That evening Tamrin was relating her day in High Plantation to her parents as they waited in the sitting room for supper to be served.

“… and the state of service is just horrible today! Even in High Plantation, which is supposed to be our capital city. No wonder no-one important ever comes here – what an embarrassment. Father, you really need to go speak to that backwater serving establishment, it was just insulting.”

Tamrin finished relating her day in High Plantation to her parents, as they sat waiting for supper to be served. She fully expected her parents to jump in to add to her diatribe with “the servants today” or “you can’t find good help anymore”. But there was just an uncomfortable silence in the sitting room. Nonplussed her eyes flickered from Hariette to Benjamin.

Her mother’s face had gone white, and she was levelling a hard stare at Benjamin. Or rather at the book her father was quite determinedly reading, and had raised up directly in front of his face so neither Tamrin nor her mother could meet his eyes. Tamrin’s perception flickered. Something was wrong.

“Father? Don’t you agree?” she pressed. Her father’s intervention would resolve the ridiculous misunderstanding she encountered at the dining establishment. Suspended credit, of all things.

“Yes, Benjamin,” her mother added, still staring at her father. “Do you not agree with what Tamrin has just told you? Or maybe you can do us the favour of explaining to Tamrin on what account she endured such humiliations today.” There was an acerbic bite to Hariette’s words. Humiliations? Tamrin picked up on the word. Why would her mother call these events humiliations?

Her father gave a nervous cough. Then spoke. Kind of.

“I, ugh, orchids, water…” he said as he got up and briskly sidled out of the room.

“Orchids aren’t watered at night, you utter weakling!” Hariette shouted after him, as she got up. For a moment it looked like she intended to run him down and tackle him, but then she stopped herself with an rough shake of the head at the futility thereof. Instead, she commenced to pace the width of the sitting room with angry confined steps under her voluminous skirts and with a steely forwards stare.

What was happening? An unfamiliar anxiety unfurled from the midst of Tamrin’s chest. It was a different fear from what she had so often experienced on her adventuring forays with Layne. In adventuring you frequently felt fear. That fear was immediate, in-your-face, and as you confronted what was before you, it would shrink to nothingness in the face of your resolve. This anxiety, this was different. It rose from a primal place. Insidious. She could feel it spreading from her very centre, hooking its little tentacles all through her chest.

She faced it like she faced all adversity in her life. The only way she knew how. Head-on.

“Mother,” she spoke. “What is going on?”

Her mother kept pacing, giving no sign of having heard her.

“Mother,” Tamrin tried again. “Please speak to me. What is happening?”

Still no reply. Tamrin fell silent too, as she employed all the patience she had learned from the occasions she and Layne had stalked their prey through dungeon landscapes.

Finally, her mother stopped walking and looked at her.

“Tamrin,” she said. “What I have to tell you is no easy thing. In fact, it is not something I ever thought I would face when I married your father.”

Hariette paused, seemingly gathering her thoughts as she started moving again. This time the pace was slower, more momentous, her tread heavy as if weighed down by the words.

“You have to know, even back then your father was meek. I found it endearing. I thought my future family family would be so lucky to benefit from the presence of a gentle man. And if I were ever annoyed by it, I soothed myself with the knowledge that with the riches of his family, the inheritance he would receive, we would never want for anything. I was wrong. It turned out that what I took for meekness, was weak-willed indolence in disguise.”

Hariette sighed, shaking her head. “And here I am, your mother, trying to explain my mistake to you. The reason why we are in this situation. What does it matter how we got here? Here we are, and I have no other recourse but to state the ugly truth. We are out of money. We are, in fact, significantly indebted.”

The anxious threads woven through Tamrin’s chest, turned to ice. But, but they were wealthy! How could this be? How was it possible to be both rich and deeply indebted at the same time? Were they in fact … poor?

<>

As Mistress Cornelia finished her last preparations for the commencement of her lecture, Lily walked up to Widow Hari on the side of the clearing.

“I brought Mistress Cornelia, and it was not easy,” she said.

“No, likely not. I am quite impressed that you arrived here in time at all.”

“Thank you,” Lily accepted the praise. “I completed the mission. Do I get a reward now?”

“Oh, dear child, did Agnetha not tell you how to access your rewards?” Widow Hari tutted. “Access your main screen, and you will see the rewards the Gods have provided for you.”

As Lily accessed her screen, the reward message popped up.

“Oh,” she said. “Why doesn’t it simply show up like all the other notifications?”

“It’s a setting,” Agnetha replied, walking up to the two of them in time to hear the last snippet of their conversation. In Lily’s view, a notification to that effect popped up.

Instant quest completion notifications are currently inactive, as no preference has been indicated.

Do you wish to activate them for in-time notification?

[Yes] [No]

“Oh, I see,” Lily responded as she selected [Yes]. How weird. Why would some notifications pop up all the time, and others she had to set preferences for? Sometimes the System could be very mysterious.

As that notification greyed out, her quest completions became foregrounded.

Quest complete: Help Little Harry!

With your assistance, Little Harry has been set on his life mission’s path! For helping another, you shall be helped too. You are awarded one random blessing from the Gods.

Update: One random blessing from the Gods received

- A boon to ease your journey and help you complete your mission

“What?” Lily asked. “When did I complete that?”

“Complete what?” Agnetha asked.

“When I was blessed,” Lily explained, “I got a mission to help Little Harry. It says that mission is completed.”

“What?” Widow Hari interjected, her eyes as round as saucers. “You had a blessed mission to help Little Harry? And it is completed? Praise the Gods! What did you do?!”

“I don’t know,” Lily shrugged. “I guess we have to ask Little Harry.” They all looked around for Little Harry. He was not there.

“I’ll go find him,” Widow Hari said and bustled off.

Agnetha shrugged. “What did you receive for fetching Mistress Cornelia?” she asked.

Lily looked.

Quest complete: Bring Mistress Cornelia to village meeting

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Blessed Lily, you have answered the Gods call and brought Mistress Cornelia to the village meeting. For this service, you are awarded +3 to a qualifying skill of your choice.

Note: The skill of your choice must correspond to a master-tier skill within Mistress Cornelia’s skill set.

Note: For a mind-based skill, an extra +2 will be awarded if you complete your allocation within the territory of a mind-based dungeon.

Qualifying skills:

Identify

Observation

Which do you choose?

Lily read the second notification to Agnetha, who raised her eyebrows.

“That is a powerful reward,” Agnetha said. “You are already reaping the benefits of Widow Hari’s presence. And it seems having the mission involve Mistress Cornelia was quite beneficial too.”

“Mistress Cornelia must be very powerful,” Lily observed. “I mean, to have master-tier skills, your level must be extremely advanced.”

“Between 21 and 25 of your primary class, to be exact,” Agnetha stated.

“Wow,” Lily said. “What are the other tiers?”

“Levels one to level five are novice-tiered skills, levels six to ten are apprentice tier, 11 to 15 adept, 16 to 20 expert, 21 to 25 master, and finally 26 to 30 ultimate. Higher tier skills than 30 have never been recorded. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s never been achieved, but this stretches beyond our current knowledge.”

“Wow,” Lily said again.

“Well? Which skill will you choose to level?” Agnetha continued.

“I don’t know,” Lily said. “I’m only first tier in both of those, with Identify at five and Observation at 15. What do you suggest?” she asked her mentor.

“Hmm,” Agnetha hummed as she considered. “A few more levels of Identify would not be amiss, but with every tier increase you gain a substantial benefit. Observation is getting close to crossing that mark.”

“Yes,” Lily nodded. “Now, if only I could find a mind-based dungeon for that extra push.”

“Oh, I would not look too far,” Agnetha responded with a twinkle in her aged eyes.

“What? You don’t mean…”

“If this is the dungeon we think it may be, I would not be surprised,” Agnetha responded. “Now, go ahead, make your choice.”

Lily concentrated and chose.

You have chosen Observation.

Skill increase reward

Observation +3

For claiming your reward within the territory of a hybrid dungeon of which Mind is a characteristic, you receive the following additional reward:

Observation +2

Observation has reached the maximum level of 20/20.

New skill unlocked: Understanding 0/50

“Wow,” Lily said for the third time that night, as Mistress Cornelia started talking from her makeshift podium on the twisted tree in the middle of the clearing.

<>

These are the words as spoken by Mistress Cornelia at the village meeting.

Good evening all, and thank you for extending me this invitation to speak to you tonight. You have requested to gain a more specialised Knowledge of anomalous cores, and I comply.

To start our conversation, we need to talk about the System and the role of cores within that context. So, what is the System?

As we all know, the system is the ingrained matrix on which our very existence is based. Through it we can keep track of our own development, and it provides guidance and opportunities for growth through the skills we develop over our individual lifetimes. We can opt to specialise in certain directions, which will lead to the development of specialised classes, or we can take a more general approach which allows us a broad variety of skills, enabling those individuals to fill a more extensive, supportive role.

Within this framework, we know that dungeon cores provide classed individuals varied, and sometimes quite unusual, opportunities to hone their skills. Classed individuals may pursue this development by entering a dungeon core’s territory and putting their skills to the test within the dungeon itself.

Using these two common pieces of knowledge to ground ourselves, we can continue to state that the system exhibits a predetermined hierarchy and follows certain predefined rules. Set by whom? We don’t know for sure, but this power is often associated with the Gods.

Now, within this structure, there is the assumption that dungeon cores are subject to the same kind of framework and developmental occurrences that the system supplies for us. Following the “system for dungeon cores” as it has been determined through a generally inductive method through millennia of observation; we have general expectations and indeed explanations of and for how dungeons will develop and act.

So, what happens when a core behaves contrary to our understanding of its inferred system-defined rules? These instances are representative of a kind of core that we have classed as “anomalous”, meaning that they act contrary to our expectations of normal and explainable core behaviours.

This brings me to the main topic of my talk tonight. When a community encounters a core that they understand to be anomalous, there are usually three questions. These are:

1. Why would this deviation occur?

2. How will this deviation affect us, since we are in close proximity to it?

3. What action should we, as a community, take in response?

The answers to these three questions are critical in crafting a suitable response to a suspected anomalous core.

Let me start with the first question. The questions of how and why these deviations occur. And to be very blunt, we don’t know. However, there are two main theories that have emerged on this topic. The first theory holds simply that these cores are malfunctioning for whatever reason. The second theory holds that these cores are tools of divine intervention. This particular theory once again connects our understanding with the assumption of a higher power, presumably that of the Gods. It is, however, impossible to prove or disprove either of these theories with the current evidence at our disposal.

Individuals living close to such a core will invariably formulate a personal belief on the subject, usually following either of these theories. But these formulations differ from person to person and one, unified, conclusion is seldom reached. I, therefore, recommend that this question be set aside.

Question two is the question of how the community will be affected by such a core. Cores such as these have often been found to be hazardous to the surrounding environs. And herein we also find the reason for the deep mistrust that is often held against these cores. It is further a cause of the bias held by many reporting historians over the ages. As a result of this bias, too often only the most calamitous actions and effects are recorded and passed on to our knowledge base.

There is a reason for that, seeing that we are all humans biased towards self-preservation. As such it serves us to emphasise the dangers foremost. But too often reporting on the other side is neglected. We are all very aware of the dangers as illustrated by the Pestilent Core in the Year of the Mists, as well as the more recent Core of Ash, but how often do we hear of the deeds of the Saviour Core and indeed the Core of Plenty?

Which brings me to the third question. Who here tonight has heard of either the Saviour Core or the Core of Plenty? None? I thought so. These two cores both brought periods of undreamt riches to their communities. When the country of the Saviour Core was infected by the Bile of Death, it was this core who bestowed on them the solution. Thousands were saved, through the cure the Saviour Core provided. And when the Core of Ash rose to its terrible power and burnt away all livestock and crops for hundreds of miles, who overcame its power? Who fed the people of its country? Adventurers? No. They were no match. It was the Core of Plenty who defeated the Core of Ash, and then provided for the people until they could once again provide for themselves.

So yes, some might argue for the proactive extinction of any suspected anomalous core, reasoning that the dangers by far outweigh the possible benefits. But, by pursuing such a course of action, you risk prematurely extinguishing a core like the Saviour Core. A core that could raise its community for a thousand years to come.

It is my understanding that your village community is faced with a decision such as this. I hope that my talk has provided enough information with which to inform you. I thank you. And I am here to address any questions.

<>

“Do you think I did all right?” Mistress Cornelia whispered nervously to Lily as she got down from her podium tree. “Normally it would take me days to prepare a speech such as this. And there is so much detail I left out! So much more information I could have given!”

“You did fine,” Lily soothed, eyeing her own notifications.

For listening to a speech personally delivered by a master scholar, you gain access to the following specialised skill:

Knowledge

For actively following the speech personally delivered by a master scholar, you receive the following reward:

Knowledge +3

For adding Knowledge to a skill set already containing the second-tier skill Understanding, you receive the following reward:

Understanding +1

<>

“An anomalous core. The villagers know about an anomalous core. There is an anomalous core here,” Layne said in disbelief. Could it be the same one, the one that was taken? he wondered.

“Yes, there is,” the girl who fetched him replied. When did she come to sit down beside him? Layne did not know. She seemed oddly adult for her small frame. Briefly, he wondered where her parents were. Then his mind churned back to what he had learned about anomalous cores.

"They're not all bad. There are good ones too," Layne said in wonder.

The girl nodded sagely at him.

<>

“He’s gone! I can’t find him anywhere!” Widow Hari screamed as she ran into the clearing.

“What?” Lily said. “But Bastian said he would only start from tomorrow!”

“What?” Agnetha said.

“Oh no,” Claire breathed down in her core chamber.

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