“What did you do to me?!” Though the heels of her knee highs still sunk awkwardly into the floor, there was a comforting kind of familiarity to the spring and squish of it all as Graverra stormed into the dungeon core’s lair.

The dungeon core blinked, his heart avatar seeming to want to reel back in her heated presence. So maybe she came off a little strong, but he’d yelled at her first. And she hadn’t even done anything.

“What we agreed to.”

“You promised not to hurt me! Look at this!” She gestured at the scar on her chest.

“I believe the exact terms were that I be as gentle as I could be. I assure you, it could have been worse.”

Graverra’s expression twisted in disgust. She didn’t want to think about that. Considering moments ago she had just been begging for her life, this was the best-case scenario, she knew it… But she still wanted to be angry at him. “Well, maybe, had I known, I would have been more specific!”

“I gave you the opportunity to do your own research. You chose not to.”

“I shouldn’t have to know the inner workings of the universe before making a decision!”

“You do now, though, don’t you?” There was something smug in his question that Graverra wasn’t sure she liked.

“Sort of, I guess.” She should have tried playing with it all a little more before going out there. But then, she’d nearly spent five thousand mana on accident. Just the thought again of spending that much put anxious butterflies in her stomach. “It’s in my head now....”

“And your grimoire.” The dungeon core nodded to the book still in her hands. “Estremon thought it might be overwhelming otherwise. You shouldn’t need it forever, but you seemed attached to it.”

Graverra hugged the grimoire to her chest. Yes, she was a bit attached to it. “Is that who I spoke to? Estremon?”

The dungeon core nodded by way of bobbing his whole self up and down.

“What… is she? Can I ask that?” Graverra had some guesses by now, but if he just explained it…

“You just did. The System calls her a Watcher.”

“And she watches you specifically?” Watcher, keeper… That all sounded close enough. Keeper classes kept things - summons, companions, thralls. Even Graverra could have been considered a keeper class if she routed her skills a certain way. But she couldn’t imagine feeling the way this Estremon seemed to about something she’d chosen to keep. “She said she made you. And regrets it. I don’t think she liked me very much… Did I get you in trouble?”

“She doesn’t need to like you. I want you here and that’s all that matters.”

“Yeah? Well…” Graverra fought not to smile about that. She wanted him to be right - and it wasn’t lost on her that he hadn’t answered any of the other questions, she did ask a lot sometimes - but just wanting things to work out hadn’t always made it so, in her experience. “What else did she say about me? How long was I out? Did she do this?”

She pointed again at the scar running through her cleavage.

“I wasn’t consulted about that.”

Graverra narrowed her eyes at the core. Easy out. “And these?” She held out one of the white streaks in her hair.

“I thought they were pretty and they suit your aesthetic.”

The compliment almost distracted her, but she wasn’t quite done being angry at him. “And the tits and ass just really suit me too, huh?”

She wasn’t actually going to complain about them, she didn’t think. It was just the principle of the thing. And the implications.

The impression of the dungeon core’s brow furrowed, but he didn’t sound annoyed with her. “You were very thin before.” If anything, he sounded concerned.

“Yeah, well.” Graverra decided she didn’t want to talk about that. Not with him. Not right now. “When you get a human body…”

“I won’t.”

“Yes, you will.” She flashed a wicked grin as she considered pulling open her grimoire right then and there to see if she really could access his customizations menu.

“They’re much too weak.”

“And this isn’t?” Graverra lunged forward to jab the core with a finger.

The core yelped, though it could have just been in surprise. She didn’t actually mean to hurt him. “I shouldn’t have to defend myself from my wife!”

Graverra backed away only then to stare at the dungeon core with wide, almost startled eyes. “Is that what I am now really?”

“Estremon didn’t like it, but she said it was a carry over from your having a class. I knew that sort of thing must be important to you and you had already likened our agreement to a marriage pact, so I told her not to change it.”

That was quite possibly the sweetest thing the dungeon core had done for her, or even said to her. “Well, thank you, that’s really-”

“I’m sure you can earn a better one in the future.”

“No! It’s- I like it.” Maybe in the future she would change her mind; Possibly after deciding to ask how the core had known some of that, given she hadn’t actually said it out loud, but she guessed that could also just be a sign he was paying attention after all.

“Good.” The core cleared his non existent throat. “You’re welcome.”

Whether the pause that followed was actually that long, it felt like another small eternity to Graverra. Where was she supposed to start with all this? Probably not with so much concern over her physical appearance, but… He’d started that.

“Does that mean you got a theme?” Yes, it was an attempt to see the core’s stats. It would only be fair. He’d seen her’s twice now. “And you have to pick a name for yourself now. I can’t keep calling you core forever.”

“Must I now?” Graverra wasn’t sure if the tone was about the fact that she’d allowed him to pick now or because she’s being bossy. Either way, she wouldn’t be the one to blink first.

The core sighed.

Graverra’s grimoire pushed itself open in her arms.

Core 66 (PRIMARY)

Dungeon Core | Rank 147th

Location Undetermined | Dungeon Unnamed

Mana Reserves: 4,000 (7%/1hr)

[See Further Dungeon Info]

Core Avatar

‘Core 66’, Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know

Appearance: Eldritch Heart

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

She probably should have been more concerned by that theme, but…

“Why do you have more mana than me?” Even if they had to split, it could have been done evenly, couldn’t it?

“I am the primary core. Although, I also assumed we would share a pool…” The dungeon core scowled hard in thought and the page of Graverra’s grimoire flipped without her again.

Dungeon - Name Undecided ( Pewter - 7 )

Location: Undetermined

Theme: Undecided | Specialization: Undecided

Total Mana Reserves

7,000 (7% / hr)

Mobs: 0/7 [See Further Mobs Info]

Traps: 0/4 [See Further Traps Info]

Puzzles: [Unlocked at Copper Tier]

Questlines: [Unlocked at Gold Tier]

[See Dungeon Layout]

Dungeon Will Be Placed In… [335:24:03]

“Ha! She had to give me back my week too, perfect. If we start straight away, we should have a chance at 173,950 more by the time we’re placed.”

Graverra’s eyes widened. “Mana?” If the thought of spending five thousand had made her feel ill… And they were only level seven still by the looks of it. There were reasons dungeon clearing was one of the quickest ways to advance, obviously, but… Who knew they were secretly loaded like that.

“We won’t be that efficient, though if you could not turn everything into a discussion, that would help. I’m sure Estremon believes we’ll run down the timer bickering… She can’t resort to outright disciplinary measures to answer your earlier question, but she believes I might come to view you as a kind of comeuppance.”

“Oh.” Graverra glanced at the timer ticking down even then in her grimoire and took in a breath, even though she didn’t know what to say to that. She didn’t want him to regret her… What happened to her then? “But- but you said you wanted me here, and that’s what matters, right?”

“Yes. You’ve already proven invaluable; The timer reset and I’ve gained seven of your levels.”

Graverra fought herself not to laugh in relief. She didn’t know what she would have done if this hadn’t worked out the way he’d wanted. There had always been the option to leave if she really couldn’t put up with her last party or any of the ones before. And if they couldn’t put up with her - an oddly common occurrence - they definitely didn’t have to kill her to get on with their lives. Branimir and Valerae had demonstrated that just fine.

The core squinted at her, but what emotion he meant to convey, Graverra couldn’t figure. Really, that was just another argument in favor of his having a human body; more clear communication.

Rename ‘Core 66 (PRIMARY)’ avatar: Hecrux

The notification flashed in her head instead of her grimoire, startling Graverra into exclaiming, “Oh!”

“Do you like it?”

“Well, yes, but it doesn’t really matter if I do, does it? I mean, it’s your name.” In an odd moment of emotional clarity, the thought struck Graverra that the core - Hecrux, shouldn’t just be treated as a means to an end. Not if she didn’t want to be treated that way either, and those fears were still mounting…

“I think it suits well enough.”

Graverra nodded.

“Now then…”

Set Dungeon Theme: Grotesque

Unable to set Dungeon Theme

Please Open The Dungeon Core Training Manual

The prompts flashed in Graverra’s head again, not in her grimoire. Her resulting vertigo had her reaching out ahead of her to catch herself on the dungeon core.

The room rumbled with Hecrux’s frustration and he tried again, to the same result.

“This is… your fault.”

“Wait what?” If she hadn’t already caught herself on him, those two words might have floored her. She’d been a dungeon core for minutes now. She couldn’t have failed him so quickly. Hadn’t she just been invaluable?

“I shouldn’t have to do that again. I already did it.”

“But I haven’t.” What happened to a moment ago when we were being considerate about letting her keep her grimoire or a theme she actually liked?

“But I have. I’m the primary core.” All he did was state it. There was no effect in his voice. But that was how he had sounded when he had told her to say yes…

“Well, it can’t take that long, can it? If you’ve already done it, then maybe we can just…?” She wasn’t sure what they might just, but she has to do something. She had to be allowed to fix this.

Hecrux sighed and began pulling up System prompts again.

Begin Dungeon Building Tutorial?

Y/N

“Ow, wait.” Graverra didn’t necessarily mean to squeeze, but her hand was already resting on the dungeon core for support. “I thought this was supposed to be going through my grimoire?”

“Then use it.”

“I think the problem is you aren’t, darling.” Graverra said through her teeth. And maybe her fingernails did do a little digging… But that had hurt and he clearly didn’t care.

“That’s much too slow.” The dungeon core didn’t seem to notice any of it. “And we keep losing time…”

“You’re going to lose a lot more if I black out.” Graverra warned. Suddenly this all felt much too much like past arguments with Branamir about where her actual limits lay.

Hecrux growled as he mulled something over. His conclusion came by way of the table from her chambers oozing up from the lair’s fibrous floors, a matching chair followed quickly after.

“Thank you.” Graverra slunk to the chair and set the grimoire on the table between them. She guessed if it was really so miserable for him, so long as she sat and tried to channel it through the grimoire herself she might just be alright.

“You’re welcome.” He answered her in the same curt tone she had just used, but that wasn’t fair. She hadn’t done anything to warrant it.

“You’re really mad at me?”

“This is your fault.”

“Oh, right,” Graverra huffed. If she heard that one more time… “Because I was the one who said if we merged souls or whatever we’d share everything. No, wait, that was you.”

The lair rumbled. Graverra gripped the edges of the table. So maybe she’d pushed it a little… Maybe she should have waited to pick her first fight until after she learned the tentacle trick. Or figured out where her spells went.

But nothing happened. The lair settled and the dungeon core heaved another sigh, “Enough of this.”

Hecrux tugged the grimoire closer to the center of the table with some metaphysical core magic. If they hadn’t just been fighting, Graverra might have had something to say about the merits of possessing hands… But she refrained for now.

Begin Dungeon Building Tutorial?

[Y]/N

A table of contents began to fill itself in, spanning both pages of the open grimoire. Graverra began to understand the dungeon core’s reaction even better. She had never been one for theory; Raising the dead, manipulating necrotic energies, it all just worked and she was good at it, she’d never cared how, the way some casters did. But this had chapter headings for everything… They were responsible for everything. The expected stuff; types of things they could build - which seemed to be literally everything, all of which needed to be explained in detail - damage types, mobs and all the specifics of keeping them; But then they had to account for things like pocket dimensions and the metaphysicallity of mana itself? Somehow they were responsible for the economy now? And ecology?

“That’s… so much.” She guessed to this would have been what got beamed into her brain or whatever if they had gone that route. Being torn in two was definitely the better decision, it turned out.

“It’s wrong.” Hecrux insisted again. “None of this was here before.”

“Guess we solved why you have to do it all over again, then.” She wanted for it to be a positive thing, she really did. If this was her fault, then she could still fix it. “It’s not really that bad. I mean, she couldn’t have changed everything on you, right? You were already building stuff, and you made that spider, and-”

Rather than listen to her reassuring ramble, Hecrux pressed in on a section of the supposed dungeon tutorial. The grimoire turned pages as he did.

6. Skills + Crafting

Alchemy, Fleshwarping, Leather Craft, Masonry, Metallurgy, Textiles, Woodworking, Horticulture, Spell Craft, Mana Mining, Monster Taming, Necromancy…

Graverra cut herself off with a gasp, happy to have found where her necromancy had gone in all of this. Others in the list she recognized as well, though hadn’t had the means to try her hand at before. She had no idea what Fleshwarping was, but felt much more confident now that she could try and put this to rights for him. The System had just borrowed from what adventurers got, of course Hecrux wouldn’t understand that any more than she understood dungeon core things.

“It’s just skill lines. Didn’t you have skill lines before?” Skimming down the page, Graverra even swore she found the exact same description she’d read about them years ago. Perfect. She could work with this.

“No.” Hecrux had begun to sound downright sulky. “Does it really expect us to tame our own mobs?”

“I sure hope not,” Graverra gave a nervous laugh. It wasn’t like the System had expected her to tame her own fiends, but… They were apparently responsible for building them from the ground up. “If I summon them with necromancy, maybe that’s something? I’d need pieces and components first though, is that what you think fleshwarping is for?”

“Fleshwarping is this.” A tentacle of pink, porous flesh rose from the floor and plopped itself over the table a moment before retreating back into the floor. “I don’t think that accomplishes what you need.”

Graverra lit up with an entirely new thought. “Oh, but I can do that now too, can’t I?”

“Perhaps.” Hecrux didn’t sound half so enthused by the idea.

“Where do you think that part is?” Graverra hurriedly glanced over the rest of the page and turned to the next for more detailed descriptions of the various skills. “Are we allowed to skip around like this?”

“We haven’t been told not to.”

Wasn’t that what got him here though? Graverra stomached the sinking feeling that her bubble was about to burst. He was going to find out - just like everyone else always did - that she couldn’t actually give him what he wanted. She was more trouble than she was worth.

Graverra turned the page back, to the table of contents. It was easier when she used her grimoire, familiar. She didn’t get what was so wrong about it to him, but she guessed that was the entire point of contention there to begin with. If she could just be more like a dungeon core…

“Where do you want to start?”