Pov Rafe

I watched as the gateway expanded section by section, getting near the maximum size the hiding device allowed. I was tired, like most everyone else here. It had been quite a tiresome ordeal to get this built without anyone knowing about it.

I was the main transporter of materials since I could go deep underwater and make my body excel at stealth. The worst thing was that most of the materials needed refining, and the quality we needed meant a ridiculous volume of resources I had to bring.

My job wasn’t over when I brought the last of the materials—no, Ismael had a brilliant idea. The main food source for the dragons was the numerous large schools of fish that could grow incredibly big and easily reach gold rank, with a few individuals strong enough to get to platinum.

So his plan was simple: make the main food source of the dragons disappear and make it look like a new predator came and destroyed it all, but I was not to touch any of the dragons to make the mystery even bigger.

So, for the past two years, I’ve been underwater killing way too many fish. It seems so unnecessary, but it has helped me with my own rank, and I did get a few more body parts that seemed quite useful from the other creatures living in these waters. Hopefully, I can get at least a few years of rest before Father advances to platinum, as I sorely need them.

To the left of me, on the island, everything was being dismantled, the equipment needed to make the materials we needed and everything else. Our home for all of these years was the ship that currently was missing the top part of its masts; otherwise, it wouldn’t fit through the gateway.

It took another three hours, but I watched in wonder as the huge gateway activated, and I could finally sense my home. We walked through at least those of us who could make ourselves walk on water, to find ourselves in basically a similar-looking area, except there wasn’t any darkness surrounding us. I let my senses spread out and felt others do the same.

While the area wasn’t exactly the same as the Black Ocean, it was close, and I could even feel underneath my feet the schools of fish that I had spent the last two years killing. It made me shiver thinking about them. On the island where the big gateway is, there were smaller ones as well, and a few islands northwards, there was another huge gateway, probably to get our ship to another playroom.

I looked back to see Ismael walk through the gateway. The way his senses spread out was overwhelming—it was like we were suffocating. I do not know how far his reach went, but he had a huge grin on his face. "A world indeed."

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What I decided to do instead of staying here was walk to one of the smaller gateways, the one I knew would take me to Father. We had some things to discuss.

The gateway activated just before I got there, and I walked through to find myself in the presence of Father. Behind me, the gateway disappeared, which made sense, as Father wouldn’t want a way to him that was so quick. I was certain there were ways of taking control of gateways, even from him, although perhaps not while he was awake.

He was now so big. My brain was no longer just the human one, as other creatures had quite useful parts that did things a lot better than human brains ever could. One of the changes I’ve made allowed me to measure distance accurately. Father was a perfect circle with a diameter of nearly 500 meters. He was way bigger than should be normal, but then again, Father wasn’t normal, now was he?

“I have decided, and I have had enough of wandering around. I would like to become your bonded guardian.” The words landed heavily in this silent room bathed in white light. My connection to Father allowed me to understand him, even if it was barely a connection. Yet, I could feel gratefulness and readiness from him. None of us knew how to do this properly, but as I touched the connection between us and started to strengthen it, I could feel him doing the same.

It took a while, as neither of us was in a rush, and we were still cautious—we didn’t want to mess this up. The connection continued to strengthen. I could now feel Father better, and more importantly, I could even sense the dungeon better. We continued to strengthen something we could no longer call a connection. Instead, a more appropriate word would be bond.

Nothing special indicated that we were finished, but we both felt our bond solidify for eternity. It seems like I didn’t have to go out and find a way to make myself immortal, as I would have gotten it through our bond, but it didn't matter—it was done, and I was now a guardian of Father and this dungeon.

It was weird, but it felt like I had a second mind that could sense the dungeon and understand how big it truly was and how much was in it. I could now kind of make gateways for myself like Father does or use any of the ones currently active however I wanted. I felt like Father could limit my access to his dungeon, but he didn’t seem to want to do anything that would limit it.

“You are now my guardian, and I truly thank you for what you have given me. Not only have I gained access to the pattern you hold, but I have also gained access to memories from my lineage I didn’t expect to ever get. It seems like the Pixies were a bit more mischievous than I expected, but a few things are now more clear.”

“We will have many things to discuss, but I can sense you need rest. Your hideout is waiting, and of course, you don't truly need my help to get there any longer. Also, when you're up for it, start thinking of a defensive room that would be just before mine. You would be my last line of defense, and it seems like even my instincts are happy about that fact, although they still want that room.”

It was amazing to hear Father so clearly—it was like I was speaking to someone right beside me, and I could completely understand him.

“A long sleep does sound good, and it seems like I need to change my brain a bit to better handle the amount of information I’m receiving from the dungeon. Perhaps some lessons would also be in order for me to better understand how things work?”

I could feel Father’s happiness like I was seeing a bright smile on a person. It felt so good to be so close, and the realization that all of my collected patterns Father could now use meant that my journey was more fruitful than I ever expected. Before I left, I still had one question. “How’s it going with Ismael?”

“I’m waiting for him to calm down a bit. He’s way too excited about everything. I’m pretty sure that before he sensed that playroom, he still thought I was playing a trick on him. But go now—I have a feeling that things will get more precarious, and you should get as much rest as you can before my secrets are revealed.”

I had some walking to do, but it was good to think. When I felt like I was far enough away, I felt comfortable enough to make a gateway—or more specifically, parts of Father made the gateway on my behalf—and I walked through it into my hideout.

I was surprised for a moment, as it was way bigger than it used to be. That brought a smile to my face. I transformed into a fox and curled myself up at the nearest tree. Sleeping with fur was so much more enjoyable.