I was curled up into a ball of tension, my claws clacking nervously in tune with my mandibles as I stared at the conjured imagery being displayed upon the smooth stone walls. In it were a party of scrappy, young adventurers, doing battle with a dangerous looking beast of dubious origin. The creature had the advantage of flight, and was currently running circles around the party on leathery wings.

It was a thing that resembled a hybrid of man and bat, with a prehensile scorpion tail added in for good measure. Big claws, huge fangs, looked absolutely 'foaming-from-the-mouth' rabid so whoever these adventurers were, they'd better watch out for bites.

The beefy warrior was sweating so much it looked like there was a drizzle beneath all that armor. His eyes were firmly trained on the beast, his body moving to keep his shield facing it and his back towards the rest of the party. He wielded an arming sword, so fat chance of scoring any hits this fight.

Yet despite this, I could not bring myself to enjoy the spectacle, because of the three other adventurers staying safely behind the warrior. The beast began drawing in deep breaths, its chest arching outwards and lungs visibly expanding.

Disgusting gill-like slits revealed themselves as the beast's chest deflated rapidly, spewing trails of thick, black fog as the beast flew closer to the party, attempting to blanket the area in the stuff. I audibly groaned and claw palmed. My advice has been thoroughly wasted, and so has my time.

"Ha! See? I told you. Didn't I tell you? This place is corrupt!" Shouted a short girl with an oversized hat and a gnarly wooden staff. On her coat and hat was a stylized image of a rising sun, the insignia of the Morning Star, a prominent religious organization that prided itself on the detection and eradication of the unholy.

She held out her staff and began muttering under her breath, probably making a prayer of some sort. Beneath her feet, little motes of light drifted upwards, as if dancing in the wind. The motes gathered around the party members, fluttering around each member like moths circling lamplight, burning away the descending fog.

She was flanked by two others. On her left was a woman of elvish heritage, judging by the ears and stature. On her right was the very picture of a stereotypical young hero. Tall, handsome, and with well-proportioned muscles unlike the meathead in front of them. He had a greatsword slung across his broad shoulders.

They held back earlier in the fight, warding off an attack or two, perhaps waiting for the girl with the staff to make her assessment. And now that she had, they sprung into action.

The elvish woman removed her cloak, revealing a large ornate bow with no strings or arrows. As she took aim, a familiar burst of energy was emitted from a pendant on her neck, and a string of pure wind was formed on the bow.

A verdant green hummingbird materialized by her side, snuggling up next to her. She gave it a smile before drawing the bow and rapidly releasing bolts of sharp winds at the flying monster. Perhaps sensing my gaze, the hummingbird turned and looked right into my eyes, through the imagery.

It. Smirked. At me. And stuck out its tongue. I got a message right after.

Looks like another score for Team Mitchell! GO TEAM MITCHELL!

Ugh. I let out another groan and rolled my eye stalks.

They don't even know your name, Mitch. Besides, doesn't your contractor call you her 'Precious Little Sugar Plum'?

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Hah! You're just jealous I got a hot blonde elf and you're stuck with a rock!

Damn him. He was right but damn him anyway. Our chat was interrupted when the Elf raised her hand, signalling Mitch to do his thing.

The hummingbird disappeared and reappeared in the middle of the party, puffing up and letting loose a loud and annoying chirp. Soft green energy flowed from his tiny body, forming into little whirlwinds the size of a palm. Multiple whirlwinds rapidly rushed towards the party members and struck them, promptly disappearing.

The Wind At Our Backs

It looked totally wimpy, but the faces of the party grew brighter with each strike, and I knew this battle was basically over.

The locals call it the elemental blessing, and every elemental spirit has a different version of it. It can be nurtured and developed over time and it's the whole reason a lot of people summon us in the first place. They even have tier lists in their guilds and big fights over the rankings. I guess meta builds exist here too.

Mitch just increased the movement and attack speed of the entire party, and probably imbued their weapons with wind magic too. Mitch basically used his ult. The bastard.

Mr. classic hero guy leapt into the air after getting the buff, grabbed the beast and suplexed it into the dirt. Fight ended real quick after that, and the party let out a cheer before merrily carving up the body for loot, they then proceeded to flip the entire room over for any extra scraps of extra loot they could find.

At this point I waved away the imagery, bringing the room back into its original darkness. A foreign sense of urgency flooded me through the link of my pact, mixed in with fear and anger in equal measure. I turned to look at the source.

Beside me was a large, at least compared to me, glowing red crystal structure that jutted out of the ground like a stalagmite. Within the glowing crystal, I could make out the silhouette of an inhuman beating heart. This is my boss, or soon to be ex-boss. A dungeon core.

The adventurers we were watching had just disposed of the final guardian of this core, and they were delving deeper. Soon, they would reach us, and they would destroy the core because that little girl, whom I assume to be a priestess or priestess in training, had determined the core to be corrupt. And why? Because I couldn't steer the core away from using dark magic.

I let out a sigh and crawled up beside the core, placing my claws on it and sending soothing emotions down our mental link. It was the least I could do, after all, I couldn't blame it. The soul of the core had once been a beast, much to my chagrin, I didn't know exactly what kind of beast it was in life, but all it did was follow it's instincts.

That's the thing with these dungeon contracts, you never know what you're gonna get. If you're lucky, its gonna be another displaced human soul, or some other intelligent race who got mixed up in the reincarnation process. Other times, you end up like me, getting stuck with a boss that I could only communicate with through vague emotional charades.

But still, I felt for the thing. As an elemental spirit, I'll just respawn in the elemental realm, I get to relax and take a vacation before taking up another contract. But the core... I don't know what happens to cores that get destroyed. In any case, I put my claws together in prayer for the soul trapped inside the core, hoping the gods would show mercy to this poor beast.

Boom

The heavy stone doors that barred entry to the core room was broken down. And it its place stood warrior beefcake and Mr. hero. Behind them, the short priestess rushed into the room and pointed her staff, illuminating the darkness and shedding light on the core.

I hid behind the core as gasps were heard, the full form of the core came into view. "As expected, look at the colors, red as blood. And what is this sludge flowing down from it? It smells awful." the priestess complained while pinching her nose.

"I've seen this before. See those organs floating around inside? And look, bone fragments are starting to form. We're lucky to have discovered this early." the elvish woman pointed out, peering deeper into the crystal.

"What chu mean?" asked the warrior, he eyed the core uneasily, hand gripped firmly on the pommel of his weapon.

"The heart of this labyrinth was attempting to create a physical form. One of flesh and blood that could roam freely." the elf answered in a worried tone. "If that happens, we'd have an outbreak on our hands, as the monsters of the labyrinth would no longer be confined, able to follow their master and break free towards the surface."

A short silence followed, before Mr. hero spoke up. "Alright then, let's end it here." He strode up to the core and took stance, hefting the greatsword in preparation of the finishing blow. The panic I felt through the mental link was deep and mournful, this was it, the core knew its end was near. And to hell with it, I ain't going down like this.

Energy gathered around and within me as I activated my blessing for the first time since my contract.

Descent of a Deity

My wispy, translucent body solidified as I made my way fully into the physical realm. I snapped my pincers, basking in the sensation of glorious muscle and shell once more. I gave the core a reassuring tap, my final farewell. And I stepped out from behind the crystal.

The adventurers stared down dumbly at me as I approached them. Haha, stunned by my beautiful form are you? Good! Have at thee! I scuttled with all my might towards Mr. hero man. Stopping by his feet and pinching him in the ankle with all my might. The expected carnage of a sliced off ankle was, unfortunately, not how it played out.

I watched as Mr. hero calmly lifted his other foot, and brought it down on me.

There was a flash of pain, and a sickening crunch. The last thing I saw was Mitch fluttering frantically above me, trying to peck at Mr. hero, and the hot elf lady trying to calm him down.

Damn that sucked.