Chapter Five Hundred and Three - Core Weakness

I stared at the core for a long while. I was... hesitating, a little. Everyone kept telling me that breaking a core was wrong. I'd done it before, a couple of times, but that was before I knew that it was considered a bad thing. And since then, I hadn't done it again.

It was... well, doing something wrong when you didn't know it was wrong was still bad, but it wasn't as bad as doing something wrong when you knew it was wrong. Right? That seemed like a reasonable enough way to look at things.

This core, though... well, it was covered in fine cracks, and now that I really looked, was its glow as strong as an actual dungeon's core? Those always filled the rooms they were in with so much raw mana that it was dangerous to stay close to them for more than a few minutes.

I glanced at my status and...

Mana: 165/165

Nothing too unusual there. I wasn't using any mana at the moment, so it was holding at full. I pushed out a bit of Cleaning magic from my skin and shuddered as I felt it wash over me. Was I really that dirty or... or had I just gotten used to being impossibly clean at all times?

I created a small Lightball, and this time it lit up the entire room, better even than Orange's glow could. It revealed ancient cracks on the walls and heaps of dust in the corners. No one had swept this place in... a long while.

I returned my attention to the dungeon core while shifting my hold on Orange.

I was... a little tempted to touch it again. The memories of what I'd seen were fading. I could remember a few highlights, some of the more shocking alternate mes. I could also remember being closer to some people than I was now. The shadows of memory were tantalisingly just out of reach, like words I was sure I should've known, just on the tip of my tongue.

If I touched it, maybe I'd learn a little bit more about my friends? Ways to get closer to them, their favourite meals, and memories of the best times we had together?

Orange nipped my hand and I jumped on the spot, spooked by the sudden bite. Was I... daydreaming for long? I licked my lips and glared at the core. Is this what the shadow man meant when he said the core was tempting? I was, in the back of my head, plotting ways to plant it on the Beaver as a sort of... tool for predicting the future. But it didn't predict the future, did it? None of the visions went beyond the current time. They were all alternate pasts.

Even if wasn't prediction, that was still a way to get information. I'd seen ... I was sure I'd seen Amaryllis from a hundred different angles, now. In a way, I knew her better, didn't I?

I raised a hand up, formed a Fireball in my palm, and let the simple spell zip forwards to crash into the side of the orb.

The moment my spell penetrated deep enough, the core seemed to pop, like... punching a cake that hid a big balloon under the icing.

Almost as soon as the first bit of the core hit the ground, a status screen appeared before me.

Dungeon Cleared!

All adversaries within The Probable Dungeon Defeated.

All Bosses Defeated

Broccoli Bunch, Cinnamon Bun Bun, level 17, Wonderlander, level 6 is awarded the --- class.

All class slots filled.

Replace current class with Impro--?

Replacing your current class will reset your level 0.

"Uh," I said, hesitating before I shook my head. "No thank you?"

Class: --babl-- set in abeyance until Class Slot becomes available.

I let out a little 'phew' as a heap of stress leaked out of me. That wasn't something I wanted. I was happy being a Cinnamon Bun Bun, more than I'd be happy being... what looked like a clerical error.

Then, as if Dirt noticed my sudden lack of tension, I got another screen that popped up before me.

Dungeon Warning

Dungeon Stability Failing.

Evacuate.

My ears went straight and my spine tingled. The dungeon was gonna explode? I looked around in a panic and... noticed a lot of nothing going on. The last time I'd been in a dungeon that broke apart after its core broke had been a while ago, but... yeah, that dungeon had started to break apart almost right away.

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This one had nothing of the sort going on in it. The walls seemed fine, the floor didn't shake, and the mana in the air didn't feel any different. There was neither more nor less of it that I could notice. Was the warning just a sort of automated warning?

I decided that caution was probably the better part of valour anyway. It was probably safer to go and find my friends and regroup first rather than stick around.

The Probable Dungeon Core Destroyed!

You have gained: Two General Points

I gasped. General points! I had four of those left, but I'd been saving them up as if they were the last I would ever receive. Two more was... kinda of huge! That was two more general skills levelled up if I wanted to or another general skill brought up to a much higher rank.

I swallowed, then let out a puff of a breath. This was good, but finding my friends was better. Now... it was just a question of figuring out where they were.

"Let's go, Orange," I said. I left my lightball behind. It would burn itself out eventually without mana being fed to it constantly, but before then it would at least mark out the room for me. I created another, then tied it to the tip of one ear so that it was floating above and ahead of me.

Orange started to purr, and I absently scritched her between the ears as we walked. The tunnels were still kind of spooky, but having more light decreased the spook-factor by a whole order of magnitude.

I could hear the echo of my footfalls, which gave me an idea. "Hello!" I called out ahead.

My voice returned to me, but it wasn't alone. "Broccoli? Coli? Coli?" came back a moment later. That was Desiree's voice!

I took off in a slow jog, moving faster, but not so fast that I'd trip over any of the loose stones on the way. "Hello!" I called out again. "It's me!"

It took a few calls back and forth, but soon enough I spotted some light in the tunnel ahead, then rounded a bend to find Desiree, and Awen too!

"Broccoli!" Awen said. She rushed over, ready for a hug, but paused when she saw Orange in my arms. "And Orange?"

"Hi!" I said with a laugh. It felt incredible, just seeing one of my friends in the flesh. Like removing something too tight and finally being able to breathe. "Yeah, I summoned her because it was too dark and magic wasn't working, and she kept me safe while I met... someone in the dark. It's a long story. Oh gosh, I'm happy to see you!" I gave Awen a tight-tight hug. It was one-armed, because I still had to cradle Orange, but I made it as good of a hug as I could manage.

"I'm happy to see you too," Awen said.

"Indeed!" Desiree said, and it was her turn for hugs. "We were quite worried. Awen and I almost literally bumped into each other in the dark."

"Oh! That's good," I said. "You haven't seen anyone else?"

"No, not yet at least," Awen said. "Did the dark become less dark for you too? Maybe ten minutes ago?"

"Uh-huh," I said with a nod. "I'll explain in a bit, but we should find the others. Amaryllis, Calamity, ah, Sir Aberrforth and Miss Laine as well. Oh, and his explorers, if they're still around."

"Have you explored a lot of the tunnels?" Awen asked.

I shook my head, then looked about. The walls were so similar that it was hard to tell if I'd passed through this exact spot before or not. "I don't think it's a maze-maze," I said. "But we can go around and start looking? Maybe leave signs for our friends to follow if they come from behind?"

"I can do that," Awen said. She focused for a moment, then created a small hip-high sign made of spun glass. It was an arrow pointing in the direction opposite the one I'd come from. A bit more magic lit the sign up from within with a faint glow. "That should stay lit for an hour or two," she said.

"Clever!" I cheered. That earned her a second hug.

Okay, so maybe I was just a little hug-starved at the moment and absolutely anything justified more hugs.

"Let's go collect our friends!"

***