I believe it would be fair to say that, since I began being a Dungeon Core, I have witnessed my fair share of "weird." First, there was the concept of me being a dungeon core itself; then, there was the authority which brought about plenty of "weird" into my life. So for me to say that this is weird was really saying that it was very weird. It was as weird as what Dungeon Master 08 pulled the other day. Well, to me, it feels like it was the other day, but I am aware that it was a few hundred years ago. Even if it felt like it were a hundred, if not a thousand years ago, I would still think it is the weirdest thing I was given the chance to witness.
What Dungeon Master 07 recounted was on that level. After Dungeon Master 08, now it's Dungeon Master 18's turn to creep me out. What's wrong with you guys? Did being reincarnated as females in Fiendfell change you all that much? Because you've changed. Being still myself, I can't see how I would become like you two.
After I asked Dungeon Master 07 and everyone what happened, as I had the feeling that something indeed happened, he began albeit somewhat hesitantly to recount everything that happened. From how Dungeon Master 18 went missing for three years straight without anyone noticing, and how, as they finally noticed it, Dungeon Master 07 had Dungeon Master 02 and 20 to find Dungeon Master 18. Incidentally, they initiated a first contact which brought about a confrontation, leading them to come to the logical but disturbing conjecture that the child was Dungeon Master 18's. Clearly, the little Verdenkind had inherited most, if not all, of Dungeon Master 18's traits.
Some more happened, but in the end, everything Dungeon Master 02 and Dungeon Master 20's mission led to was them finding Dungeon Master 18 missing, seemingly leaving the boy alone in the state they found them in—a strange state that allows him to apparently shift between him, the kid, and him, Dungeon Master 18. Needless to say, that was very similar to something I'd seen before. It was similar to the Ethereal Echo authority, which allows its wielder to produce copies of the wielder's soul. The wielder can have it temporarily replace the original at its pace and leisure.
However, as similar as it was, the similarities came to a halt when you remember the fact that this was not a case of soul splitting. In the boy, there were two different souls, and the interface itself seemed to have acknowledged it as such. In him, there was the boy and Dungeon Master 18.
Through the consistent reporting back to me and his meticulous explanations of ongoing and future developments, it was evident that Dungeon Master 07 had assumed a leadership role among the other Dungeon Master. Having experienced it myself, I knew from the beginning that the other Dungeon Masters would show reluctance to readily accept an “authority figure”, be it me or any other Dungeon Master, for it to actually as it did, it means that Dungeon Master 07 had successfully established himself worthy in their eyes. However, this particular incident undeniably cast a shadow on the carefully crafted image of reliability he had established.
Despite his attempts to conceal it, the discomfort in recounting the events was palpable, reflecting a concern that perhaps what happened would be perceived as a lapse in judgment on his part. Therefore, although he desired to expose everything of the matter himself, he nonetheless, not without annoyance, deferred the remaining explanation to our problematic Dungeon Master, allowing him to explain himself.
As my attention shifted over to our problematic Dungeon Master, no, not Dungeon Master 20, though he was still, even after what happened, still more problematic than anyone else, but Dungeon Master 18, who now donned the appearance of a little boy—little, that is, apparently her child. Naturally, with all of this, I was very tempted to ask how. I know, I know... but come on. I had to know. I mean... there had to be "that" process involved. It's not like she just spawned a kid like I would spawn Specter reaver. I wanted to know.
But finding no way to actually ask that question without making the room awfully awkward, I chose, much to the expense of my curiosity, to ask instead something else which I deemed far more important than how.
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Echo-13: Why?
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***
Staring at the Sentient Echo that manifested its existence as a large, human-sized myriad-irised eye, suspended in a void of swirling darkness, I heard not from a voice but instead as an emotionless instruction that went straight to my brain, "why?" It was a question that was not one that came from none other than the entity being the millennial-old Dungeon known and feared by all as the Voidborne Catacombs, and to us, all Dungeon Masters, the entity from which we all separated from through various different authorities, Dungeon Master 00.
Upon being questioned, that was obviously not I, I looked at my hand—Baby's hand shivering. What is happening to me? Am I... no, it's... it's not me. The one afraid was Baby, not me. In spite of thinking that, I also couldn't help but internally sigh and wonder what had happened to me.
Much like a parasite that took over, I was now controlling the body of Baby, as if I were a clone created with the Ethereal Echo authority, and somehow managed to take over control of the body. As for my body, I could tell it was gone, along with most of my skills and attributes, leaving me just titles and their corresponding unlocked and locked abilities, and leaving me with a status similar to one I had upon being born. The fact that my experience gauge and level went back to 0 was a further proof of that.
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Seriously, what is this? In spite of being most likely the cause of it, I failed to understand what happened to me. So that was a "why" I could not answer. But as to "that" "why"—why I ran away from Theta's side, to somehow end up giving birth to a child that I would spend the three following years raising alone in the middle of the woods—then I guess I could still answer that why. But how, how do I answer that without sounding like I most likely already look like in their eyes, a lunatic.
Through Baby's height, I looked around me and saw Dungeon Master 02, Dungeon 20, Dungeon Master 07, and Dungeon Master 14 whom Dungeon Master 07 most likely summoned in urgency to deal with me should they have to. The four of them stared at me expectantly, wanting to hear what would be my answer.
No wonder you're afraid and refuse to come out, Baby, allowing me to so easily take full control, they sure look scary, I couldn't help but think.
After pondering the answer for a few seconds, I replied with as much honesty as I possibly could, "I was tired of being useless." As I uttered those words, I cast a glance in Dungeon Master 07's direction. At that moment, our eyes met, and I saw him lightly bite into his lips. Retracting my gaze away, I continued and exposed what led me to eventually leave Dungeon Master 08's side.
So far, there's always been a certain set of protocols to follow for a Dungeon Master to be unleashed into Fiendfell. The usual formula before "me" was that Dungeon Master 07 would need someone and thus make the request to Dungeon Master 00, who, with Greed and Resurgence, would send over a Dungeon Master that is either already spawned or will be spawned by Ethereal Echo. The Dungeon Master would then don a persona that they would wield for the world to see them in, be put in the position Dungeon Master 07 needed them to be, this can be done through their own strength or, if needed, with a little assistance from Dungeon Master 07.
The pattern is essentially very simple: Dungeon Master 07 makes the demand, Dungeon Master 00 makes supplies meet demand. That's how it was up until "me".
The one to make the request for my incarnation into Fiendfell was not even Dungeon Master 07; it was Theta—Dungeon Master 08, and that for a very precise reason. What she needed was not a Dungeon Master to be put in a position or one to take over a persona; what she needed was a Dungeon Master to take over her new prototype of a sentient being—the first result of the project Homunculus, a project she spent hundreds of years working on.
This was how I became HMC-P217. With my help, which allowed her to identify the flaws in her first prototype, Theta soon learned from the flaws in the HMC-P series, allowing her to create the HMC-0 series to which Dungeon Master 20 and the others belonged—a tremendous improvement to the prototype series my vessel belonged to.
With me no longer needed for her testing and experimentation, I took on a more assisting position to Theta, but that was mostly in the shadows, as I couldn't really reveal myself to the world. I was to remain hidden, and I did that for several decades. And while I guess I was content enough to never complain about it, I certainly yearned for more than being an assistant that could be replaced by any of her many blind followers. I wanted to be more useful than that, which is why I guess Dungeon Master 07, understanding that feeling, tried to have us, Dungeon Master 20 and I, more involved in our ultimate endeavor, but that attempt ended with Dungeon Master 20 messing up royally.
Even after dealing with the disastrous fallout of Dungeon Master 20's mess-up, he approached me, offering to take over the public persona of an adventurer so that I could provide assistance to Dungeon Master 05. Little did he know that I was already branded with the title "kin-slayer," which disqualified me from being an adventurer, a job with very strict enrollment rules. I still can't tell exactly what went through my mind back then. Perhaps I was just so eager to not be left in the shadows, or perhaps it was something else, but I ended up not revealing to him that becoming an adventurer was impossible for me. I should've told him back then, but I didn't. I simply didn't.
Doubling down on that, turning what was not exactly a lie into a full lie, I told Theta that I would be leaving her side since I was finally given a purpose.
That's where I guess I could no longer back down.
I left Theta's side and went on a journey. Initially, my plan was to return to whence I came from—the Voidborne Catacomb. However, along the journey, a new idea sprouted in my mind. While the "Kinslayer" title prevented me from becoming what Dungeon Master 07 suggested, there was a way for me to get rid of that title, allowing me to finally be what I yearned to be: It was to die. Upon death, we Dungeon Master all return to where we came from—to Dungeon Master 00's side—and when we do, we leave behind everything: skills, abilities, attributes, but most importantly, titles—titles such as "kinslayer."
From then on, I figured out that all I would have to do is reuse the Greed and Resurgence authority again to respawn in Fiendfell. It was a very straightforward plan; however, there was a problem, or less than a problem, more like a reservation on my part.
I was better than anyone else aware that the vessel I currently wielded was, in spite of being a mere prototype, a body with unparalleled value. Who knew what the chance was that I would be reborn in a vessel whose potential could even remotely compete against the one I currently wielded? Chances were simply slim to none.
Unable to make it past that reservation of mine, I was left with two courses of action. The first was to contact Theta and have her come up with another vessel for me to reincarnate into, or attempt to come up with a vessel on my own. Perhaps it was pride or something else, but after careful consideration, I settled on the latter.
Needless to say, I was not Theta, nor did I enjoy the same advantage as she did. The only way I could think of to come up with a vessel for me to reincarnate into was "that" unorthodox way—or perhaps it was the most orthodox of ways.
While I have to admit I also raised reservations about that plan of mine, I was set on seeing it through to the end. With the help of my very unique constitution as a homunculus, I quickly made it past the first step of my plan, smoothly proceeding to the second step, which mostly consisted of being patient enough for my soon-to-be vessel to be ready. I did not wish to make it to the Voidborne catacombs too early, so for the months I had to patiently wait, I decided to settle somewhere quiet where I would be given attention until the time would soon be up.
I waited and waited, the day I patiently awaited slowly getting closer. And soon, too soon—it came. But the day it did was the day I realized for the second time that I was not Theta. In other words, I could not make my plan through.
Born much earlier than anticipated, what should've been my next vessel became instead a Baby in my hands—a being so tiny and feeble that a wrongly applied squeeze would turn it into a mesh of flesh.
I guess it was that, and the fact that the child, while being born a little more special than any normal verdenkind, displayed none of the special attributes I sought out in a new vessel, prompting me to give up on that initial plan of turning him into my second vessel. Even though he was already born I still had the option to carry through with my plan, I didn't.