Bones is no longer my minion but a sworn companion to me. He promoted himself somehow, and now I can't technically call him my minion. However, I still do have summoner power over him. I'm happy for him. The guy is making strides in progression and outclasses me regarding raw power.

At the same time, someone must keep the boss humble, and as his summoner, I feel the obligation falls upon me. As such, I cannot break our eye contact. It's a weird battle that I don't really care about, and at the same time, this is the most important thing.

"You know the name's not T'am. Apostrophes were a horrible idea."

"Apostrophes are cool, and you know it. You get the added benefit of a letter without having to do the extra spelling."

"It's pointless and not respectable. The name's Li."

"With an I or an E? Never mind. That doesn't matter. I'm not calling you Li. Liam is a good name."

"Already tried that. It's too long."

"It's four letters," Bones says with heavy scrutiny.

"That's two syllables. That's a mouthful. Besides, if I were to call myself Liam, it's only a matter of time before you or the next name wizard shortens it to Li."

"True, but Li, shortened from Liam, is much better than just Li. Just Li is lazy." He's right. Liam is a much better name. Maybe I was just initiating the inevitable by shortening the name myself. Or I was trying to spare myself the pains of explaining Li is short for Liam — avoiding multiple risky variables to a standard introduction. I'm no longer sure why I chose Li...

"I actually... don't like Li. The new name's Jack. Jack is a strong name."

"Aye, I can call you Jack." Finally, Bones breaks eye contact as he turns to inspect the fortress progress again. I just obtained total victory in an intense battle and came out with a better name. I feel on top of the world.

"What the hell was that all about?" Bloom, who's been standing by my side the whole time, asks with a look that's not quite disgust but isn't totally not disgust. "Is there something going on between you two?"

"Yep." Says Bones, who is only partially paying attention.

"Absolutely not," I say at the same time but make the mistake of leading in with an affirmative. "Nope." Bloom is skeptical, but I think she's convinced it's just a normal summoner-companion relationship.

We naturally part ways after a heavy moment of silence. Bones is probably bossing people around. Bloom is doing whatever, and I spend some time cultivating. It's not that I don't want to help with the building or training. I feel very inadequate in each of those roles and don't want to get in the way.

The base building improvements finish around noon. Our fortress is now filled with towers that will act as defense and our personal homes. All the arachnoids are now creating webbing to give us protection from above. At the same time, Glimmer begins adding runes to the towers, which are enhanced by shadow rituals performed by Gene. In theory, the webbing should be impervious to all types of attacks and stop intruders from hopping over our walls — a common problem the hoard faced not too long ago.

The children are helping themselves to lunch which is set in the kitchen. The runes to preserve and increase our food stock makes one of our challenges manageable. We should have enough food for the foreseeable future. Our problem will be needing variety long before we run out.

From what I hear from Gene, the lycan packs are working perfectly. The older kids are embracing the mantle of leadership and, more importantly, are providing the support needed for the younger kids. Having the older youth manage their own packs allows us to continue working on security and other menial tasks for now.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Most of Bones' army is dissolved, allowing him to recover his strength and add the energy from the dead to the dungeon core. The remaining dead units are either working on private housing or the academy or are on guard duty. Bolstering the skeleton crews' defenses is Fury, who's taken to the skies to act as another set of eyes on the perimeter.

Feeling the energy gained from bones releasing a part of his army is surreal. I don't have the dungeon core, yet I can feel it connected to me through my bond to bones. A connection that I couldn't feel until Bones upgraded from a minion to a companion. I can glean some of Bones' knowledge on the dungeon through the link, allowing me to bypass asking many questions.

The dungeon core is at rank three and is far from gaining another level. We are at half capacity, which means we can gain another five hundred dungeoneers. On top of that, we can have ten bosses, with each having multiple sub-bosses. Earlier, all the lycan pack leaders were assigned as sub-bosses under Nette.

Sub-bosses are pretty much like bosses, but instead of sharing power with all the dungeon bosses, they only share power with the boss they are under. Nette can already link to anyone telepathically if they are within her domain, but now, the pack leaders can connect to each of the members in their pack. All of which I didn't know until now. Further, as they gain power, their mind will gain power.

There doesn't seem to be a limit on the number of sub-bosses that can be assigned per boss, but that might be a lack of understanding. It does seem that for each sub-boss assigned, the more energy it takes for the dungeon core to upgrade.

To my surprise, the four arachnoids and the Synth Sister are assigned as sub-bosses under Fury and gain the skill to cast darkness. Darkness is Fury's ability that allows him to shroud the land in darkness and silence opposing energy. None of them have a large area of influence like Fury, but the power will be deadly even on a smaller scale.

The strangest feeling I get from the core is my connection with it. In a way, it's bound to me, yet, I don't have any ownership over it other than my claim to Bones. It's a complicated mess of energy. Bones is my companion who is bound to the dungeon. I can summon him and un-summon him at any time. I wonder what happens to the rest of the dungeon when he is unsummoned or destroyed.

Since Bones is now at the rank of companion, he can 'live' even when I die. That's a neat perk on its own. When the rest of the dungeon could depend on whether Bones is alive, the perk seems much more important. Additionally, I feel encouraged to live the carefree life I enjoyed when I didn't have the weight of the dungeon core beckoning me to not die.

I'm not obsessed with dying by any means. It's a lousy experience. However, being a lich and unable to take advantage of the life-cycling process kind of defeats the purpose. If I'm not free to live and die as I choose, then what's the point?

As my mind continues learning more about the dungeon, I find myself wandering to one of our new buildings with a training arena. There still isn't much for me to do, so I run through a few exercises.

The sun's warmth fills the grassy area inside the walls of the barracks. The barracks is more of an addition to the academy than an actual barracks. Which makes sense since we don't have an army to train. Instead, we have kids full of energy and need a way to expend the energy in a controlled environment.

The barracks is a large square building with room inside and outside for exercise. There's no kitchen or additional rooms for sleeping, just one large inside training ground and a large fenced-in outside training ground. A basic barracks by any standards that fits our needs. When Glimmer completes her more important runes, she plans to improve some training features. What that entails, I'm not sure.

My mind stops focusing on the dungeon core and becomes an empty oneness with my sword forms. My new sword design is a smaller model of Ruby, the blade we inherited from a bugbear commander. The effectiveness of the edge is felt with each motion. Energy wants to surge from each strike, and the blade nearly sings to a rhythm only it knows.

My movement tunes to the low hums, and my pace quickens. For a moment, I feel indestructible. I practice this perfect melody until the intensity of focus causes my thoughts to waver. I still work through my forms, but it's no longer a graceful dance as my mind sorts through thoughts.

Recently my fights have been more extended than usual. Sure, I have my reasons, like, I'm holding back — which I almost believe. At the same time, I want to be more efficient. If I was better, maybe Kelly and Tress would still be here. I try to push past my mental block if there is one. I even replay each of my last fights over and over. By the time I'm done, I'm a sweaty mess. I'm hungry, and I need to wash.

It still doesn't look like I'm needed, so I head to the lake for a nice plunge.

The demons are here. And Fury is missing. Annette's messages flash in my mind. I don't know why I thought we would have more time.