Andrew buzzed towards a group of twenty or so apes in his ant form, landing on the tip of a nearby branch as he studied them using his aura sight. Despite being dungeon creatures, the apes auras were just as real as anyone else's, which Andrew put down as more World fuckery. If a World could give a machine life, why not a dungeon creature? But that wasn't what he was here for. He was here to test out his Essence Manipulation. The first part of the skill had been to learn how to manipulate his own aura, which he was already rather proficient at. The skill helped refine his control a bit, but overall it wasn't very helpful. But now the skill wanted him to touch other auras, and Andrew was excited.

Andrew sent a tendril of aura towards the first ape, paying close attention to his skill as he did. He immediately began to head towards the core, but paused as his skill seemed to indicate he should do something different. What was he supposed to do if he wasn't touching the core? Andrew cocked his head as he began to spread his aura through the ape, following the skills direction, until his aura had completely filled the body of the ape, matching its own aura in strength. Then he… connected? Both Andrew and the ape froze as suddenly Andrew was inside the ape, taking control! The ape tried to scream, but Andrew smothered it, focusing on keeping the ape still as he tried to figure out what the fuck was going on.

He'd taken- no, he hadn't taken. He'd… invaded the apes body. It almost felt like he had another self, except this one had another being inside it, fighting him for control. Though, it was still just an ape, so it wasn't that hard to resist- Andrew froze. Why was he resisting? He was the invader! The ape should be resisting him! Except… he already had control, and the ape couldn't do anything about it. It was simply too weak. *Oh, this- this is horrifying.* Andrew shuddered as the implications of what he was doing hit him. He was possessing the ape! Like some sort of demon! And it got worse. It got so much worse!

As Andrew's skill continued to nudge him, his connection to the ape's body deepened, and he found memories. Not a lot, since the ape had been created less than an hour ago, but it was everything the ape had ever experienced, everything the ape was… and now it was Andrew's. The skill pushed him to continue, grinding the ape's aura down as it silently screamed, trapped in its own mind as its existence began to fade, until finally the core popped out of existence, leaving Andrew in sole control of the body. His body.

*I think I'm gonna be sick.* Andrew groaned internally, horrified at what he'd just done. Was this what his ability was meant to do?!? To take others' bodies and make them his own!?! Andrew hesitated for a moment, as his skill had one final trick to teach him. The aura in the ape's body condensed towards the center, hardening into a new core, making the body well and truly his. Andrew couldn't even find it in himself to be excited about finding another way to create cores. It just felt so… tainted. He just- he couldn't feel good about all this. The ape's last moments… they were practically torture! This ability… he couldn't use this ability! Never again! Not even on his worst enemy! Andrew ripped the core and aura out of the ape before flying away, not even caring about the experience loss. It wouldn't have done him any good anyway. He just- he needed some time alone.

*

"Okay, the dungeon's cleared!" Quinn announced. "Where's Drew?"

"How can you tell the dungeon is cleared?" Greg asked.

Quinn gestured to the dungeon core. "No glow means no creatures."

"Huh… neat." Greg nodded appreciatively. "And I have no idea where Andrew is. But if all the mobs are dead, he should be heading here, right?"

"He should." Quinn agreed, starting to frown. "Unless he got hurt somehow?"

"I think he's moping." Chris commented.

"Moping?" Quinn blinked at him. "Why?"

"No clue, but he's locked himself in his room in my World and Thomas's. I think he's done it in Greg's and his other World as well, but his room isn't in my world in those ones, so I can't tell." Chris explained.

"Did he die?" Greg asked skeptically.

"No, his system is still active, so he should still be alive…" Thomas muttered. "Maybe he just wants some alone time?"

"But why? Did something happen to him?" Quinn asked, her tone growing more concerned.

Chris cocked his head. "Could he be bummed about Gaia?"

"Why would he be bummed about Gaia?" Thomas asked incredulously.

Chris shrugged. "I don't know. It's just the only bum worthy thing I know that's happened recently."

"Maybe he broke up with one of his girlfriends?" Greg offered tentatively.

Thomas frowned. "I feel like we would have noticed that. Plus, I just saw Li Jing and she seemed fine."

"Maybe you guys should talk to him and find out!" Quinn interjected. "Stop theorizing and just ask him what's wrong!"

Thomas paused. "But what if he doesn't want to talk about it?"

"Then at least you tried!" Quinn retorted. "Fuck, it isn't that hard! Just go talk to your fucking friend! Or better yet, tell me where he is so I can talk to him!"

The three of them shared a look and Chrus shrugged. "Makes sense to me."

Thomas nodded with a sigh. "Yeah, come on. He's this way." He waved for them to follow as he moved towards Andrew's location, tracking him using the system. They found Andrew sitting in a tree, in a huddled ball, completely ignoring everything around him. "Hey, buddy… you okay?" Thomas asked, jumping up to sit on a branch beside him.

"I'm a monster." Andrew muttered numbly, not even looking up.

Greg snorted. "Aren't we all?" He froze as Quinn glared at him. "What? Our abilities are pretty freaking monstrous! Chris turns people into his subordinates, I'm an undying smoke person, Thomas fucks with people's minds, and Andrew fucks with their cores! What would you call that if not monstrous?"

"That's what we can do, not who we are." Chris retorted. "Our powers may be terrible, but how we use them doesn't have to be. The only way we ourselves could be considered monsters is if our actions damned us as such."

"So I'm still a monster." Andrew muttered.

Thomas gave him a look. "Dude, you're like the least evil out of all of us."

"Yeah, if anyone is a monster here, it's me." Greg nodded. "I kill people."

"You just kill people!" Andrew snapped back, looking up at him with red eyes. "You don't cage them in their own bodies and grind their aura to dust! You don't take everything from them in the process, so you can live their life in their place! You aren't some kind of fucking demon!"

Greg blinked back at him. "Yeah, no, that's- that's pretty bad."

"Again though, you don't have to do that, right?" Chris commented with a frown. "I can do tons of fucked up shit to people using my world, but I'm not going to. Just because you're capable of being a monster doesn't mean you are one."

"Also what he said." Greg agreed. "You obviously have a problem with that sort of thing, so just don't do it, and you're not a monster."

Andrew let out a long, weary sigh. "I know, it's just… why can't my ability have any beneficial aspects!" He complained. "Sure, you break things down, but you also build them! Chris makes subordinates, but he makes them immortal in the process! And I don't even need to talk about Thomas's system! But everything I do… it's all about taking and destroying! I steal cores, I possess bodies, and I don't help anyone!"

"Have you tried?" Chris asked, cocking his head.

Andrew blinked. "Huh?"

"Helping people. Have you tried?" Chris repeated. "Our abilities follow a cycle. We break down to rebuild. Break down matter to rearrange it, break down people to make them stronger, break down energy to give it more uses. You break down aura. What can you do with it? Have you tried helping anyone with it? Can you really say you've explored everything you're capable of?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"I- I guess not?" Andrew muttered.

"Then stop moping and try." Chris replied. "Wallowing in your current circumstances won't change them. Trying might."

Andrew opened his mouth to retort, before snapping it shut. Hadn't that been the reason he wanted to pursue the Essence Master Class in the first place? To learn how to manipulate cores and make them better, to make people better? How had he lost sight of that? Sure, his ability could be horrifying, but it had the potential to do good as well… it'd just take work. Andrew nodded at Chris. "You're right, I- thank you." He sighed, getting up. "Sorry guys. I- I'm an idiot sometimes."

Greg grinned. "Aren't we all? That's why we have friends, to help set us straight when we lose our way. Now come on, don't you have that dungeon ability thing to test?" He added, clapping him on the shoulder and leading him away.

Thomas just stood there thoughtfully. "Friends, huh?" He muttered to himself. Now that he thought about it, a lot of the mistakes he'd made probably could have been avoided if he'd stopped to talk things through with someone he trusted… would his World have been destroyed if he'd talked to Jessica and let her convince him not to overreact to the President being a dick? If he'd let things remain… orderly? Thomas frowned. Maybe, or maybe not. She definitely would have had something to say about what he'd done to Foratuna though. And Jade… though if Jessica was around, Jade would never have been an issue in the first place. He shook his head as he followed after Greg and Andrew. It was something to think about.

Quinn gave Chris an evaluating look as the others left. "That was… well said. If a little blunt."

Chris shrugged. "I just told him the truth. Whining and moping never does anything for anyone."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, sometimes we can't help it. Not all of us are so empty that the idea of our inevitable death is just another fact to consider."

"Hm. Sounds rough. Glad I don't have to deal with it." Chris nodded.

Quinn glared at him for a moment, before shaking her head. "I still don't like you."

Chris raised an eyebrow at her. "Noted."

"But… you're not a bad guy." Quinn sighed.

"I'm aware." Chris frowned at her. Why was she telling him this?

"I mean I don't think you're a bad guy." Quinn repeated in a slightly frustrated tone.

"Why would you?" Chris replied. "I'm not a bad guy."

"No, just- ugh, forget it!" Quinn growled, stomping off. "Stupid- try to be nice to the freakin robot- wasting my time." She grumbled under her breath as she left, leaving Chris standing there looking confused. He shook his head and followed after. People could be so weird sometimes.

*

"Okay, what kind of dungeon do we want today?" Andrew asked, clapping his hands and forcing some cheer into his tone.

"Underground lair! Super-villain style!" Greg replied, half-joking. It'd definitely be cool, but he was pretty sure Andrew couldn't pull it off.

Andrew blinked. "I- don't know how to do that." He explained, confirming Greg's suspicion.

"Ah, well." He shrugged. "What are our options then?"

"I have cave, city, farm, forest, hill, mountain, plain, town, and water." Andrew listed off all the options. "We can mix and match all those as well."

Greg blinked. "Can we do all of them?"

Andrew blinked back. "I don't even know what that would look like."

"Then we have to do it! For science!" Greg declared with a mad cackle.

"If you dare add water, I'm out." Quinn growled. "I'm not spending another delve in wet, clammy clothes!"

"I can make you new clothes, don't worry." Greg waved dismissively.

"I can also just send you into my world to dry you off." Chris added.

"I could use points to get rid of the water, but it'd be kind of a waste." Thomas shrugged.

"Do we have to all list how we can each solve a problem every time one comes up?" Andrew sighed.

""Yes."" The other three replied in unison.

"You're just mad you don't have one for this." Greg poked him.

Andrew sighed. "What am I supposed to do about water? No aura, no core, I got nothing."

"You could pick up an ability for it, couldn't you?" Thomas offered. "From either Greg or Chris's Worlds. I'm sure something has a water manipulation ability for you to use."

"I have four subordinates with water manipulation type abilities." Chris nodded in agreement. "Not very useful in an underground cave system unfortunately."

"Except you can literally give them all the water they'd ever need." Thomas retorted, rolling his eyes.

Chris paused. "Oh yeah…"

"Anyway, water shouldn't be an issue." Greg interjected, turning back to Quinn. "We've got it handled on multiple fronts. We can even give you a swimsuit or something."

Quinn frowned. "It is easy to forget how convenient you people are sometimes."

"We are a convenient bunch." Greg nodded. "Now, let's make this abomination of a dungeon already!" He clapped Andrew on the back again.

Andrew rolled his eyes, but did as he asked, selecting all the options. "Alright, crazy map selected. How about creatures? I have ants, apes, fishmen, leaping terrors, rabbitoids, and rats." He listed the options again, leaving off the intelligent races.

"Okay, I want to know what a rabbitoid and a leaping terror is, but first, is this a multiple types thing or would we get some kind of mutant combination of them?" Greg asked.

"I'm… not actually sure." Andrew frowned. He'd only done rats the first time. "Should we try two types to see?"

"How about we try all of them to see?" Greg grinned, rubbing his hands together malevolently.

"Absolutely not!" Quinn retorted. "If you put leaping terrors anywhere in that dungeon, I'm out!"

"Quinn, you're being a real buzzkill right now." Greg frowned at her.

"No, you're being crazy!" Quinn snapped back. "Fuck with the environment all you want, but if you fuck up the mobs, people could die!" She paused. "Especially after you've fucked with the environment!"

"Literally none of us can die." Greg retorted.

"Well… I mean, I come back, but I lose all my progress in the process…" Andrew commented. "Which, you know, is annoying. Like half a month before I can get back to where I'm at."

Greg paused. "Huh… a new body would mean I'd need to start again, wouldn't it?"

Thomas frowned. "I can't imagine dying would be very good for my progress either."

"We'd be fine." Chris shrugged. His subordinates died all the time and it never hurt them. Why would it be any different here?

Quinn smirked at Greg. "Well? Still want to mix a bunch of dangerous creatures together?"

He sighed. "I suppose not. But we should still try adding two types."

"Apes and rats?" Andrew offered.

Greg shrugged. "Whatever."

Andrew selected the two types, before pausing as another option appeared, listing the selected types and a percentage, both currently at one hundred. "What does that mean?" Andrew wondered with a frown.

"What?" Greg asked.

"Both are selected, and they have percentages next to them, but they're both at one hundred." Andrew explained with a frown, selecting rabbitoid as well, which just created another option with a hundred next to it, so he deselected it.

"So… your creatures have a hundred percent chance of being a rat and an ape… so they'd combine?" Greg offered tentatively. "I don't know, see what happens when you adjust the chances."

Andrew shrugged in agreement and tried lowering the ape chance to fifty, which worked. However, when he tried to change the rat chance… nothing. "Huh. Apparently I need at least one to be at a hundred."

Thomas nodded. "That makes sense. If the chances are independent, then if you don't have at least one at a hundred, you'll have a chance for the creature to be neither, which would be weird. It'd either just not exist or be some kind of blank being… or it'd just glitch, which is probably why you can't do it."

"So do we want all monkey-rats or a bunch of rats with a few monkey-rats thrown in?" Andrew asked.

"Monkey-rats!" Greg immediately replied. Why would you settle for something normal when you could have something weird? "If we wanted to add in a few more even…"

"No!" Quinn immediately shut him down, causing Greg to click his tongue in disappointment. She really was no fun.

"Alright, now all we need is level and size." Andrew continued after setting the creatures. "I'd need it to be in the twenties for it to make a difference for me, so whatever works for you guys is good."

"Well, I'm up to level three in my race, so I could probably handle a level seven or eight." Thomas commented, shooting Greg a smug look.

"Stupid rank difference stealing all my experience." Greg muttered bitterly, causing Quinn to roll her eyes. Yet another one who didn't understand how good a higher rank is. Though with Thomas's system… maybe it wasn't all that great after all? "But the level fives were still pretty easy, so I'm good with a higher level. I might actually level up."

"So seven?" Andrew confirmed, and they both shrugged and nodded. "How about size then?"

"Smaller is better." Quinn immediately replied, before Greg suggested they make it as large as possible. "We don't need to get lost in there."

"Who gets lost when we have Chris and Thomas?" Greg retorted. "We have a map and we can use portals!"

"That doesn't make it any easier to find the mobs! Do you want to search over thirty square kilometers for less than a hundred creatures?!?" Quinn countered.

Greg paused. "Ah, no. No I would not."

"How big is this one?" Thomas asked, looking around. "It's a pretty good size."

"About five kilometers squared." Quinn replied.

"Let's do that then." Thomas nodded.

"Sounds good." Andrew nodded. "Anything else?"

"Before you do it, let me use a skill." Quinn stopped him, closing her eyes and beginning to weave her energy in a certain pattern. "Okay, go." Andrew hit the create button and the dungeon began to form, Quinn's energy working getting sucked in as it did. "Yes!" Quinn cheered happily. Her skills could affect Andrew's dungeons! Which meant they could create some truly unique things! She froze as she realized she'd just used the skill on that unholy amalgamation Greg had convinced Andrew to make… maybe this had been a mistake.

"Shall we go then?" Andrew asked, looking around.

"Let's do it!" Greg nodded excitedly.

Quinn hesitated. The skill she'd used only affected how the environment formed, making the chance of unique structures more likely. Nothing too crazy could come out of that, right? "Right, let's go." She nodded, and they all entered the dungeon.