The rainy season descended upon the world with significant force. Gods gambled with fate, and life went on. Gods of agriculture placed bets on crop growth and argued about bread, while others made bets on the casualty rates of floods. For them, it was just another day.

All the gods played their games save for a single girl at the back of those gathered. Petite from malnourishment, she was smaller than most, as she lacked anything of value to place on the table. With nothing to gamble with, the others had forgotten her. A god of geography, presiding over a mountain range she inherited from another. A mountain range of no value.

Hiding behind the boisterous gathering, the goddess Joulo could do nothing but itch as she could feel something deeply wrong. A subconscious itch burned inside her skull. She called out to the system, a being that would help her find and solve the problem.

Joulo knew the capabilities of the overseer of magic extremely well. The system was the only one to acknowledge her, answer her questions, and help with the problems she had. The others had forgotten, but not the system. It always knew. It would never forget her.

Upon being called, the eternally divided attention of the system immediately inspected Joulo’s palm. For other gods, this is where they kept their cards. The hand is where others kept their worth, tickets that proved they owned so much. For her though, the hand was simply her hand. Like all gods, her hand could touch reality, as that is what made them so grand; the only thing that made them more than just drunks with too much power.

As a goddess of geography, her hand represented the entire mountain range of her namesake. Anything that lived and grew in these mountains belonged to her. Yet her terrain was dead as the result of another’s actions. Nothing grew, nothing lived, and nothing could exist here. Its mana stifled and prevented growth.

“A new card has been formed in response to something growing within your domain. The experienced discomfort is the result of mana in your body.”

The tone of the system was perfectly measured and flat, but it had spoken words Joulo had never heard before. Tears and emotions alike bubbled and threatened to flow forth. She was the god of a dead land, nothing could grow. She wasn't supposed to have mana. Her thoughts raced, unable to process the implications of having mana. Before she could properly form a question, the system began for her.

“The reason is unknown. Further assistance may be provided at your request.”

Tears streamed down her pale face, once as ashen as stone peaks, but since drained of all color until her skin resembled snow caps. Joulo blinked the tears away in an attempt to control herself. She saw the card as it floated before her. A green background, a card of plant life. The large letters read ‘Arctic Moss.’ To most, a single patch of moss didn’t matter, but to a god that had starved for so long, it was everything.

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The itch Joulo felt only increased. Ever so slightly as the sun rose on the world and photosynthesis occurred. As long as the lichen grew, Joulo wouldn’t be hungry anymore. She wouldn't have to be alone anymore. A minor comfort, but to her it was everything.

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Miles away from the nearest settlement, a single plant grew. Once a land of barren dirt, now supported by the bacteria required for soil. Dark clouds filled the sky and hammered the world below in the rains of spring. Seasonal rivers formed, the soil became saturated, and the spores of dormant plants grew in the small pocket of mana.

Few leafy plants could survive the frigid temperatures of the north, but evolution had made something that could. Spores from a time before; a time when the mountain flourished with life. The moss was short, with prickly leaves in tight clusters to keep the heat in. Arctic moss grew without hesitation in the aura of a dungeon Core.

The Core was oblivious to the growth of the moss. It had found a new source of food. Food that came to the Core. Food that filled the chamber it had carved out. It discovered water.

Water was different from dirt. Dirt was easy to eat. Dirt disappeared when eaten. Water was different. It moved and bubbled as mana flowed from the Core. When eaten, more water flowed forth to take its place. It demanded to be eaten.

The Core consumed. It cast out its net time and time again as water became mana. Mana fueled larger nets capable of catching more. Water boiled, dissipated, and fed the stone. With each gain, an invisible precipice loomed ever closer. It took a week, but it achieved a milestone.

> Understanding Increased: Water

The system felt disturbed as an internal conflict resolved itself. The issue was that reason for the initial conflict was unknown. They resolved hundreds of conflicts each second and knew everyone. The deals of gods, the levels of mortals, and the death of every monster; each one perfectly cataloged by the system. Save for a single announcement. Something hid from the omnipresent system, and such an anomaly set it on edge.

Meanwhile, the Core continued to eat everything it could. Undisturbed, the feast continued; however, the capacity at which it feasted upon the world had changed.

Subtle enough, it didn’t notice the change. It failed to notice how quickly the water broke down to become the mana it feasted upon. It failed to realize it outpaced the rain, and the cavern began to drain.

The Core didn’t notice when it ran out of water.

It kept eating.

It kept eating even long after the rainy season ended, and the water receded to the warmer summer. It ate the soil that overflowed with microbes when it ran out of water. It ate until its understanding increased and continued to eat.

> Understanding Increased: Dirt

> Understanding Increased: Common Soil Microbes

Acknowledgments of achievements and levels of understanding gained flew out of the system. A system praised by all for its understanding of the world and how nothing ever escaped its notice. A system that was working extremely hard to make sure that remained true.

Unfortunately, it failed to discover the Core; the cause of its distress.