“So, you just wanted me to use Sentience on that monster—I mean your son?” Orb asked. He deflated a little in the air. “Dude…next time you need a favor, just ask, okay? We did not need to go through all of that. You think I’m strict about what I use Sentience on? Nah bruh. I would’ve done it on the cheap. Dungeon Core Dollar Store my brother.”

Arroane raised a brow at Orb. “Most intelligent cores are more…well, intelligent. So, you think you can help, then?” he asked.

“No clue. I did just power up the skill, though, so the possibilities are endless. Though I do wish the System was a bit more generous with my skill descriptions. Charlie gets whole paragraphs and I’m over here working with vibes,” Orb said.

Now that it seemed fighting was off the table, everyone had gathered at the center of the room to discuss the possibility of an alliance. The komodons and scalers still circled the room, wary of Arroane. King Scalea and Bonehead rested behind Charlie. They held their heads high and remained vigilant, but each of them had folded their legs under themselves to rest. Bleedy and Mousifer cuddled up beside Charlie. Arroane was across from them and on either side of him, Vetica and Merlin completed the circle. For the most part, tensions had settled. Orb’s words made Charlie even more curious about the dungeon core’s new power. “Hey Parent, do you think you can help us out?” he asked.

Charlie felt a tug at his magic potential. “Vault Transfer.”

Charlie blinked in surprise as Parent forcibly activated the ability. The calodosian rings were suddenly floating in the center of them all. “Greetings, I’m known as Parent.” Parent introduced himself to Arroane quickly. The rings floated closer to Charlie. “I thought I could offer some useful information to all parties gathered here. So, it was only appropriate to inhabit my rings again to make communication easier.”

Parent was honestly pretty random about the rings. Some days he inhabited them constantly, others he just waited somewhere in Charlie’s mind in case a question came up. Despite the time that had passed since Arcadeya, Charlie was still adjusting to Parent’s ever-changing form, or lack thereof.

Arroane quirked a brow. “Interesting name and, huh, calodosian rings? Quite rare. Expensive too. Though, I suppose if you have an interface, they’re a good investment. You’ve piqued my curiosity, Parent. Do share what you know.” Arroane gestured toward the interface, offering him his undivided attention.

Merlin was quiet. Arroane made him nervous. Vetica’s head was facing Parent, but Charlie noticed her side-eyeing Arroane. She hadn’t taken her eyes off him. She still didn’t trust him. Charlie didn’t blame her. Arroane was dangerous, strong too. They had to be careful, but oddly enough, now that tensions had fallen, Charlie had this weird feeling that he could trust the long-haired immortal. It was just something about him. Something he couldn’t quite place.

“The sentience ability is one that many intelligent dungeon cores have. However, the range and power of sentience varies wildly on a dungeon-to-dungeon basis. Orb’s sentience ability has always been different. In most cases, Sentience allows beasts to follow the orders of a dungeon or simply force it to protect the core when necessary. It’s why the scalers and boars acted to protect the dungeon in Sange.”

Arroane perked up at the mention of Sange but didn’t interrupt.

“Orb’s sentience ability is closer to true sapience by comparison. It allowed Charlie to develop much faster than most children, and also granted Bleedy and Mousifer the ability to understand humans.”

“I think you’re forgetting something pretty important,” Orb said. “I am the reason you exist too, bud. Still haven’t gotten a thank you for that, by the way. I accept thanks in the form of cold hard cash. A card wouldn’t hurt either.”

“Absolutely not. Anyway, it seems that Orb’s sentience ability has expanded even further now. Dungeon cores typically have innate knowledge of their abilities, so the System doesn’t give them detailed descriptions. However, Charlie and Orb’s power is deeply connected. So, although Orb cannot receive a description, Charlie can,” Parent explained.

Charlie tilted his head. “What? But I’ve never got any information about Orb’s powers when I get status updates. Are you sure?” he asked.

“I am. As the dungeon’s master, you are entitled to additional information anytime a creature or dungeon core under your purview grows stronger. It’s why you received knowledge about King Scalea and Bonehead’s new abilities and future potential. Though you won’t receive the same updates for Orb, I can manually gather information for you. The key difference between Sentience, which grants consciousness to those without it, and Greater Sentience is simple. Greater Sentience is a leveled ability,” Parent said.

Orb spun in the air. “Wait, that means…oh my gosh. I’m getting my own video game, aren’t I?! No…no, this is the System’s way of hinting at the future. I get it now. Charlie had to hard carry through the early parts of our adventure. But now…” Orb paused. Green, spiky hair popped up on the top of his head.

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Charlie and Bleedy gasped, remembering their training. Orb had prepared them for this. Bleedy licked his paws and leapt up on his two hind legs so he could reach Charlie’s head. He styled two strands of Charlie’s hair so that they stuck straight up into the air on either side. Charlie grinned really big, showing off the two bottom teeth that just barely poked out from his gum line. He pointed right at Orb.

“Now it’s your turn!” Charlie said excitedly.

Orb bounced in excitement. “Oh yeah! The hierarchy of power in the Dungeon Core Baby universe is about to change!”

Parent’s rings floated slower. “Actually…sentience is a power that has always yielded most of the benefits to Charlie. Greater Sentience is the same way. You’ll find that you can use Greater Sentience on a wider range of targets than before, but at the end of the day, they’ll still serve Charlie. The reason the hand that defeated Arroane’s body took action was because of Charlie’s previous desire to stop the corpse from reaching him. Even after your ability allowed the hand to repair itself and act, Charlie was still in control.”

Orb plopped to the ground and dimmed all the way. “I hate it here.”

Merlin nodded. “In other words, this really just makes Charlie stronger. Still, this is exciting. We’ll need to test the limitations of this new power. That being said, will it work on Arroane’s son? Do you think we can cure him with it?” he asked.

“To determine that, I’ll need to analyze the subject. He is currently outside of Charlie’s sphere of influence. But if he was moved inside Charlie’s dungeon, I could analyze him with Charlie’s help,” Parent said.

“Oh! So, you can analyze things like Zephyr used to?” Charlie asked.

“Affirmative. At least, in theory. Zephyr didn’t have any special abilities that allowed him to analyze subjects. It may take some time, but I’m confident I’ll be able to replicate it.”

Arroane flinched. “Zephyr?” he asked. “Are you talking about an interface?” He was on his feet before anyone could react. Vetica’s hand drifted toward her knife, and she shot to her feet, blocking the path Arroane had to Charlie.

Arroane paused, realizing he’d alarmed her. “My apologies. I shouldn’t have moved so hastily. It’s just…Zephyr was an old acquaintance of mine. You see, I—”

Merlin’s jaw dropped. “That’s right! You traveled alongside the hero from another world. Zephyr was his interface! I should’ve realized it sooner.”

Arroane shook his head in disbelief. “Wait, so you seriously met him? How? Where? I knew my master had left his two companions behind, but I always assumed he’d taken Zephyr with him. They were inseparable. When was the last time you saw him?” he asked. His eyes flickered to each of them in turn.

Charlie frowned. Vetica and Merlin went quiet as well. The realization dawned on Arroane quickly. “What happened?” he asked. The hope in his voice was gone, suddenly replaced by sadness.

There was a lot to talk about. Things they needed to focus on. Charlie already knew that if they couldn’t help Arroane’s son, he wouldn’t stick around. Sharing information could be dangerous, but Zephyr had been one of Arroane’s friends. If something had happened to one of Charlie’s friends. He would want to know. He would want to know it all. So, despite the fact it might not be the best idea in the world, Charlie told Arroane about their exploits in Arcadeya. He left out specifics when it came to his powers and training. But he told Arroane how Zephyr had been entrusted to Themis by the hero from another world. His friends got involved too. So, slowly, Arroane came to hear about part of the journey they’d underwent. Their clash with the hex knights in the dungeon under Arcadeya. How Themis and Zephyr had worked for years to find solutions to keep Cendra at bay. Orb made a point of making sure Arroane knew that Themis and Zephyr had both made sacrifices to ensure Charlie got away. That they’d trusted the safety of Aysela and stopping the cult to him.

That wasn’t Charlie’s plan. He didn’t want to take advantage of the memory of his friends. With Zephyr dead, and Themis in the custody of the knights, it felt wrong. So, he just focused on sharing their story as authentically as possible. He thought it might help Arroane find some peace about it all.

Arroane was silent for a while. “I see. It’s a shame. I wished I’d known sooner. I sought Themis out at one point, but every time I picked up his trail, it disappeared. It makes sense now, knowing he was living deep underground in a dungeon.” He sighed. “Zephyr was…well, I’ll just say that our master trusted him quite a lot. He used to say that without his interface, the technique he used would be impossible. So, if Zephyr trusted you as much as you say, then I have no choice but to commit to this path. We’ll have your interface run an analysis to see if this greater sentience might be able to return my son to normal already. But regardless of that answer, I’m going to commit to our alliance. Besides, knowing it’s a leveled ability gives me hope. I don’t have anything like that. My master did though and from what I saw, they usually scale fairly well. If that ability continues to improve, I’m sure it will work on my Taro. In the meantime, we have to put a stop to Cendra.”

Merlin held his hands out. “Wait, so you’re in? Like, all in?” He shot a grin towards Vetica. “This is great news! The first in a long time, actually. Having someone who defeated the cult once already will be a massive asset. Plus, you’ve already infiltrated them! This is fantastic!”

Arroane held a hand up. “Not so fast. I am all in. But victory is far from guaranteed. There are a few things working against us. The Hex Knights are hunting Charlie here, which means collaboration with them is nearly impossible. Not to mention the fact that when I fought Cendra before, I had two companions. One that was way stronger than me, and another with comparable power. They’re both off the board now. I hate to say it, but as things stand now. We have a lot of work to do.” Arroane turned and placed his hand on the ground in front of the tunnel leading out of the dungeon. A thin cracked formed on the ground and created a trail that shot towards the exit.

“Hey man! Charlie’s dungeon integrity is already low!” Orb protested.

“I’m only detecting minimal changes in dungeon integrity,” Parent said.

Arroane nodded. “My apologies. I know we have a lot to talk about, but I needed to send a message really quickly. There’s something I need to do.”