Chapter 8: Chapter 1: This Is Basically an Integration

Chapter 1: This Is Basically an Integration

My day could’ve been a lot worse. Still being stuck on Espoiramissa… I don’t know, the station spontaneously exploding? 

“Are you sure this is everything?”

“Everything we could find…. She wasn’t a well-documented PLS.”

“...I’ll make do with what has been brought. Remember, situation Clarford.”

“Right, I’ll go into position, command room is prepared and Vyle listening.”

“So the cameras and audio equipment are working again?”

“Sporadically, we are unable to find the cause of the malfunctions yet.”

Across the table from me was a member of the mobile space station Lestant, who just had another crewmember walk in with the third set of digital documents. It was kind of funny how they thought I couldn’t hear their whispers. Of course, they didn’t know how good my hearing was, but they were trying their best!...

Still, I wanted this situation to hurry along. After five years of being trapped on a hostile rock, my first full proper discussion with other humans is in an interrogation room. 

‘Please follow us’ ‘We have a spot for you to rest’ ‘We will need to ask some questions’ If you're going to take me to an integration room, then JUST TELL ME THAT.

Before this, my only interactions were some basic questions–to understand if I was safe to be brought aboard–and being provided with some low-quality but high-nutrient snack jelly.

I mostly wasn’t expecting luxury–if you're trapped on a planet, or well I guess anywhere in general, then you’re bound to think about the majority of the possibilities on how to escape.

Now I hoped the interrogation would being now but instead, it took three more hours and still nothing!!!

The longer it took, the more the crew members–sitting across from me–head looked like an ugly orc-goblin creature that I wanted to torch…Explode.

Which partly surprised me. Slightly tiny insignificant violent thoughts? Been having those for years. But having these thoughts on another human? I know I hadn’t interacted with any in a long time but…I mean yeah, thinking about how to get revenge and crush the bastards on my TBEB (To Be Exterminated Brutally) list happened occasionally.

Well, I wasn’t acting on these thoughts. So everything was fine.

Maybe… No, I do need to relax… Haaaa…

Caged in this ugly interrogation room–any previous thoughts of missing modern design aesthetic were now thrown into the nearest black hole–and I was growing ever slightly more annoyed by the second.

But of course! I never let it show on my face, what sat before the three officers was a stone-cold refined woman.

The room itself was small, cubed, and the walls were all the same boring whitish grey. The colour was due to the coating used to protect the material from heat, impacts, radiations and some other minor stuff, but while great to keep the material sturdy it's an expensive pain to dye. 

While jokingly pissed at the crew of the space station, I tried to prob for information. 

“Ummm... So what’s your name?”

“?” He looked up from his documents, “Miss, please wait. We can chat once we start the discussion.”

“Okay okay. Just does this station have a hyper long-distance communicator?”

“...” He paused, and he listened as someone spoke through his earpiece. Given some sort of confirmation, he spoke again, “Only one, our transport vessels are old relics that haven’t been fitted with new tech yet.”

Now I was still on the low end of my ‘being annoyed’ scale, it would take another 4.79 days of being trapped and treated this way before I realistically attempt something. I’m a very patient me.

Still, even caves weren’t this boring. Filled with muti-coloured stone, crystals, moss, carnivorous air, and a bunch of other creatures. While definitely still near the bottom of my Espoiramissa’s places to visit list purely based on looks alone 

Then finally, they finished their prep work and began the ‘discussion’.

“Hello, miss. I’m Harold Johnburger, an ordinary officer onboard the Lestant space station. I would like to have a small discussion with you, and ask a few questions.”

“Is your name, Ceella Stella?”

I told you that. “Yes.”

It should’ve been easy to access my information. Any person who went missing in space was added to a list of ‘lost’ people and only taken off when they were confirmed dead or enough time passed. 

Being a lost person also had some issues, as I wasn’t allowed to access the galaxy net or call anyone until my case was sorted. There were some additional stupid laws that further restricted my access to information until I made it home.

“You’re twenty-seven this year correct?” 

So I was correct on the time, phew. “Kind of hard to tell the time without a clock or knowing the planet’s yearly cycle. But probably.”

“You’re father Chirs Stella, mother Tella Stella, brother Tyell Stella, sister Mella Stella. Is this correct?”

“Yes.”

“Your previous occupation was general support staff for NextEdge Spaceline & Delivery, correct?”

“Yes.”

Blah, blah. This went on for over thirty minutes. Asking basic questions about who I was, what I’ve done, and where I’m from. It got weird when they started asking about who was my first love and the time I got lost at the mall…

“Okay, that’s enough questions for the moment.” 

Oh, thank the stars. 

“But we do need to complete and confirm some tests.”

You are reading story The Stargazing Witch & The Dungeon Planet at novel35.com

My momentarily happiness… Taken away again.

They took a sample of my blood earlier which was what they meant by the latter and I had some guesses about the former.

“You remember how to use this?” A new crewmember walked into the room and placed a small device which one could place their hand, on the table.

“Course,” A Soul Reading Device…

I placed my hand onto the curved light-green metal plate, I was required to leave it there for thirty seconds. While an individual could see their own power, level and skills through the Soul Page. Attempting to see the Soul Page of another was a tricky task. 

Yeah, there were certain rare skills that gleaned varying degrees of information. But even with the advancements in technology and the manipulation of Vocations, it was still impossible to recreate those effects with technology. 

So instead the next best thing was created. A device to read the strength of the soul. Souls grew stronger and larger through levelling, so to get a rough overall estimate the easiest solution was to scan the soul’s power. A classification system was then put into place with the implementation of this system.

“...J3,” I could see a small glint of surprise in his eye. “Tier J3 soul rank,” from Z to A and 3 to 1, the distances between each tier grew slightly bigger as they increased.

…So it is unable to scan the attachment. “Huh, neat.”

I waited for my interrogator to continue but he seemed to be out of it, “Alive?” I asked.

“Oh sorry,” he actually seemed embarrassed–surprising since he had been mostly expressionless this whole time–as his face went slightly red. “Expected you to be… Stronger?” He responded, my only good guess was he’d compared me to others from history.

“I didn’t fight my way to the top like some legends of the past–I just tried to survive.”

“Didn’t you wish for strength… and try to achieve it? Tier J3 Soul Rank is greater than many from even the military.” Is he a history buff or something? 

“I did. Would’ve helped too,” my eyes darken “Against the tiny swarms of mosquitoes that ate away at my skin. The hell boar creature, whose attacks healed me but also destroyed large chunks of my body, so it always had more to eat. Seeing my intestines being eaten in front of me–”

“Okay that’s enough!” Harold hurriedly tried to stop me.

Little jittery to nicely detailed descriptions? Good to know.

“Sure,” I cheerfully replied, creeping him out further.

“...Are you still sane from that?”

“Isn’t that what you are trying to find out?” I returned to my neutral expression. Someone started speaking from his earpiece, calming him.

We carried on with the chat, “You’re still a [Fire Mage] correct?”

Clicking my fingers a small mana flame appeared, sulking I said “What do you think?”

Still antsy, he continued to next question. Then after seven more later.

Commmme oooonnnn. Hurry upppp.

“On your sixteenth, 2955 AS, 31st of Belorange. You chose the [Fire Mage] Vocation, correct?”

… You just basically did a variant of this question.

My home planet only had four ‘months’–they were usually referred to as seasons–each about 91 days long, Belorange was the third month. It did get a little confusing cause it was still correct to call them months on Metous, but a ‘month’ was the term used in space and other planets as part of the standard time metrics used to refer to the period of thirty twenty-four hour days.

“Yes,” my smile had completely faded at this point, “Do you have anything better to ask?”

I watch as my interrogator nodded seemly understanding. 

I could only hope this meant–

“Next question, what was the name of your first education facility.”

Never wish for anything…

 

---

As the ship which retrieved Ceella from the hostile planet's surface soared into the atmosphere. 

The Dungeon Planet watched on allowing the ship to leave. Designated by humans as Planet [0F-9875], also known as Dungeon Planet Espoiramissa had existed for nearly two thousand years.

The appearance of dungeons coincided with the ReedZero event. Appearing as mostly either portals or enclosed domains, they spread across the universe. The most dangerous of the three types of Dungeons was the Planet classification.

Where the core hid somewhere within the planet itself, slowly taking it over. The only type of Dungeon that was a constant threat at every moment. Earth might not have lost 90% of its population if one didn’t form on Earth at the start of the shift.

However, where there was danger existed opportunity. Dungeon Planets once their core was destroyed no Dungeons ever appeared on the planet again. Then if the Dungeon spread had covered over 50%, the planet became completely habitable for humanity even with the Dungeon’s Core gone.

The issue was the difficulty increased dramatically as the Dungeon Planet influence increased. Earth’s Planet Dungeon Core had reached 70% before finally being destroyed after a suicide march led by Arthur Shin. 

Afterwards, once humanity expanded to space it became a policy to conquer any Dungeon Planet once it reached 50%. 

Of course, greed did try to stretch its claws into the endeavour. The higher percentage also meant greater resources once cleared. But after many failures and great losses of life. An intergalactic law was passed that any found Dungeon Planet must be conquered before it reached 60%. 

To this day, no fully formed Dungeon Planet had ever been conquered. The closest, 98%. Still, the gap between that and 100% brought fear into all that tried.

Espoiramissa was one of the oldest Dungeon Planets found by humanity and the only one that fully formed before humanity reached it. Through a combination of ignorance and confidence, multiple attempts were made to find and destroy its core. Every attempt ended in failure.

For the longest time, Espoiramissa didn’t care about what happened on its body. Only preventing any ships from escaping if they made their way too close. Making sure everyone knew it was a one-way trip.

Finally leaving the cusp of Espoiramissa domain, the ship blitzed towards the nearby mobile station. Espoiramissa calmly watched as its new pair of eyes left home. Excitingly waiting for her to return.