"Whoa." We said again. "This is, so trippy. I feel a different kind of Magic inside of me. I feel so, connected. With you."

"I know right?" We answered. "Bet you [Over-Mind] isn't anything like it."

We looked down on our fingers and saw masculine and feminine ones. We looked into each other's eyes and our gaze went downwards and upwards at the same time. We took a step forwards and then a step backwards. Marveling at how our perceptions shifted.

"Or is it familiar to you?"

"I think this the weirdest thing I have ever experienced." We said.

"Is it now?" We asked. "How does it compare to when you were connected to the Dungeon floors? Or to your units?"

"That was different." We answered. "Back then we... I, was connected to the walls and the floor and the ceiling and all my units, but there was space between us. There was a point where I ended and they began. Like, I was a central command post in the shape of a person and they were a bunch of drones I could make and then command. I could tell when they were feeling pain and I could tell they suffered as they died, but they did not have a sense of self. Nor a sense of self-preservation. Whereas Pool-Cecil still looked out for himself. I felt a backlash, but I did not directly feel the pain. This is... I feel everything you feel. I can't tell where I end and you begin. Like there is no I or you. But only us."

"That is a very apt way to put it." We chuckled. "Why don't we try to bring up a few units from the soil before we get to the 12th?"

"So we can see how the connectivity affects them." We nodded. "And so we can try to experiment a bit more with [Dungeoneer]. We know the connection will improve our Magic. We know it will improve the effects of our Skills. We feel the extra Magic flowing through from the other body. The level 3 body."

We clenched our hands into fists.

"It feels intoxicating."

"I thought it might." We tittered. Reveling in the reaction. "Well? What are we waiting for?"

We nodded and sent Magic to the Skills.

Activating [Spawn] and [Terraform] and [Over-Mind] and [Dungeoneer] all at once and reveling in the euphoria that followed. The rush was nothing like before and the components that made up our new form grew in number. We could feel the breaths of the new Saboteurs and the Swarm Harpies. We could feel the saliva within the mouths of the Swarmlings and the beating hearts of the Cannonlings. We could feel everything so much more clearly. We could feel the rush of unprecedented power.

"Forward." We spoke at once. Though in truth, it was unnecessary. We did not need to give commands because there was nothing outside of us. Of course we knew that we had to advance. What else would we do?

Shots rang out in short order. Our mind reeling with the feeling of propulsion as Burrower Roaches found their targets. Each Roach was much stronger, due to the influx of high-level Magic. Even to the point where they could [Transform] their victims from the inside out as the Saboteur's Parasitic Worms were known to do. Turning organs into slurry while insectile legs and mandibles kept squirming and gnawing at the tender flesh. Each Roach now lived a few seconds longer too, which made the agony of their targets that much more profound.

"We've been talking to dad about that Skill." We said casually. "It most definitely isn't the usual [Transform] that we're used to here in town. We might as well take this chance to explore more of what it can do so that dad and grandpa James can come up with a name."

"Sounds good." We answered back. The male body shivering from the feedback of all those sensations. All those raw impressions coming through from the flesh and the living dirt beneath our feet.

"I have an idea." We spoke up after a few minutes.

"I know. You want us to use [Seeker-Mind] again. You feel as though we'll be able to control it better."

"And why not?" We asked. "We are much stronger and much more focused. Not just two minds now, but dozens and dozens. Pool-Cecil is strong and smart and scary, but Pool-Cecil is alone. In fact, why don't we get ourselves some more insurance by creating some Masterminds? Really growing some brains to outclass whatever Pool-Cecil might be able to do?"

"Excellent idea." We said. Already on it.

We felt the change at once.

Pool-Cecil had been connected to the Masterminds and he had benefited from the additional processing power when he needed to alter his tactics and battle plans on the fly. But he had never been able o exploit their own tactical acumen. Instead relying on them as relays. He'd needed to grow more and more brain-matter within himself to keep up with the demands of being the sole true voice of the horde.

We had no such issue.

We flooded the Masterminds with Magic and they in turn flooded us and all the other parts of us with ideas and enlightenment.

"It's about time we grew a Spawning Pool." We said. "The monster bodies are piling up and I'm not feeling any kind of advancement from the battle. We could use the improved digestion if we want to make the most of these fights."

"No." We argued with sudden understanding.

"Right." We agreed. "These ones are not worth the effort. Let's keep going."

And so we descended. Half a hundred bodies growing to a solid hundred and from there to two and three hundred. We moved as one. Each new creature as another limb, rather than an individual unit. It meant we felt their pain more acutely, but it also meant each one enhanced our understanding of our own Cores. Our own Magics.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

"So this is [Blended Consciousness]." We said in awe. "It is incredible."

"It is." We allowed. Then we knew what the feminine body could do and we felt the astonishment.

"We can share Skills." We said as the other body began creating their own units.

"Of course we can." We answered with smug satisfaction. " We are one, after all."

Then we started recalling some of Pool-Cecil's memories. Those relating to the time the children attempted to overtake the defenses on the upper floors and the time they were beaten back by the units Pool-Cecil had commanded.

"You were holding back." We stated. Not doubting the truth of it for a moment.

"Of course we were." We chuckled. "It would have been too easy to break through otherwise. How else were the others going to learn their lesson about slacking off if they simply broke through your lines? Why on earth would we waste that kind of golden opportunity?"

"You are surprisingly cruel."

"Fancy talk coming from you." We tittered. Our grin spreading across our faces. "But enough of that. It's been an entire floor already and we see that we have a pretty good handle on things. We don't we bring Pool Cecil out to play?"

We did so.

'Finally! Let's take over this Dungeon as well and begin our conq...'

Pool Cecil let out a noise. Not dissimilar to the kind of sounds a strangled chicken might make.

'STOP!' The strange screeched.

"No." We rebutted. "You will join us."

Pool Cecil tried to fight back. From within all our bodies now.

But he was alone and we were many. He was level 2 and we were a slightly weakened level 3. The smaller body flooding us with potent Magic. Feeding more of it into the collective. At the same, the other bodies we had [Spawned] piled on. Our thoughts hammering down on the influence and holding down the more undesirable parts.

We succeeded and we gained the proficiency that [Seeker-Mind] brought along.

The process of [Spawning] units was enhanced and streamlined. As was the process of using [Over-Mind] to coordinate with all the units we had created from the soil. The odd mixtures of plant-matter and flesh moving with flawless efficiency. Each and every eye instantly informing the collective of all that it saw and each and every brain working in tandem to formulate an appropriate response.

"This is too easy." We said. With some amount of frustration. "We are so much stronger than we were back at the other Dungeon. We could get so much more done."

"Be patient." We reminded ourselves. "This body is still getting used to your Skills. Try using mine if you really want to try something new."

We did so.

Even better, all of our units started doing so as well.

Each Saboteur and Harpy adding psychic blasts to their usual repertoire. Each Venomling stunning its target before the scything claws made contact. Each Sniperling reading their target's mind and knowing exactly where they would move before the muscles carried out the motion.

Yet the most notable change came from the Masterminds.

They knew, so much. All I had to do was insert a small stream of Magic and they would catch glimpses. Disjointed glimpses that were halfway there to being maddening visions, but the added brain matter allowed us to sort through some of them all the same.

"We can see the future." We asserted.

"Snippets here and there." We corrected. "And it isn't necessarily the future. Some of it is in the past. Most of it is in the present. Think of it more like a glitchy search engine, rather than some kind of true precognition. It gets more accurate the more I level and it lets me see all sorts of juicy tidbits."

"We could use this to cheat on tests." I accused.

"We could. But there is no reason for us to do so. We learn regular things much faster than the others and we cannot forget anything because of the [Perfect Memory] Skill. Cheating would be the height of pettiness."

"Great-grandpa Carlyle was going on and on about how smart we were when they first offered us up." We pointed out. "The bragging rings a bit hollow."

"Does it? Why? We study. You've seen our memories. You've seen we study a lot of different things and we put in the effort. Why wouldn't we take pride in what we've been able to accomplish?"

We waved the concerns away.

"Besides, it isn't anything too impressive. Regular humans will be able to do it sooner rather than later. I hear a lot of people are working on implanted chips."

We shuddered.

"That sounds like a load of dystopian nonsense. The kind that ends with the lower classes getting mind-controlled."

"Perhaps." We allowed. "Or perhaps the new technology merely changes what it's like to be an individual. To be human. We are not you or I right now, after all. We are we. Do we feel any less real or free to you?"

"No." We conceded. "We are we."

"And do we finally see that our feelings are genuine?"

We huffed.

"We see that we are not exactly in love. More like infatuated and lustful." We paused. "And ambitious."

We faced each other.

"You want to use us."

"True."

"You want to get us to help you with your ambitions."

"True again."

"We were of the opinion that love was selfless."

We scoffed.

"Well that's a load of nonsense. Love can be selfless and selflessness is important, but people seek each other out for selfish reasons all the time. Case in point, I've had lots of boys confess to us, but we've hardly given anyone the time of day. Why would we go out with someone who didn't take their own training or their own advancement seriously? Why would we go out with someone who lacked ambition?"

"We sound like a supervillain."

We made a rude noise with our lips.

"That's also a load of nonsense. Look up dating stats and you'll see that people tend to date within their social class time and time again. People with degrees tend to date other people with degrees and people with lots of inherited wealth tend to date other people with lots of inherited wealth. People that work hard tend to like and date other people that work hard and people who are lazy tend to date people who are lazy. That's not to say people don't date outside those norms, but the vast majority keep to those norms."

"There's also the thing out us fixating on our body." We insisted.

We rolled our eyes.

"People choose who to date based on appearances all the time. That is literally the first thing people are affected by. You can cry about beauty being on the inside all you want, but being good looking is inherently preferred. No matter what the poets say."

We shook our heads.

"But we can talk about that some other time. The point is that the feelings are there. Now we need to ask if we are willing to give it a shot."

We were still hesitant.

"Understandable." We nodded. "Just because the feelings are there doesn't mean they will be reciprocated. That and it's no secret that we also want to use you for our own ambitions."

"That still seems messed up."

"We can appreciate that."

We clapped.

"So how about this. We'll keep on training for today, but we will also do some things differently from now on."

"You want us to get even closer." We stated.

"We do want that. Let's both lower the last of our defenses and become one for real. No more secrets. No more individuality for another three or four hours. We will fall into each other and release our deepest, darkest secrets." We explained.

"This body can go first, if you like. A sign of good faith."

We approached ourselves.

"We want to show that we can be supportive. Truly supportive. In a way that is normally impossible for humans. We can take all the emotions and all the baggage and still be there for each other."

We stretched out a hand.

"Or... we could stop it all right now. We won't force it. It's up to us."

We hesitated again. Wondering just how much closer we could really be.

"It will get easier." We continued. "We won't have to shoulder all the stress and keep it inside. It will feel amazing. Just trust us for a moment and it will change your life even more."

We thought about it. About how the fear and the guilt had receded. About how supported and understood we already felt.

We decided that we might as well try it. Since we were right about the benefits so far.

We clasped hands again, and grew even closer.