had panicked when my friend got out of his car, intent on trading insurance details. The little prick had reached for his trusty handgun, then had ended the ‘threat’ to his life. Naturally, dearest daddy had stepped in, shielding the little crotch goblin from the worst of the well-deserved consequences.

When the voices came, their salacious whispers decrying those that had wronged me, offering me a chance to get even, and power beyond my wildest imaginings, I made what might have been one of the dumbest decisions in my life, and accepted the offer. I felt as I was torn out of my own reality, stolen away from what I’d always known, and brought to a point in the multiverse further than my little mortal mind could ever truly comprehend.

My memory of my time in the dark realm was a little… hazy, later coming back to me in flashes. I remembered the unearthly beauty of the sister goddesses, as well as their small, smug smiles as they revealed how they planned to use me. The spike of impotent rage when I leant how I’d been manipulated. My horror as I was told I was to be changed into a monster, whose only purpose was to bring suffering to the people of a world I knew nothing about.

I remembered the pulse of numbing magic, then watching in detached interest as my chest was torn open, my still-beating heart tossed away like week-old leftovers, replaced with the black faceted gem of my new monster core, its very presence eldritch and utterly alien to my senses.

I remembered the pulse of dark energy that spread through me as the wound in my chest sealed. Then the momentary flash of confusion as, rather than look up, I now looked down at the two Goddesses, who I now seemed to tower over. Then a blinding pain as my flesh was warped and changed.

The rest of my time in the dark one’s domain only comes to me as a blur. Vague recollections of choices made, my pain addled mind grasping at familiar concepts as I chose monstrous boons, classes, and cheats, followed by the shunt that sent me tumbling into the void as I was forcibly ejected from the dark realm.

When I came to, I stood in a small but beautiful walled garden. There, I met a literal angel, one that was gracious enough to give me the time I needed to come to terms with my new body. I spent more time than I care to admit staring at my reflection in the garden’s fountain, contemplating the nine-foot-tall werewolf with pitch black fur and long, razor-sharp claws that stared back at me.

I need trousers… The thought was enough to break me from my revery. It was the shunt I needed to realise that for the last minute, I’d been thinking less about the werewolf as a whole, and more about the large and rather fuzzy pair of balls dangling between my digitigrade legs below a furry sheath.

Chuffing in amusement (wait, I chuff now!?!) I’d turned back to my host, nodding in thanks. The angel, whose name was Ariel, spoke, and I learnt a little more about the state of play between the light and dark on this world, which was named Ruyanei.

I listened solemnly as I was told that I could never go home, which was kind of a massive bummer. Still, hope was kindled within when the angel offered to purge some of the darkness festering inside. To my great relief, I could change the nature of my core, transforming it from something eldritch and twisted to something that could, in the right light, be described as beautiful.

I was also offered the chance to change my body, too, but that offer I declined. If I was destined to walk this new world as a monster, then I chose to do so in my current form, namely, as a massive fucking werewolf.

Then came the oaths, binding agreements that, if sworn, would allow me to gain additional, light oriented powers. I listened carefully as the angel described the three oaths I could make, and, after a little consideration, I agreed to the first (restricting me from attacking the lights’ holy places) and the second (restricting me from attacking or otherwise abusing innocent humans, unless provoked).

Whist I was pissed with the dark for taking advantage of a moment of weakness, and was already fully intending on getting more than a little payback, the third oath, which bound me to hunt and slay the forces of darkness, looked far too much like a behavioural compulsion for me to even consider. Still, after the two oaths I did take, I was left with four Angels Blessings and two Divine Miracles to choose from, not too shabby.

This was a tough choice, but pragmatism eventually won out. Whilst love and companionship were a pleasant notion, they wouldn’t help me survive. Paired with the fact that my beautiful core would hopefully put in work in that particular area, swaying the hearts of the ladies (and the men, if they were nearly as cute as Ariel), the choice was clear.

Whilst that choice was relatively easy, it was the second decision which really caused me to struggle. The restoration of my humanity was right in front of me, all I needed to do was take it. But I was a bloody werewolf, a creature notorious for its ability to shape-shift. Whilst the option wasn’t available to me right now, there was no reason that I wouldn’t unlock the ability to shift down the line. With a heavy heart, I rejected Humanity, and accepted the other four options.

That left the Divine Miracles. God’s Blade? An attack I can’t afford to cast, at least until I have a silly amount of mana? Wonderful. Right into the nope pile with you. Enoch? A solid option. Maybe pile. Pure Land? A no-brainer. I’m spending a bunch of time in my Dungeon, so it’s basically free Exp. Yes, please…

I went through the options, weighing up the pros and cons, then finally settled on the two I thought would help my survival the most. Enoch and Pure Land. Decisions made, the angel urged me to check out my character sheet. Ignoring his small, knowing smile, I followed his instructions, bringing my sheet up with the method I was shown.

Character Information

• Name: Craig Thorne
• Race: Werewolf (Tier 4, Level 1, 0/1000 Experience)
• Class (1/6): Assassin (Tier 2, Level 1, 0/1000 Experience)
• Classes 2-6: N/a

Character Statistics

• HP: 630 (1340*)
• Mana: 120 (160*)
• Stamina: 675 (1390*)
• Physical Strength: 48 (96*)
• Physical Defence: 39 (86*)
• Physical Regeneration: 48
• Magical Strength: 8
• Magical Defence: 8 (16*)
• Magical Regeneration: 5

*: Indicates value after relevant boosts have been applied

Resistances

• Magic: 50%

Weaknesses

• Silver: 500%

Skills

Assassin:

• Deadly Alchemist
• Shadow Shroud 1
• Strike From the Shadows 1

Abilities

• Ideal Being
• Time Distortion

Perks

• Aphroditism
• Blessing of the Black Night
• Divine Sight
• Dungeon Lord**
• Keen Senses
• Load of Bull
• Mana Wellspring**
• Mindless Army**
• Perfect Breeder
• The Quintessential Isekai Experience***
• Your Very Own Happy Place**

**: Synergy detected. Combine? (Y/N)

***: Activate? (Y/N)

…Synergy? Huh? Focusing on the first of the two notifications, I looked at which abilities would be affected. So, my Dungeon, the Pure Land, the minion construction power, and my Domain? I guess those make sense. I was planning on filling the dungeon with constructs anyway, so making it an official part of the power should work. Let’s do it!

Are you sure? Once combined, these powers cannot be separated. Please confirm your wish to combine these powers.

Combine? (Y/N)

…Fuck it, this could prove to be really strong. Yes please, Mr. interface, combine away!

Your Dungeon Lord, Mana Wellspring, Mindless Army, and Your Very Own Happy Place Perks have combined to create the following:

Adaptive Dungeon Lord.

Enter your new Dungeon and interact with its Core to learn about the features of your Adaptive Dungeon.

…Is… is that it?

.

.

.

Alrighty then, moving right along. Next is… activating the HUD? Sure. Yes please, Mr. Interface!

I grinned happily as three bars appeared in the top left corner of my field of view, coloured the traditional red (HP), yellow (stamina), and blue (mana). In the bottom right of my vison, a small icon appeared, looking like a simple grid. Focusing on it brought up a new screen. Oooooh, inventory!

Inventory: (3/200)

Floating in a transparent window In front of me was now a grid, ten by twenty. At a glance, I could see that all the slots were greyed out, bar the first three. My brow furrowed in confusion as I looked at the filled slots, followed by an amused snort as the descriptions popped up.

Slot 1: Inventory lint (x3)

• This wondrous substance creates an endless amount of pocket-dimension lint as long as at least 1 unit of the original stack remains in your inventory. What you do with an endless supply of useless fluff is up to you. We suggest starting up an insulation business.

Slot 2: Small copper button (x1)

• A small button, made from copper. We don’t know how it got here, either.

Slot 3: piece of string (x1)

• A piece of string, twice as long as half its length.

Shaking my head, I closed the window, shifting my attention to a small exclamation mark, blinking away merrily in the bottom right of my vison. Focusing on it brought up yet another new window.

You have been offered a new quest!

Dungeon, sweet Dungeon.

Objective: Learn about, and set up, the Core of your new home. Interact with your Dungeon Core to start the process.

Rewards: 10 Exp, and a place to live.

Accept (Y/N)

Considering it was something I had planned to do, anyway; I accepted with a shrug. Closing the window, I looked up at the angel as he cleared his throat. Seeing the look in his eyes, I sighed, then spoke in my new and ridiculously gravelly voice. “It’s time, then?” He nodded, smiling at me sadly.

“Ok, thanks for your help, I really appreciate it. Now, let’s get this over with. Beam me down, Scotty.”

“Errr, my name’s Ariel…”

“Its… never mind. One ticket to fantasy land, if you please.”

“…Fantasy land? Has anyone ever told you that you are kinda weird?”

“…Once or twice.”

Grinning wolfishly at his look of utter confusion, I chuffed as he rolled his eyes. “For what it’s worth, you don’t seem a bad sort. Good luck, strange human.” With his parting remark and a small nod, I was once again shunted out into the ether, spinning out into the void, towards my new home.