I mentally shrugged to myself. There was nothing I could about the situation so there was no sense in worrying myself unecessarily.

I considered what the notification had told me and what it might mean.

It appeared that I was a Dungeon. I couldn't take it seriously when unconsiously capitalising the word. OK, I was a dungeon. I had a vague memory of dungeons being dangerous places for people.

I didn't feel particularly dangerous. In fact, I felt decidedly small, weak and powerless. Abyss below, I didn't even know what I looked like, what my surroundings were...well...anything really.

I resolved to change that as soon as possible. I already knew that I had a strange new sense from when I ate whatever it was I ate, it must be some equivalent for sight maybe? The problem was that it wasn't very useful as it was short range and only really worked when I ate something.

I paused for a moment, struck by a thought. I wondered what would happen if I tried to open my 'eyes' now? Maybe whatever senses I had that passed for sight would automatically kick in?

I strained.

I tried to force my eyes open.

I concentrated on where they should be and imagined them opening.

Nothing.

I gave a frustrated sigh to myself

Maybe I was overthinking this whole thing. After all, one didn't try to open their eyes, they just did it.

I relaxed myself, took a metaphorical breath and looked around me.

It worked! I could see!

Kinda.

It was a strange sort of vision, overlayed with an azure tint. It seemed that I was looking out through a rounded bowl, but I rejoiced at being able to make out my surroundings.

I could make out a small glittering blue object lying on the ground in what appeared to be a deep hole, surrounded by towering granite walls. There was a small depression in the wall directly in front of the object.

The object was emitting a soft blue glow.

I realised with a jolt that the object had to be me and the depression had to have been caused by my 'eating' earlier.

OK.

I wasn't a complete idiot. I came to the conclusion that I must be a dungeon core. I also realised that I wasn't a usual type as I seemed to have been someone else before becoming one. This was borne out by my memory of the notification basically telling me that I had an unusual soul component. Probably why I remembered some stuff and had been so freaked out earlier.

I also thought that I was taking all this a lot more calmly than I probably should be doing and was proceeding on a much more logical and methodical basis. I wondered dispassionately if it was maybe because I was a cystalline entity and no longer flesh and blood.

Possibly, but there was no way to be sure just then so I simply filed it away in a corner of my mind to think about it later.

I considered what I knew about dungeons and their cores. There was precious little other than 'dangerous' and one could become wealthy if one discovered one.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

I took another look around me and decided that neither descriptor applied to me just at the moment.

Regardless, one thing I was sure of and knew for definite was that I was starving. I considered the depression in front of me and reached out to eat more.

Once again, that delightful light flowed into me. This time I could see the effect it was having on the wall. I gazed at it in fascination as I watched a small portion of it begin to sag slightly and then crumble into sand, expanding the slight depression by another small amount.

I wondered if I could eat anything else around me. I focussed on the ground and pushed out.

The taste that came flooding through me tasted almost 'gritty' with dark brown undertones. It, too, was delicious and was a lovely accompaniment to the previous flavour.

I moaned in satisfaction at the feeling of gorging on my surroundings and noticed that I could see more than before. I realised that this was because the glow I was emitting was increasing and I was getting brighter.

"You're a hungry little one, aren't you?" An amused voice reached me through my gluttony.

I answered without thinking, "It's just, so good."

"I'm sure. You need to be careful though little one, you don't want to feed too much lest you crack"

"Yeah, I'll be careful." I muttered in a slightly muffled voice, "Wait! You can hear me? Where are you?"

"If you could tear your attention from your meal for a moment and look up..."

Oh. Reluctanctly, I stopped my non-stop feasting and focussed my attention above me.

There was a slight humanoid figure fluttering above me on light, diaphanous wings. It appeared to be female, clad in a tight, figure hugging material that covered her chest and abdoment completely and a short, floating skirt that left her legs bare. She had almond shaped, vivid greed eyes, bright red hair and a mischievious grin on her pouty mouth.

"Hello, little one. I'm Sindra, your new Companion, if you'll have me?"

"Great! Erm, hi Sindra! I'm..erm...well, I don't have a name I don't think. Gosh, you're very pretty Sindra."

She blushed lightly, a becoming rose colour that accentuated her eyes enormously.

"Why, thank you little one, what a lovely compliment." She fluttered down to more closely examine the gem that was my body more closely, "You're a very beautiful Core, I must admit. There doesn't appear to be any blemishes or cracks that I can see, that's very unusual."

I was a bit embarrassed but pleased with the compliment. I thought that my crystal body was beautiful too but it was always nice to have someone agree.

"Thank you Sindra. So, I guess you are a Light affinity Companion?"

She looked startled for a moment before bursting into peals of silvery laughter.

"Ah, no, little one. I'm a succubus, dear. My Affinity is Darkness."

"Oh, right." I was surprised as she appeared so, well, wholesome and beautiful. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound shocked. You're just so, well, beautiful."

"Well," She drawled, "That's kind of the point sweetness. It always makes me wonder what people are thinking when they think that succubi would be all dark and scary...wouldn't really get very far it I was now, would I?"

From my admittedly limited experience, I had to concede that she had a point.

"Were you expecting a LIght Affinity Fairy then, dear?"

"Oh, don't you know? Apparently, I qualify for multiple Companions and I chose Dark, Light, Earth and Water Companions, but, I don't really know what that means."

She gazed at me thoughtfully through lowered eyeslids for a moment, clearly considering her response before answering.

"Well, that's...unusual. You appear to be a very special little Core, dear. So, we are expecting more arrivals soon then are we?"

"Well, I don't know when but I think so, yes. Could I ask you something first though?"

She appeared a little distracted but absently answered that I could.

"Could you not fight with the Light Affinity Companion when they arrive, please? The notification told me you might but I really would prefer it if you didn't."

Hey gaze sharpened. "The notification told you that, did it? Hmmm, there appears to be more mysteries associated with you than I first thought my dear." She seemed to make an abrupt decision. "Of course I won't fight with them, little one. We are all here for you are we not?"

I was so pleased, I almost missed the pinprick of red light in her pupils that had flared at her interest at the notification directly telling me something.

"I honestly don't really know what Companions are for. Could you help me?"

She laughed softly, "Of course you don't little one. Don't worry, that's one of our roles for you. We can give you information, help you make choices for your dungeon and make sure that you grow big and strong."

That was exactly what I wanted to hear. Of course it was then that the Light Companion joined us.

"You!" The voice was shrill and accusatory. "What are YOU doing here, fiend?"

Sindra rolled her eyes at the voice before turning and facing the small figure hurtling towards her with a look of anger on her scrunched up face.