Burt could feel the change the moment it took place. His mind was still racing, yet his body was as frozen and inert as his surroundings.

It was odd to feel his heart frozen between beats, the subtle tension filling his chest in a way he had never noticed before. Just as odd as the blood that had stilled in his veins was the air that had stilled in the chamber. There had never been a breeze, but there had still been some movement. At this moment, there was nothing. Burt could not even move his eyes.

Then, he felt what was in front of him. It was not just a stone, this thing was alive, and just like him, it was not frozen, but watching him.

There was a moment of clarity and understanding as Burt sensed a sliver of the entity before him; this was the creator and master of the dungeons. This was the being that had changed the world. This was the one responsible for all of the changes in Burt’s life.

Burt’s grief and exhaustion merged into a single question, and he instinctively asked, despite not having the first clue of what he was doing; Why? What do you want?

***

Over the years, the core had sent commands and orders to many of its creatures, and had even communicated through them, to some extent. However, this was the first time that anyone and anything had been able to speak to the core so directly. This was something new, and the depth of Burt’s question startled the core, as the mental connection between them also transferred Burt’s suffering and exhaustion.

The core already knew that answer: Everything!

***

The delay between his question and the answer was so brief, Burt almost did not notice it. It was almost like a person taking a breath before answering during a spoken conversation.

The answer also struck like a hammer: Everything!

Just as Burt’s question had also shared his experiences and emotions, the core’s response carried so much more than a single word.

In that moment, Burt received an impression of what “everything” meant to the core, and it shook him to his very soul.

He received impressions of the gods, living and dead, of the planet he lived on, as well as every single creature it contained, from the tiniest microbes, to the most ancient eldar dragons.

But the answer encompassed so much more than that. Burt received the impression of dozens, hundreds, thousands of other planets, all with their own life, ecosystems, and gods. He saw stars and galaxies, and with that, a small understanding of a much larger universe than he had ever imagined.

He instantly learned of Authorities and Concepts, things far beyond what mortal minds could comprehend.

That single answer nearly undid Burt on a fundamental level, but while his soul quivered, his enhanced body and mind were enough to allow him to endure.

Unfortunately, while Burt had received an answer, it was not really the one he was searching for. He had really been asking about him personally, while the core had answered with the reason for its very existence.

No, why do this to ME?

The hesitation lasted longer this time, but Burt was willing to wait as long as needed to get this answer.

***

The core was stumped, as it had never really considered any creatures as anything more than food, in a sense. The core’s innate arrogance and sense of superiority had never been questioned, and part of the reason for that was that it had never had any chance to truly communicate with another being as an equal. Sending orders to its creatures was not the same as a conversation. The closest it had ever come had been listening to the kaiser dragon speak to it in that beast’s lair, but even then, the core had only been able to listen, not respond.

Having its decisions and actions questioned directly for the first time caused the core to take a moment and genuinely consider the question. This was its first conversation, despite receiving the memories of countless conversations that had taken place between numerous creatures on multiple planets. This was the difference of self-experience.

Briefly, the core considered answering that it had not done anything to Burt specifically, but the core was thorough in all that it did, and so it evaluated the question, and it then realized something. It had targeted Burt specifically. More than that, on some level, the core had specifically targeted every single sapient creature on every planet it had spread to. While this targeting was often done automatically by whatever system was in place to oversee a planet or dungeon, the fact remained that the core was deliberately targeting each and every sapient being.

Thoughts started racing. The core had always known that it was trying to farm sapient creatures with its dungeons, strengthening them to the limit before harvesting them, but it had always considered things on a more general level, rather than on an individual level. Seeing that its own behavior and thoughts had been overlooked was surprising to the core. It genuinely did not understand lies. It understood deception, but in the same way that predators did. Traps and camouflage were types of deception, but not in the same way as lies, let alone lying to oneself.

This meant that the core would need to reevaluate all that it had done in the past.

Still, there was someone waiting for an answer…

***

To strengthen you to feed upon you.

Again, the answer that Burt received was so much more than the words that were sent to his mind. He understood the process by which dungeons strengthened people, which he had already understood, to some extent.

After that, he was given the impression of people dying in the dungeons, their souls passing on, while their vitality, mana, and memories all remained with the dungeon, feeding the core itself.

The dungeons were feeding on the planet itself, grooming the entire population to become a more succulent meal.

It was revolting. It was infuriating. It was despicable.

And Burt understood it.

The core was simply living off of the natural cycle of life, feeding on a process that went back to the beginning of life itself. The core had simply improved upon that cycle to get more from it than it could have naturally.

However, there was something that Burt also did not understand; if the core somehow encompassed multiple planets, then why did it need to feed upon those in its dungeons? What prevented it from feeding upon the entire population of the planet and those who died of sickness, old age, war, injuries, and natural causes? Why the dungeons?

***

Since this was the first time that either Burt or the core had ever experienced direct mental communication, neither understood how to filter their thoughts or keep things from the other. Burt’s reaction to the core’s answer about feeding upon the deaths of sapient creatures reached the core, and it was yet again taken aback.

At first, the core’s Authority had been restricted to within its dungeons, which had limited it to feeding on the deaths of living creatures in those places, but the core’s Authority had long since exceeded those limitations. After all, it superseded the planet’s entire pantheon of gods. It was already able to influence the world outside of the dungeons, so why not take things one step further?

It was at that moment of frozen time that the core’s Authority suddenly expanded beyond its self-imposed limitations. It instantly covered the entire world, and beyond. In fact, its Authority spread to every single place that its perception reached, as there was nothing above or beyond its Authority.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

For the people living on the planet, this meant that all of them were pulled into one of the core’s systems. It was still testing out different systems in different dungeons, and people were incorporated into the nearest system.

The core suddenly realized that there was no reason to limit itself to harvesting from the dungeons alone; it could harvest every creature from every planet it controlled.

Did this make its dungeons redundant or useless? In part. However, those dungeons could still be used to strengthen and improve the sapient creatures, improving the core’s harvests as a whole.

For just this one revelation, the core felt grateful to Burt, which was an odd experience as well.

What should be done with this feeling?

A quick examination of memories gave the answer: reciprocation.

***

Thank you. We understand now. What gift do you desire?

The additional information, emotions, and implications that accompanied the answer rocked Burt worse than any of the previous answers he had received, as he understood just what he had instigated. The core was going to spread its influence everywhere. No longer would the various changes that had taken place be limited to just the dungeons.

At the same time, Burt understood that this entity was not malicious, but rather simply indifferent. About the only emotions he had felt from this being were curiosity, greed, and then gratitude. There was no anger, desire for revenge, hatred, or anything else. There was an all-consuming hunger for everything, but also the patience to wait for those things to naturally become the core’s. It was a jarring contradiction that made no sense to Burt’s limited frame of mind.

Finally, there was the offer of a gift. What could Burt want from a being that surpassed the gods themselves?

He had initially wanted the peace of death to escape his suffering and loneliness, but his conversation with the core had opened Burt’s mind and granted him greater knowledge and understanding of reality than he could ever have hoped to obtain.

Could it be possible for the core…?

***

Peace.

Burt’s answer was a single word, and yet the core felt his suffering, his aching soul that could not keep up with his mind or body.

The core’s first experience with souls had been the death of the first human it had killed, Avery. The high priest’s death had been the trigger for all that the core had pursued after that, as it had understood that by harvesting the vitality, mana, and memories of those who died, it could grow stronger.

However, the core had not been able to touch the souls themselves, and that inability had continued throughout the years, and so the core had simply stopped trying.

What it felt from Burt was a terrible imbalance in his being. His mind and body were strong, improved by his levels that had been granted to him by the core for his efforts in the dungeons.

On the other hand, Burt’s soul was the same as when he had first entered a dungeon all those years ago.

Wait, that was wrong. It was weaker.

Confused, the core started examining Burt’s soul more carefully, as well as the souls of countless others across various planets.

This particular aspect of sapient creatures had remained out of reach for the core for many years, and so it had simply ignored it entirely.

Years had passed, and things had changed. The core had gained an Authority, and multiple Concepts, as well as control over the gods themselves, and yet it had never returned to examining souls, aside from the single incident with Aaron.

It was only at this moment that the core realized that it rarely, if ever, returned to attempt things that had previously been determined to be impossible, even after it had obtained new abilities.

As the core quickly focused on souls and the condition of Burt’s, it realized that not all souls were equal. Those belonging to individuals capable of learning magic were marginally stronger, but more importantly, they possessed a certain flexibility that other souls lacked. This flexibility allowed the souls to grow stronger with age or mana, even if only to a certain extent.

Conversely, other souls only weakened over time. No, that was not entirely accurate. They were not weaker, but more fragile. They possessed the same strength, but were more vulnerable.

This also explained Burt’s situation. His soul had become so fragile that it should have killed him decades ago, if not for his strengthened mind and body forcing things to remain intact.

Yet again, the core could sense the difference between the seed of a soul, which remained virtually the same among everyone, and the surrounding shell of the soul, which held a person’s memories and existence.

It was this shell that could be strengthened in a mage, while it grew stiffer in non-mages.

This was something the core was more than capable of rectifying.

In fact…

With a few tweaks and adjustments to the systems in place in various places, the core introduced a new, hidden feature to its dungeons. When a person gained a level, their soul would receive comparable improvement. At the same time, everyone would receive the flexibility of mages, which should prevent their souls from growing fragile with age.

As for Burt himself, he needed a great deal more attention from the core, given his advanced condition. His soul needed to be soothed and healed, as well as strengthened to be comparable to the other two aspects of his being.

***

Burt could feel his agony being soothed and healed. At the same time, certain mental traumas were being slowly worn away so that they were not so profound and cutting.

Even his memories of losing Elicia faded somewhat. It was not that the memories themselves weakened, but rather that Burt’s emotional connection to them was weakened. He could revisit his memories without feeling the same pain as before.

Bit by bit, he was being healed.

If he could have moved, he would have let out a sigh of relief as a sense of ease settled over him unlike anything he could remember feeling.

Acceptable?

It was such an odd question, and suddenly, Burt realized that in some ways, he was dealing with a child. This being had likely never experienced any direct interactions with another sapient mind, and it was clear that the being did not truly understand human emotions. In fact, the unfiltered mental connection told Burt how simple the core’s motivations for this question even were.

Was having his soul healed enough? Could Burt be satisfied with that? While he was enjoying feeling better than he could ever remember, was it enough? Could he return to how he had been living with this internal improvement?

Realistically, what would he be living for?

Unfortunately, Burt already knew the answer. Hera was all that remained for him, and she had not needed him for years and years. She was already at the end of her own life, and would soon fade away.

Even with his new-found peace, Burt wanted that same thing; to fade away.

He could feel the creature’s hesitation at the answer he gave. There was a question waiting for him, but the core seemed to doubt whether Burt would want to hear the question.

He had nothing to lose, so why not hear it?

The question was prefaced by something that left Burt stunned. He received an impression of the core’s understanding of souls and what happened to them. How they passed on, though stripped bare of all that had made them unique in life. Only the core seed of the soul passed on to some unknown, while the rest remained or became the core’s food.

After that came the question, which was a choice of three options.

Burt could pass on to the unknown, likely no longer himself at all, but something somehow both more and less than what he currently was.

The second option was to follow in Aaron’s footsteps and become one of the core’s minions, strengthened by the core and granted what was essentially immortality. There would be no suffering, but it would also be quite lonely.

The third option was one that Burt was startled to learn was what had become of Yur, the earth goddess.

From what the core could sense, Burt’s connection to the core was strong enough that his soul could stay with the core and he would become a dungeon of his own, with or without his memories of his life as a human.

The second option was not even considered, as Burt considered it to be no different from continuing his current life.

The first option had a certain draw to it, but was also absolutely terrifying. To be stripped of who he was and to venture into the unknown was something that Burt did not know if he could do.

As for the third option, well, Burt had questions of his own.

***

Can I make the dungeon as I wish? Can my purpose be different? Can I choose to pass on when I wish?

The core did not know what to think of Burt’s questions at first. A dungeon with a different purpose? What would that even look like?

Allow the soul to pass on when it wished? That might be possible.

After running a few simulations and postulating several possibilities, the core decided to agree. It had already gained more from Burt, even if only from a research perspective, to more than justify the costs of whatever the man asked for.

Just realizing that by strengthening the souls of sapient creatures meant that the core would be able to raise them up to greater heights than it had ever considered possible in the past. That future potential was absolutely invaluable.

Burt’s wish was granted.