Pawline was in pain, again. She couldn't figure out why that happened, and twice no less! It wasn't her fault that she'd selected a tantalizing mewtation; it was the See pee pee's fault for not telling her it would hurt! Suddenly, she couldn't think anymore, as her head itched and ached and throbbed, engulfing her in a blanket of pain. She was lost in it, just disconnecting from her body to protect her sanity.

Lapo jerked awake, confused. What was going on? Where was Lapo? Memories soon came back, and Lapo remembered the preceding events, the living being it had sensed and the cat it had bonded with, then the pain that led it to unconsciousness. And now this very same cat was in pain? It could sense her like no other feeling it had experienced before. It had forgotten what life felt like, as the reality of its blindness imposed itself on the core. But now it felt like its senses were nonexistent, blind to all but the cat beside it. It dove deeper to see what was ailing its friend.

Energy begot energy, and this fact remained true even if the humans didn't know of it or how to utilize it, despite witnessing it when fighting a monster or beast that was about to mutate or evolve. This energy was inaccessible or useless to most, but dungeon cores weren't most. Lapo isolated her mind from sensing her body with a continuous expendature of Ether, along with her mind's own effort to save itself.

The Ether activity within the cat was generating a monstrous amount of light and heat affinity Ether, even if Silver type, which would blind any normal human ascendent long enough that what they'd see next would look to have happened instantly. But dungeon cores could simply swim their senses through the haze of light and heat and peer at the cause directly.

Ether was reacting and moving differently throughout all of her body, but it was more focused on the head. There, the five types of Ether displayed a miraculous level of coordination as they formed something new on top of something that was already there, and altering the latter.

Mercury Ether darted at lightning speed, slicing and carving runes into the energies below it, transmitting instructions and memories, giving the Ether the affinity of monstrous flesh and endowing it with purpose. Silver Ether carried loud echos of the memories and filled them out with larger weaves at a slower pace, like a scollar explaining a short text with a much deeper meaning. Copper Ether joined the fray, imbuing the lines with power and weight, allowing them to work their will.

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Iron Ether surfaced, moving slowly but steadily into the lines, defining their edges and reenforcing their stability. Then a slow rumble rose from the bottom, and what had sung of stillness finally moved. A heavy energy ponderously rushed upwards, like a colossal beast coming out of the ocean's depths. It arduously entered the marvellous masterpiece and made it materialize. Mercury memories became near identical to living flesh, solidified with the might of Lead Ether. Warding the cat's mind had become harder as the Lead scoured her body and did its work. The harmonized fusion of Ether clicked, and an even greater blast of hot light gizered out into the air, an Iron Ether version this time.

Lapo laughed at a memory from when it had been a roaming spirit, curious about the knowledge within the books of humans. The books about dungeons were adamant and insistant on not entering a dungeon if the colors of its portal were reversed, as they would be using Ether and generating blinding light that only death seekers would try to experience.

But for a dungeon, that was a goldmine, as the light would benefit the dungeon's domain, allowing its creatures to cultivate. This light was known as Yaz, an ancient word meaning Reward. The ancients believed that the world rewarded the dungeons for making floors, contracting with creatures and making monsters by giving them this energy, like an infusion of life into an ecosystem's growth. It would consolidate what was already there and stabilize it before new things could be made. This amount of Yaz was unreal, however. It seemed as though Lapo's little friend was much bigger on the inside than it had realized at first.

*Congratulations! You have finally become a dungeon core in earnest, although a unique one. The System has labled you a Symbiont Core! You have earned the title [Symbiont Progenetor]!

*Symbiont Progenetor: Monster template cost is reduced by 50%, and your presence is one of a kind, increasing the chance of beasts agreeing to contract with you and become your followers!

*Lapo's Status:

*Name: Lapo The Blind Core.

*Title: Symbiont Progenetor.

*Floors: 0.

*Monsters: 0.

*Contracts: Contract of Symbiosis with Princess Pawline.

*Yaz: 1000 Iron, 10000 Silver.

*Dungeon points: 1400.

*Elements: Hostile Humans, Cats.

*Mentally summon your symbiont's status screen.

What?