The First King of Beasts
Chapter 88 Return II

All it took was a matter of seconds, maybe 6 seconds, for Dustin to be swallowed by the hole that had appeared above in the sky.

The way Eir explained it was that it was something of a crack in space-time through which the world they were currently in was connected to the one he came from. Because of this, the region within that crack was both infinite but yet finite and close, and this was a raw and the most natural pathway for travel through dimensions and planes. All the demon meat Dustin had being eating for several months, or years, were all so that he would be able to survive the pure energy turbulence within the crack.

The moment Dustin felt he was within the crack, he could feel his body being torn apart by the violent energies that ran in side. He could only hold on for a couple of minutes before losing his consciousness. From that point on, his body just continued on in what seemed to be an endless void, as its constituents threatened to tear Dustin's body apart repeatedly.

While this was happening, something else had started taking root deep within Dustin, something he wouldn't know of since he was now unconscious.

[System Online]

[Your body is under an unusual level of pressure. Request to activate sequence to protect your body]

[...]

[System has determined the host to be unconscious]

[System will take the best action to protect the host, as host is unable to make the decision]

[Activating protocol...]

[Activated]

.

.

.

As soon as the system came back online, it began a certain protocol to keep Dustin safe and prevent him from dying. Luckily, his new physique and constitution were helping. Apart from that, nothing else had changed, and Dustin's body was still roaming unconsciously through the void.

At some random time, which it was impossible to tell just how long it had been, Dustin pried open one of his eye, then both. As he tried to move, he couldn't help but feel the soreness that covered his entire body, and just before he thought to move, he heard a familiar voice of the system speak to him, making him hesitate a bit.

[Welcome back, host]

[You have successfully made it through the spatial void. As for now, your physical state is in a terrible state, and system is currently in the process of fixing you]

[Please, move as little as possible, or preferably not at all]

Dustin didn't bother looking at the screen that popped up in front of him and just listened to the voice. The system went on to explain some things, and through that Dustin found out that the reason for his soreness was because the system was currently partially paralysing his entire body to numb the pain, so that the process of patching him up would be quicker.

Dustin had thought to ask the system what happened after he fainted, but at that moment he was too tired and just drifted back to sleep. The process of healing his body required much energy, and since he had none to provide through the usual means, the system took it directly from his body's cells and other sources. This would save him and might even restore him back as good as before, but for now he would have to sacrifice a bit more.

Coming back from the realm of sleep and nothingness, since he didn't exactly dream or have a nightmare, Dustin almost immediately caught on to the figure of someone in his vision as it flickered. 'Who's...'

He finally opened his eyes fully and took a better look at the face over his head, and after a few seconds of studying it, he looked around where his body was currently lying, and he could tell he had been moved from where he was the last time he woke up.

"You are, awake." The new person in his vision said. The feminine voice came from a girl that looked to be in her late teens.

Hearing her voice, Dustin didn't respond immediately, as he was busy with something else at that moment. Not that she asked a question, as it was more like a statement. 'System, what happened? What's my status?'

[Restoration has been completed]

[The process took 48 hours and consolidation has been completed]

'What consolidation?' Dustin asked, a bit not in touch with what the system was talking about. For now, though, that would have to hold on for the moment. For now, he could call the fact that he survived a miracle, as he was sure that a lot of beasts and monsters should have been roaming about, and he was totally defenceless for the most part.

'Is that where you come in?' Dustin thought to himself as his head turned to face the girl, who was the only other person there sitting beside his lying body. He kept his eyes on her for some seconds uninterrupted, but then he turned back his head and took his focus from her. He had heard something that made him look away, and the sound of what he heard was undeniable. 'Are we in a dungeon?' Dustin thought to himself.

The girl beside him had jumped to her feet immediately as she heard the sound of a goblin grunting with an ugly scowl on its face. Seeing this, the first thought that came into the girl's head was whether the goblin was attacked by another monster, in which case it would be dangerous to be in this dungeon, as having to fight a goblin was already too much stress. 'I need to get out of here.' The girl thought to herself.

Dustin had tried to stand up himself, but it was almost impossible, he could feel it in his very body. The most surprise came when he looked at himself and found nothing but bones and skin pieced together by layers of thin, shrivelled muscles. The condition which he was in more apparent to him, the first thing that came to his mind, 'I need to get something to eat.'

While he had tried to pick himself up, the girl returned and, as though using every bit of strength left in her, she picked up Dustin and put him on her back before she began moving again. The entire time moving, they had engaged in no conversation and just kept moving. Dustin saw that the girl was struggling just to carry him on her back, and she wasn't the strongest he had seen either, relatively among the weakest from her shown performance. 'Maybe she also has not eaten for some time, no need o judge.' He thought to himself.

When they got to a new place where the girl must have judged as safe, she placed him down and sat beside him. As there were luminous rocks around in most caves, there was no need for a fire when it came to sight, but the girl didn't seem to have anything to cook either, so there was no need to start a fire. Dustin struggled and finally managed to drag himself into a sitting position beside the girl, as both their backs were to the wall. Doing so must have tired Dustin a bit before he asked.

"So.. how did we end up in a dungeon?"