After the humans left, most of the imps spent some time in a group discussing their individual battles and thinking about better ways to fight against humans. Their main takeaway is that charging at a human head on in a straight line is not a good strategy. Even as fast as the imps are, if the human sees them coming, it can easily counter their approach with a swift kick. Unless it is Coal. He is much harder to counter.

This is precisely the outcome I was hoping for. Even if most of them did not win, the experience they gained is still invaluable. And they are using that experience to devise better ways to fight.

I would like to go over everything we learned from Jenna with Rose, but I think it is better if she takes some time to rest for now and she heads to her room to do just that. There is a lot to cover, however my most immediate interest has to do with guardians. I know Violet is a guardian, but I need to learn more. My first lead is Noctis.

Violet explained that she was not always different from other imps. It was only after being summoned that she became larger and stronger than the others. If I can confirm that is also the case for Noctis, I think that would serve as conclusive evidence that she too is a guardian. That would mean I can have more than one.

Having more creatures that not only possess greater strength than what is normal, but can also be resurrected and become even stronger would be an incredible advantage. If there is no limit on how many I can have, could I make every future creature I summon into a guardian? More importantly, could I turn those that I have already summoned into guardians? It would be comforting to know that I need not fear losing anyone else. But before I think too much about that or get my hopes too high, I need to know if it is even possible.

I bring my attention to Noctis. She and the other Hellhounds have returned to their room. Noctis is lying stretched out on the floor with Fire by her side and Calla leaning against her.

Noctis, I would like to ask you some questions.

Her ears perk up and she springs to her feet, dislodging Calla in the process, who complains at the sudden disturbance. I can feel Noctis’ anticipation as she is eager to assist.

Were you always as large as you are now?

She tilts her head and looks towards Fuzzy, who is curled up nearby. I can sense that she is confused by my question. It is not clear to me why it would confuse her or what it has to do with Fuzzy. She nuzzles Calla, making the child giggle, then looks towards the door, from where the other imps in the hallway can still be heard.

You were smaller when you were a child?

Noctis bounces once on the spot and lets out an excited bark. Right, of course. I need to rephrase my question.

You are larger than the other hellhounds. Were you always bigger than them?

She looks to Fire who is staring up at her. Her response is difficult to decipher. The best way I can interpret it is disagreement.

Did you grow larger when you were summoned here?

The response this time feels like agreement mixed with a little uncertainty. Communicating through feelings like this is not particularly convenient. I wish we had a more efficient way to talk. But I believe I have the confirmation I was looking for. With everything I know, I think it is safe to assume that Noctis is a guardian.

That is encouraging; if I can have two, maybe I can have more. I look forward to finding out, but the first thing I want to test is making my current creatures into guardians. For that I wish to discuss with Rose first before I proceed.

In the meantime, I listen in on the other imps and their continued discussion on potential battle strategies. They conclude that climbing up the walls and launching themselves towards the humans at head height may be an effective way to catch them off guard. It certainly surprised Mark the first time. Most humans probably would not expect an imp to be leaping directly at their face. Of course, such a strategy would be less effective on a human who has seen it before.

Eventually their discussion comes to an end and the imps disperse and go back to doing their own things, all in high spirits. Even Violet is feeling better and is now eager for another chance to prove herself the next time humans appear.

Some of the imps return to their rooms while others mingle in the common areas and others still head out to hunt or scavenge.

Later in the afternoon River and Aster return after being gone most of the day. Her excitement is clear to see; she is practically bouncing as she searches for Violet, who is currently in Room 3 enjoying Fuzzy’s fuzziness. My curiosity is piqued so I follow along to find out what has got her so elated.

“I saw big lizard! Very big. Bigger than me.” She cheers when she sees Violet. That sounds familiar. Violet frowns in concern.

“Are you okay? Did it see you?” She asks, looking her sister over for injuries.

“Yes, am okay. It swim in the river, like me. Scary at first. It swim much faster than me, so I not get away. But it fine. Lizard friendly so it not hurt us.” She explains. Violet grows more worried with each word.

Can you describe this lizard?

“It really big. More than five imps long I think. Blue-grey skin. Big mouth with big teeth.” She stretches her arms out as she describes its length. If her description of ‘five imps long’ is accurate then that would suggest it is around three and a half metres, but she said it was even more than that. This is indeed a ‘big’ lizard.

Does this sound similar to the ‘big lizard’ you once saw? I ask Violet.

“Yes, very similar. Maybe even the same lizard unless there are more of them around,” replies Violet.

There cannot be too many or I am sure they would have been encountered more often.

“You saw big lizard before? You ride it too?” River asks. Violet’s eyes go wide in surprise.

“You…rode it? I hid when I saw it so it didn’t get close,” she answers.

The lizard allowed you to ride it?

“Yes. It swim very fast. I hold on while it swim around. Very fun.”

Did it leave the water?

“Yes, it follow us a little when we leave river.”

How far? Did it follow you all the way here?

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“No, only half way. Then it go back to river.”

How well does it move outside the water?

“It not as fast as imps, but it not slow. We run around together. It good at running.”

“It didn’t move fast when I saw it.” Violet interjects. “But it didn’t know we were there so maybe it had no reason to”

Are you sure it is not a threat?

“No, not a threat! Big lizard is friend,” River insists.

How curious. The creature she described sounds like it should be a predator. I can think of no reason why something like that would not see the imps as food. Even if it was not hungry at the time, that does not explain why it would be friendly or interact with the imps at all instead of just ignoring them.

Let me know if you see it again. Try to learn more about it if you can, but please be careful. I do not want you to put yourself in danger.

River continues to regale Violet with tales of her time with her new ‘friend’. In return, Violet shares stories of what occurred here with the humans in River’s absence. She is a little disappointed to have missed it but does not let it dampen her good mood. I listen for a little while but soon turn my attention elsewhere.

When Rose eventualy emerges from her room, I am eager to speak with her. We have much to discuss and I would like to get started right away.

How are you feeling?

“Well rested. I assume you wish to speak about what we learned from the human now?” She replies with a bit of a smirk.

Yes, but it does not need to be immediately if you are not yet ready.

“Now is fine. I’d also like to go over it. Thank you for letting me rest first. Where should we start?”

The first thing I want to talk about is guardians.

“Guardians?” She quirks an eyebrow. “I don’t know that term.”

It is something the humans were discussing before I called you down.

I proceed to tell Rose everything I learned of guardians from the humans as well as my own speculations regarding Noctis.

“So you want to know if you can summon more? That would surely be helpful.”

Yes, eventually, but first I would like to find out if all of you who I have already summoned can become guardians before I try summoning new ones.

“Oh, but do you actually know how to create a new guardian?”

Not precisely, but I have an idea. I know that whatever process that made Violet and Noctis into guardians occurred when they were summoned.

“But you don’t actually know the process? Isn’t that important for magic?”

According to what Jenna told us, yes. But she also said that mana reacts to intent. The creation of a guardian seems to be something I am inherently capable of even when I did not know what was happening.

“So you think you’ll be able to do it without understanding the exact process?”

That is my hope.

“But if it happens during summoning, how will that work for everyone already here?”

I am still able to summon you back to the rift. Maybe it is not exactly the same as the initial summoning, but I am hoping it will still work with the process that produces guardians.

“That sounds like it makes sense, but how do you intend to test it?”

If you are willing, I would like to try making you a guardian first.

“Me? Are you sure?”

Of course. I can think of no one better.

“That might be an exaggeration.”

Not at all. You have been here longer than anyone else, other than Violet. Your unique abilities make you special and might even become further enhanced. The others already see you as their leader. You are invaluable to everyone here, and to me. No one is more deserving.

“Thank you. I appreciate your faith in me.” She says bashfully, her cheeks darkening to an even deeper shade of red.

If this works, I hope to do it for everyone eventually, but I want you to be first.

“Will I become larger like Violet?” She asks.

It is certainly a possibility. Rose looks down at her body for a moment before looking back up.

“I don’t think I want to be that big,” she states. “I wouldn’t mind the purple skin though. It’s a nice colour.”

Violet’s skin only changed after she died, so I do not know if the same will happen to you. Not straight away at least.

“I’d prefer not to die if I can avoid it, even if I can be resurrected.” She jokes, letting out a small chuckle.

I want to be clear though. I do not know for sure that this will work, nor what will happen if it does not. Probably nothing, but I can not say that for certain.

“I trust you. I’m sure nothing bad will happen even if it doesn’t work. What do I need to do?”

I do not think there is much you specifically need to do. Maybe prepare some clothes. If you do become larger, what you are currently wearing may no longer fit. Just tell me when you are ready.

As Rose heads back to her room to get some clothes I try to think about how best to accomplish this task. Even if it is a normal function for dungeon cores, I am not confident that intent alone will be enough to trigger it. I will need to focus on everything I know about guardians to properly visualize the desired outcome. I hope that will be enough.

When Rose returns, she places a bundle of clothes, neatly folded, by the rift.

“I borrowed some from Violet. I'm sure she won’t mind, I made sure not to pick out any of her favourites. Do you think she might want to be present for this?” She asks.

She probably would. I will let her know.

Violet is currently lounging in the hallway with Fuzzy, draping herself over the hellhound’s body as much as she can. She immediately jumps to her feet when I reach out to her, also startling Fuzzy from her nap.

I am about to attempt to make Rose into a guardian, would you like to be there for it?

“What’s a guardian?” She inquires. I should have expected that.

I give Violet a brief explanation and she rushes into the room with Rose as fast as I have ever seen her move. Fuzzy soon follows out of curiosity.

“You’re going to become like me?” She asks Rose with a huge grin.

“That’s the plan,” Rose replies.

“This is great! We can both be the biggest and strongest imps together.” Violet exclaims, lifting Rose up in a hug.

“It won’t just be us. Magentam plans to do the same for everyone here. I just get to be first.” Rose explains.

“Oh, well that’s still good. It means we won’t lose anymore friends right?”

“That is the hope, yes. Now, can you please put me down?” Requests Rose.

“Right. Sorry.” Violet gently places Rose back down.

“Thank you. Magentam, I’m ready to begin.” Rose declares and Violet takes a step back.

I reach out to the rift and start pouring mana into it while focusing on visualising the objective. I know how much mana is required to summon one of my imps back to the rift, but I push past that and continue forcing more mana into it. It took more mana than the others to initially summon both Violet and Noctis so I can only assume that a greater amount of mana is necessary to create a guardian.

Pain starts building in my core. It is mild at first, but quickly grows in intensity. But I cannot stop. I must remain focused; I cannot allow a little pain to hinder me. The more mana I send into the rift, the more the pain grows. With each passing moment my agony only increases.

It soon exceeds any pain I have ever felt before. Worse than when I walked into the void; worse than when my core was carried into the void. It is excruciating. As it continues to escalate it threatens to overwhelm my senses. But I cannot…I must not allow that. My focus must not falter. I have to do this for Rose…for everyone.

I…can…not…stop…

When my consciousness returns sometime later, the pain still lingers, though it is fading. My body has dissipated so I quickly reconstruct it. I do not know how much time has passed, but it is enough for everyone to have gathered in the room, hellhounds included. They are murmuring amongst themselves.

Rose and Violet are by my core. Violet is fretting and on the verge of panic as she looks between Rose and the core. Her breathing is rapid, almost to the point of hyperventilating. Rose, for her part, is a little more calm, though she still has a worried expression as she gently strokes my core with one hand.

She looks a little different now. The skin on the right side of her face has changed colour, similar to Violet’s, but a lighter shade. The colouring extends down her right arm, halfway along her tail and her left leg below the knee. Her right eye has also changed to match Violet’s. It creates a rather interesting look. Though she is still wearing the same clothes she had on before so she does not seem to have grown any larger.

How are you feeling? Did it work?

“I think so. I feel different, but good. I’ve never felt like this before. But I don’t think that’s important right now. Are you okay? Your core is…” She trails off.

I look to my core and can immediately see what has got everyone so worried. A small area of its surface has turned pitch black, as dark as the void beyond my borders. I would estimate it to be about ten percent of the total surface area, maybe a little more.

That does not look good.