‘Eugh, how did this happen? Why is this happening to me?’
“Hector, are you done being amused?”
With glee on his face, he speaks.
“Of course, I mean, I was only kidding. You have a gem for a body. What are you actually going to do?”
“That’s…I don’t know. You changed so much. I was startled, and I didn’t expect anything like that from you.”
“I told you before, I became an individual. Before, it was like imitation referencing from your memories on Earth, but now I have likes and dislikes. I can feel emotions clearly, as well as my beliefs and attitudes toward things. Also, I have received an expansive amount of your memories on Earth and learned a lot from them.”
‘That’s good and worrying at the same time, I’m glad he is more… well ‘alive’ but not thrilled with him getting more of my memories.’
“Then why this? I mean, why become someone like this?”
Well, that sounds awful now that I say it out loud, though he gets what I mean through our bond.
With his gentle eyes and smile that looks into my core.
“Because I wanted to be someone that can help you, someone you wanted. Stupid nonsense, sarcastic playful words that mean trust with each other, unproductive behavior just for the sake of things, words and things that aren’t practical. You miss this, right?”
‘Yeah, things that make me forget and things that object to all the-’
“Also, your ideal sexual body. You know I’m not joking. You can do whatever you want with me, you could probably manipulate your mana to take the form of tentacles like one of those videos you-”
“AHHHH! Don’t mention them!”
Oh my gosh, he knows all the porn videos I watched, how much does he know? It can’t be all of them. Oh gosh, what if it is? Just let me die in a pit screaming alone.
“I was just joking, or am I?”
“Hector, I will choose to ignore what you said and work on where we left off.”
Ignoring his chuckles and knowing that he was serious, through our bond and the image in my mind being generated. I went back to what I was planning on doing: designating a boss monster.
I was currently at level 4, and a boss monster position opens every five levels. Using mana to level up, I brought up my status screen to check.
Name
Aiden Winterguard Seraphim
Race
Dungeon Core
Titles
The System Chosen, Knowledge of Another World, Progenitor of Seraphim
Dungeon Name
N/A
Level
5
Affinity
Arcane, Life, Soul, Space, Time, Gravity….(1 point available)
Current Mana
2480/5000
Self Mana Generation
50/hour
Exterior Mana Conversion
500/hour (Max)
Abilities
Absorb Mana, Absorb Mass, Interdimensional Storage, Enhanced Mind, Grand Master Mana Manipulation, Veteran Mana Sense, Veteran Veteran Mana Conversion, Veteran Mana Purification, Alter Environment, Create Trap, Create Resources, Duplication, Regeneration, Extraction, Create Monster, Monster Link, Transfer Floor
Traits
Born of Arcane Mana, Pure Mana Crystal Origin, Blessed by Dimensions, Mana Conductor, Mad Scientist of Amalgamation, System Access: Quest
Perks
Monster Horde, Monster Overlord, Pools of Birth, Lucky Evolution, Ascension of Elites, Unique Floors, Bigger AuraⅠ, GardenⅠ
Looking through, I noticed a new title and the two new perks I chose in levels 2 and 4 compared to the last time I checked.
Titles
Progenitor of Seraphim
A surname born from a unique being, those bestowed upon will gain benefits relating to the progenitor.
-Those bestowed the name Seraphim by the progenitor will gain a generous boost to mana-related skills
-Those bestowed the name Seraphim by the progenitor will gain a generous boost to wisdom and intelligence
-Those bestowed the name Seraphim by the progenitor will gain a generous boost to emotional intelligence
Perks
Bigger AuraⅠ
Increases aura Limit
-10% increase to total aura limit
GardenⅠ
Increases quality of plant-related resources
-10% increase in quality of plant-related resources
Well, isn’t the new title something? Seraphim was the surname I chose to have in this world. After all, a new world without my family was just the push I needed to end ties with the family name, well partially, at least. As for the benefits, for mana is most likely due to me being a dungeon core. As for the rest, (flashes of memories on Earth pass by).
‘Yeah, I get it.’
Onto the affinity
Illusion Affinity has been unlocked
I wanted to unlock this on my own, so I tried using light mana to create illusions, but that didn’t unlock it. After obtaining it, I understand why: what I did was essentially light in another form, but with illusion mana, it’s like manifesting your imagination, giving form to something not present before. Using illusion mana, I created some illusion crystals and stuck them on the ceiling, creating a false sky.
I mean, except for making the floor look nice and making it feel like the outside, it doesn't do anything else, but it bugs me, so point well used. Now, back to my lovely sapling, which I designate as this floor’s boss monster right away.
Mana started rushing out of my core as it moved through the dungeon floor, arriving at the sapling. As mana was poured in, the sapling's soul was invigorated, and the binding it had with the dungeon floor was strengthened as I watched it unfold. I used this moment to concrete that binding, trying to imitate the bond with my companion.
With some effort and soul mana, I managed to change the binding to a bond similar to the one I have with Hector. However, this one was formed with the sapling’s soul and the dungeon floor/my body, unlike mine and Hector’s bond, which is bonded by our souls.
Focusing on the bond, I used soul affinity to separate a speck of my soul and move it through it. I let it merge with the mana, letting the soul-imbued mana empower the sapling’s soul.
Once the process was done, I could feel its soul becoming solid, as if it were an ember before being able to be snuffed out at any moment. It is like a small fire now, weak and small but burning.
It’s a strange feeling, but I could just feel how the potential of this soul has grown after being assigned as the boss monster. However, that was all, and there were no physical differences.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Umm, is that it? I thought, well, I don’t know, it just seems anti-climactic. I thought it would glow and grow, evolving into something completely new.”
Hector, who has been watching the process in detail and is still scrutinizing it now, spares his attention as he answers.
“Yes, with a powerful soul, the monster’s body will change and evolve to match it, though it’s very inefficient the other way around. The soul is incomparably harder to grow than the body, after all.”
“So, we just wait and let them grow?”
“Yes”
Then Hector turned toward my core with a serious face.
“Aiden, the thing you did with it, the bond, why did you do it?”
‘Why?’ The bond with Hector is strange. It feels like you have known them for a very long time, letting me know him as if a thousand conversations had been made. I knew I would have this connection until death, a connection I could never sever. It was pressuring but also comforting.
“It was family.”
I saw Hector’s confusion with my statement.
“‘Blood is thicker than water’ I never liked that phrase. I have seen blood-related families do awful things to each other, abusing their relationship, and people who despaired over how they will be forever connected, tied by blood in the name of family. I saw strangers show kindness and generosity to others, trust and companionship being born, and selfless sacrifices being made. None of it has to do with blood relations. Sometimes, it's family that hurts you the most.”
As I say this, he looks at me with concern, but it doesn't hurt. I’ve grown to be able to bear it, to be okay.
“But, I guess I also find comfort and support in it. The blood ties we have, I mean had. The bond, it was something to make it family. You are family, and I wanted that for them, for me too.”
I thought you didn’t need proof to be family, I still do now. I believe that trust, respect, and love are all there is for a relationship to work, but maybe something, this bond could make it more.
I listened to Hector’s remark as he finished contemplating what I said.
“A bond was never meant for this. Its purpose was to make the dungeon core feel and trust the companion in order to prevent hostile behavior and obedience to the guidance of companions. Even the links dungeon monsters have with dungeon floors are mere anchoring points to solidify their existence. I believe I now know why my name brought such changes. It had happened to those The System had granted powers for subjugating The Abyss. Dungeons should meet the threshold with their semi-god-like powers, but the dungeons who have lived long enough to gain full sentience and name their monsters weren’t like you. They never thought of them as family.”
I feel his concern and hesitance as they continue to say.
“This is unprecedented. I don’t know the repercussions it would have if you were to continue creating such bonds, but what I say won’t stop you. So, all I ask is to be careful. Too much soul imbued will overpower the other, possibly obliterating it. Also, minor consumption of the soul can be recovered, but once the exhaustion has reached a certain threshold, it will be irrecoverable, so keep that in mind and do it in moderation.”
It’s nice, feeling and knowing that someone cares for you, how they worry about your well-being, and how they trust you even though they aren’t sure they aren’t themselves.
“Yeah, thank you for trusting me, for caring and worrying about me.”
It fills me with glee as he smiles at that, but soon, that smile turns into a smirk as uneasiness fills me.
“So, family, huh? Is that what you thought about me? Like a son or perhaps a father? Perhaps you wanted something forbidden and sinful? What do you want me to call you, Daddy? Or you can call me Daddy anytime.”
“No! No! Just family, nothing sexual and nothing romantic, just platonic companionship kind of family. Why are you making it sexual?”
He starts looking at me with playful eyes as they bring up my dark past.
“Oh, well, I’m not the one who wrote fan-fic with cartoon characters or about werewolves with a father and son relationship or a messed up serial killer daddy-”
“AHHH! Okay! Okay! I got it, so can we please never speak of this again.”
“Hmm, we’ll see. If you are a good boy for Daddy.”
“Dammit!”
----------------------------------------
A few days passed, and during those times, I started scanning the floor, checking everything out, cleaning and patching up a few rough and unnatural areas. I wanted this place to feel natural, which is quite easy since the plants grow so fast and the time is accelerated.
I started assigning resource nodes for lumber, herbs, fruits, moss, and mushrooms, which are lucrative and popular, according to Hector. Some were the monsters that weren’t able to evolve as the mob limit was filled, blocking their evolution. While some of them were cross-reproduced with the plant monsters and basic flora I had planted to fill the terrain.
Also used the breeding ground function in the Pools of Birth perk. It was pretty interesting to see it in action before once a mob dies, another monster will evolve, filling the mob limit. But now, once a mob dies after some time, it disintegrates into mana, and with it, a seed is created and planted, which then grows into the exact same type of monster within a minute or so.
This not only sped up the process of mob generation but also allowed me to delegate the type and number of certain mobs on the floor instead of random ones taking their positions.
After that, it was figuring out the types of monsters I wanted, min-maxing out which type to keep and the amount. During the process, Hector noticed an anomaly and mentioned it. Monsters are restricted in their number of evolutions by the dungeon floor’s tier. Tier 1 is 1-10, tier 2 is 11-20, tier 3 is 21-30, and so on, mobs are only able to evolve the same amount as the tier they are in.
Elites get a small attribute bonus, Floor bosses get some attribute bonuses and get to evolve once more, and the boss monster gets a large attribute bonus and two more evolutions. Hector estimated it was due to the Pure Mana Crystal Origin trait increasing the monster's and floor's mana density.
After that, I started working on making quests, designing them, filling quest information, assigning rewards and penalties, setting conditions, and putting in multiple ways to solve them. It was fun, as it reminded me of the times when I was the DM.
Just then, I heard a voice.
“Father…?”
A voice that was not Hector’s, a voice not heard by Mana Sense, a voice that came through a bond. Immediately, I put all my attention on the once-been sapling.
The tree was massive. It had moved to the very center of the floor, towering over all the surrounding trees at 1.5 kilometers with a diameter of 2 kilometers. Its crown was enormous, covering 20 by 20 kilometers of space. Thankfully, its canopy didn’t block out the light. On the contrary, it enhanced it, making it better for the monsters below.
The leaves were like a one-way mirror. From above, they were crystalline, glowing in all sorts of hues of color, just like my core. Light would pass through them, enhancing them in the process.
From below, you could only see the fake sky, with some of the leaves bending the light and masking the branches. The only thing visible were all sorts of glowing fruits the tree was bearing, looking like stars in the sky.
You can imagine my astonishment watching it grow. I was terrified when all its leaves fell off, even though I knew it was fine. It felt weird watching it grow leaves similar to my core. It actually felt like a child I was having.
On the other hand, Hector was, and still is, dumbfounded over it. Something about that it has only evolved twice or even with a stronger soul the greater the evolution this is unbelievable, or him saying to me just what kind of monstrosity I have created.
I, for one, am not gonna let that stop me from being proud of my tree-child. Even now, the tree is doing wonders for fertilizing and enriching the soil and plants, with its roots covering twice as much.
Though I was worried since it was mainly growing its body and not its soul, it has actually been a few days since it stopped growing, but instead, it focused on strengthening its soul.
So, I was anticipating this would happen, but being pregnant is different from hugging and seeing your baby after it’s born, probably? I mean, I’ve never been pregnant, being a male and all. Anyway, back to my tree? child? precious something.
“Welcome to this world, dear.”
“...”
“It’s so wonderful to meet and talk to you.”
“Father…?”
“Yes, dear.”
“Father…”
As I keep projecting positive energy through our bond, I panic and call for SOS on my other bond with Hector.
“Hector! What should I do? Is there something wrong? Oh my gosh, did I do something wrong? Hector! No!! I cannot fuck up, not with this.”
“Aiden! It’s okay. Nothing is wrong, you did nothing wrong. So, why don’t you take a moment to relax as I explain? Would that be okay?”
I give a mental frenzied nod as I try to get myself together. When I hear Hector’s calm, steady, smooth voice tailored to my preference, I find it much easier to think things through.
“First, its soul is equivalent to a newborn; they probably only know the term for father, and you are theirs based on the knowledge they gained through merging your soul with theirs.”
At that, I sigh with relief.
“I just thought, I mean, since their physical body is so huge, I thought the soul and consciousness when it awakens would also be, you know?”
He gives me a comforting smile that makes me feel better.
“Yes, even I could not predict how such a small soul could support such a frame. Its extraordinary potential could be the reason, but I suspect there is more to it. Anyway, a tier 1 boss monster soul is limited to this stage, howe-”
I interject quickly as soon as I hear that.
“What!? You mean they will have a mind of a newborn forever!”
He gives me a dumbfounded look as he continues.
“As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted. Yours is an exception because, of course, you are. Because every dungeon somehow has a soul-bearing mob monster right at the beginning whose soul potential became overwhelming and somehow grew a gargantuan body.”
I can see the sarcasm dripping from his voice but in my defense.
“I thought it would be a limit or lock dungeons would have, not the limit of a dungeon's core ability.”
“I would have mentioned it if that was so. Anyway, your, um… child’s soul and mind will grow up just fine. It’s so weird that this is actually happening. I didn’t think it would know what a father is, much less recognize and accept you as one.”
“Hey, even though I know you mean something else, it still sounds like I’m a bad parent. What did you think would happen?”
Hector tries to get his words as he thinks and searches through his boundless knowledge but, in the end, fails.
“I don’t know, I could never know with you.”
“Hey, at least I’m not boring.”
He answers with a helpless sigh and a slight smile.
“I guess there is that. Now, you’ve stalled long enough. Haven’t you been tormented for some time thinking of a name?”
“Right, the name.”
I have been agonizing over a name since I knew of their being. I put all my attention back on them as I speak to them.
“Hello, dear.”
“Father…”
All of this before it didn’t feel real. Me, having a child, it was unthinkable. But as I heard them say, "Father," it hit me. This is real. There is a child, and I’m their father.
I thought about how I should name them and what their genders, preferences, and personalities would be. But, as I heard their genderless and dull voice, looking at their tree body, I went with the name my heart felt right.
“Evangeline Sylva Seraphim, that is your name, sweetheart. Thank you for coming to this world, Evangeline.”
I say with all my heart as half of my mana is drained, arriving and merging with her. Using that moment, I push a part of my soul through our bond, much bigger than the last.
Once it was finished, there was no physical change but a massive leap mentally as her soul became bigger, brighter, and denser. I heard a voice, but this time, it was energetic, with glee and excitement.
“Father! Name! Evangeline!”
“Yes, it's your name.”
“Happy! Thrilled! Have name is Evangeline. Father’s daughter! Is me!”
“Yes, Evangeline, you are my daughter, and I am your father.”
“Haha! Me feel father happy! Me make father happy! Me happy too!”
As I heard her voice, with emotions and life, it made me feel a joy I had never felt before.
“Yes, I’m happy you are here.”
Maybe this won’t be so bad, maybe I won’t regret this.