AI: Artificial Isekai

When I arrive at the dorms, there's a dungeon entry waiting for me in my mailbox. The enchanted page is not marked the way it normally should be, revealing its clandestine nature. A B-grade set for destruction. Not a trial. Well-scouted. Lacking.

I grab the page and burn it away with a flare of mana, the contents easily memorized, and the remains easily taken care of.

After resting up and eating a simple lunch consisting of whatever I could scrounge up from my cold box, I set off again.

My first destination is a D-grade that needs to be destroyed too. It does not even put up a fight, leaving me ample time for the second objective of today.

I extend my hand toward the soundlessly crackling maelstrom of yellow. My fingers sink into the surface, failing to disturb the meandering specks of white. With a step, I am now inside the dungeon.

All around me is a whimsical forest. The sun is presumably shining brightly, significantly dampened by the nearly impenetrable canopy. The air is cool and fresh, close to chilly but not enough to be uncomfortable. The ground is covered in soft grass, unmarked by any trails or paths. The trees look way too picturesque, too uniform, like someone crafted them with a guided hand and conscious intent. What kind of intent exactly? There's only one kind in dungeons. Malicious.

Mapping the space using my usual sensor suite fails. Deploy reconnaissance drones. Microscopic drones warp to every square centimeter of the dungeon. Sixty-three percent of the total volume is inaccessible. Hmm.

I start walking, my soft steps the only sound breaking up the complete silence around me. There's not even wind to move any of the perfectly identical leaves.

As I am employing conventional reconnaissance, the more advanced archetype turns out to be flawed. I begin receiving conflicting information, readings that make no sense, the inaccessible volume fluctuating like a wave. Recall drones.

My mana senses exhale a cloud of clingy tobacco smoke. Then they mutter a gruff, 'I got it from here, kid.' and crack their neck side to side.

Ringing laughter echoes from nowhere and everywhere, the sound deceptively genial. It echoes round and round, spinning faster and faster, different voices mixing into a terrible discordance, nearly resembling static.

My mana senses rest their hand near their hip, slowly curling their fingers around a polished wooden handle.

The trees start spinning together with the twisted and tainted laughter, the tight spaces between them flashing with differently colored lights. It all blends into not only audible noise, but noise that accosts every physical sensation I possess.

My mana senses' eyes narrow as far as they can go. Then, in one smooth motion, their six-shooter is drawn and the trigger clicks.

A needle appears next to my hand. A flick sends it into the blurred curtain of colors. A metal plate blocks a searing ray of light. The ray burns through my hastily conjured shield, leaving a glowing, white hole. But I've already moved. Another needle is sent into the whirlpool of stimuli.

Numerous rays shoot above me, meeting into a bright convergence. I bring my hands together in a clap. Metal plates pop out around me. They snap together, forming a faceted dome of protection. As the enemy spell reaches a crescendo, a pillar of destruction descends upon me, intent on burning me away without a trace. It impacts the barrier I created. The two magics fight against one another, with me and my still unseen enemy pouring more and more power.

Stolen story; please report.

Needles continue to fly into the unknown. When the beam has nearly burned through my shield. I take a breath and flex my control. Hair-thin wire connected to every single needle is pulled taut, causing the enemy spell to momentarily falter. My form crackles with raging lightning. With another breath, the electricity is discharged, flowing freely through the tangled mess of wires. The pillar of light abruptly cuts off.

Blueish smoke is slowly wisping out of a barrel. My mana senses bring it close to their mouth and gently blow it away, dispersing the ribbon of haze into nothingness.

The forest returns to being slightly wrong instead of entirely unrecognizable. Through the trees, resting on the idyllic grass, the blackened and cracked cores of the Greater Light Elementals can be seen. Foremost masters of luminescence and trickery.

There's also a single mana crystal hidden within the green blades. The octagonal cut gem is warped inside my spatial fold.

A single voice snickers off into the distance. Exactly how far away? Unknown. I dash in a random direction. The voice laughs behind me, ringing like a tiny bell. I whip around and dash again. The voice chuckles in my ear. My vision turns black. The blackness is then too snuffed out, leaving me with a truly empty void.

Metal swarf erupts out of my form, refracting numerous light spells, most likely more burning rays. A lightning bolt strikes out of my extended finger, tracing back the barely perceptible path one of the refracted rays has left. I hear zapping and popping coming from somewhere, but the intended elemental appears to still be alive.

The rays continue to flash inside my metal mist, filling it with iridescence, burning through more and more chips.

Some of the floating metal clumps into sharp blades resembling petals. Lightning starts to crackle between each fragment. I bring my hands close together, the spell following my movement, enveloping my body. Then, I spread my hands. The petals, connected by arcing electricity, explode forth, shredding everything around me into pieces. An unstoppable storm.

A mana potion appears in my hand. I uncork the bottle and tip it in my mouth, swiftly drinking the semi-immaterial liquid inside.

My vision having returned, I see a blurry form in the far distance—owing to all the destruction—but it quickly hides behind a tree trunk.

A blurring dash brings me to the tree. Nothing.

Leaves rustle to my side. Another dash. More nothing.

Ringing laughter. My head whips to the source. A small figure is hovering high up, attempting to use the crown of a tree as purposefully ineffectual concealment. It flutters on delicate wings made out of pure light. Its body is one uniform color. A soft yellow, glowing brightly. A cruel sneer is adorning a perfect face, regarding me with mild interest.

A supersonic needle passes through the monster. It bends like a mirage, no longer there. Or was it ever?

It appears again, but this time, it's a bit farther. It beckons me with an elegant wave of its dainty hand.

I slowly follow the invitation, walking through the ever-changing forest, taking the opportunity to let my stamina climb back up, but not letting my guard lower.

Soon enough, I am brought to a circular clearing, filled with beautiful flowers. The moment I break through the trees, numerous elementals break through, as well. They stay on the edge of the forest, all staring at me with the same cruel sneer, unblinking, unchanging. The center of the clearing imperceptibly shifts. The artificial sunlight of the dungeon bends in the air, gradually revealing a large shape.

The shape expands, gaining color—soft yellow. A single one of the encircling elementals starts to laugh. Another joins in. Then another and another, until thousands of tiny figures uncontrollably shake in utmost hysteria. The central shape moves, rising higher and higher. A tail slaps against the colorful flowers without a sound. Two wings unfurl without even disturbing the air. Two piercing yellow eyes are boring into my own.

In an instant, the uproarious howling cuts off. The elementals flash once, and then they turn into nothing but light being drained by the false dragon. Each ray forms into a scale, covering the only remaining monster's body. Now complete, the boss opens its maw.

My trusty shortsword is drawn from its sheath. I extend my arm, directing the point of my weapon at the dragon. My fighting form then tightens, moving the sword close.

The monster's open mouth begins shining, the light within containing every color that exists.

Lightning crackles around me, arcing from my body and to my weapon.

The false dragon's breath attack is unleashed, incinerating my shell without a trace.