Vitmori POV

Before long, everyone that was supposed to be here had gathered. Looking among them more closely, I happened to notice that Basti seemed more powerful than before. While she hadn't developed another ring, her mana heart seemed more dense compared to when I had seen her earlier today. I'll have to touch on that later; for now, I look among them curiously before speaking out. 'Alright, everyone, explain to me what happened down there.'

The beasts seemed to glance at each other, Oururu starting to slither forward as Legosi spoke up first. "I was invited to join the others because they thought I was capable, then we went down into the deep, deep hole, we then met Grimm, and then I found this cool stick." He explained, pawing at the gently vibrating sword that was lying in the stony sand.

Again, not particularly helpful, but I suppose it was mildly informative.

Oururu hissed, speaking up as he explained that it was his idea to go down into the other dungeon's territory despite my orders to stay out of there for now after what happened to the Sinners. He shows that he's apologetic and wishes for any punishment to fall on him. Basti pitches in at that, claiming to have volunteered for the trip after Oururu posed his solution for the ooze room.

Frisby also spoke up, peeking from her perch on Oururu's back to address my core. "I encouraged him, it was a good idea, and I felt he would have been able to handle the situation if anything did go wrong."

Legosi looked lost, his ears drooping as he glanced around at everyone. "W-wait... We weren't supposed to go down there?"

Zasutir looked about curiously, though he stood over by the bench that Grimm had settled down on, wondering where the little dogkin boy came from. Grimm had been humming softly to himself as he waited, all the while gently polishing the cracked gem of the amulet with his fur.

'Alright, alright, everyone... No need to all jump to his defense. I'm not mad, not at all.' I explain outright, much to the relief of my beasts as they seemed to unwind just a bit. I turned my focus over to Oururu, looking him over once more. 'In fact, I'm sorry you felt you had to go behind my back to put your plan in motion; as thoughtful as you are, you should know you can bring up anything you want to discuss with me, and I'd be happy to hear your opinion on it.'

Oururu appeared to perk up at that, a weight coming off his metaphorical shoulders as he stared gratefully at my core.

'Don't think I haven't noticed your efforts, especially since Legosi and his pack started patrolling the forest; the response time and coordination between the wolves and birds have been more than sufficient and especially thorough. So even though you ignored my orders today, you presented a better plan of action than I could have considered and executed it flawlessly without any casualties. Not to mention that your actions today have considerably improved our situation as a whole, as I'm sure you have no doubt noticed by now.' I mentioned as Oururu seemingly glanced over the haphazard stone braces and supports to my pedestal before looking back at me. 'Oururu, I grant you the title of Tactician; as my second partner in this world, you are my left hand. Continue to use that clever mind of yours and watch over my territory with me.'

With that title granted, I felt a measure of my mana flowing from my core and into him, the serpent shuddering from the sensation as he looked up at me once more, beaming with pride before bowing his head for a moment in gratitude. Though with that rush of mana, he looks tired, swaying on the spot.

'It's fine; go ahead and get some rest.' I mention, Oururu bobbing his head as he slithered off towards his private den. Frisby looked up at me as Oururu turned to leave. 'Yes, you can go too.' I offered without her having to say anything as her ears twitched happily, turning to scamper off after the serpent.

Before I could continue, Legosi piped up as he looked at my core, his tail wagging slowly in uncertainty. "So... If we're not in trouble... Can I keep my stick?" He asked hopefully with drooping ears.

Right, I nearly forgot about that sword he found... 'Um... Yeah, sure, go for it. That's a sword, just so you know. See about asking Trisha if she can make you a sheathe so you can carry it around more easily.'

At that, Legosi's tail is about ready to take flight as he hops to all fours. "Yes! Alright, I'll go do that right now!" He gushed, biting the grip as he hurried off with it, the sword itself humming with each swish from Legosi's stride as he hurried out. Zasutir looked after the wolf curiously as he considered the blade he had.

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Basti goes off to the side of my chamber, opting to lie down in the stony sand for a while since she also felt exhausted after what she went through today.

Looking over at Zasutir, his face seemed to light up as he sensed my attention. 'Alright Shepherd, if you don't mind, I need a favor from you.' I mentioned, just taking a moment to gauge him some more.

Zasutir bows his head respectfully before offering a small smile. "Of course, Vitmori, whatever you need." He replied with a measured amount of cheer; apparently he was still in an excellent mood from our earlier conversation.

'Perfect, I need you to pick my core off my pedestal. I seemed to have gotten too big for what I made before, and now I need to make a quick redesign.' With his body, he should be able to lift my core with no problem, even if I'm a solid gem the size of a Texas watermelon.

Zasutir looks surprised, to say the least, or perhaps taken aback as he looks to my core before looking around. "Y-you want me to touch your core? Are you certain?" He asked, seeming very hesitant all of a sudden but not looking like he was particularly against it.

'Yes?' I reply, not exactly sure what the hang-up is. 'I trust you, and I'm pretty positive you wouldn't drop me. If you don't want to carry me, you could at least set me down in the sand in the meantime.' I offered to try to be polite now since maybe he thought I would be too heavy to hold for too long.

"N-no! It's a great honor Vitmori, your trust humbles me, and I shall do my utmost to ensure your core is safe in my arms." He enthused excitedly, even going so far as to flex his scaly arms to show off the muscles of his enhanced body. He collects himself soon enough, going onto the stone steps around my pedestal before gingerly reaching out as he goes to pick up my core, stopping short as he seems to think about how to go about it.

'Well, alright then Shepherd, just don't make it weird.' I couldn't help but feel mildly amused as I watched him adjust and readjust the position of his hands before he even touched me. Though he finally committed, his copper palms finally scooped up my core as he held me to his chest... I couldn't help but watch him for a moment, the tender care he displayed being somewhat surprising to me. Though I suppose he is very literally holding my heart, the entirety of me. I go ahead and get to work, quickly wiping away my old pedestal; I'll properly take it apart later for recycling. I go ahead and get to work, meticulously laying out and shaping some bricks for my shorter, wider pedestal.

Even though Zasutir was entirely focused on holding my core, he couldn't help but glance over at Grimm, the puppy-boy, who in return was cheerfully watching Zasutir and seemingly admiring my core from where he sat ever so patiently. "Vitmori... Where did that child come from? If you don't mind my asking..." He asked gently, speaking softly as he seemed to address my core directly.

I had to consider what I knew and decided to be direct as I spoke privately with Zasutir. 'I found him at the very bottom of the other core's territory. Apparently, he woke up not too long ago, and he had a friend who had been talking to him for a short while before seemingly going quiet for one last time.' And that was all I knew about the kid... I probably should try to get to know him better before really letting him stay with the others for an extended period of time.

Zasutir's eyes widen upon hearing the details of the child's existence and lack thereof. "I see..."

'That's actually the other reason I asked for you... I hoped you could watch over him and see how he behaves around others. He's so far been bright, gentle, and charismatic, but that's been around my beasts and myself and not around people like yourself. Would you be able to do that for me?' I knew I was asking a lot, but a child needs to bond with people rather than some talking rock like me.

Zasutir considered this, looking over at Grimm, who had since approached Zasutir and my core, looking it over with his wide and curious purple eyes before smiling up at Zasutir with the green glow of my core reflected off his eyes. Zasutir couldn't help but smile kindly. "I don't see why not Vitmori; I'll do my best to look after him. I'm sure the other kids would love to meet him."

Grimm glanced between Zasutir and my core and perked up at Zasutir's words. "I can meet even more new people today? Really? Is that okay?" He asked excitedly, his little tail wagging with audible little swishes behind him as he tilted his head ever so slightly with curiosity.

I decide to go ahead and answer as I start shaping out the wide, shallow bowl that my core will be set into once I'm done. 'Yeah, go and meet everyone at Shepherd's home and then tell me all about them before you go to bed tonight. I'll be up here making you a room so you can stay here with me.'

"Really! That's great! Can we go now?" He begged Zasutir as he gently tugged at Zasutir's hide vest.

Zasutir couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he shook his head kindly. "Not quite yet, young Grimm; once Vitmori is ready for me to put him down, we can go."

Though, as he said that, I finished smoothing out the stone to what I deemed suitable for now, I'll definitely make it nicer later, but it'll do to hold me at this point. 'Alright, Shepherd, go ahead and set me down; thanks again for your help.'

A flash of disappointment seemed to cross his face as he nodded solemnly, gingerly setting my core on my new pedestal before stepping back, kind of watching me and my pedestal closely for another few seconds in case something went horribly wrong. When nothing happens, he smiles and looks over to Grimm as he holds out his hand. "Alright, now we can be off Grimm."

The dogkin pup smiled enthusiastically as he hurried over and took up Zasutir's hands before looking back over to me and waving his hand. "Cya later, Mister Green." He enthused cheerfully as they both made their way down my mountain.

At that, Basti chuffs with amusement as she watches me, soon standing from the stone sand as she padded over and laid upon my new, wider steps. She flashes a feline smile, reaching up with her tail as she polishes the side of my core relatively easily since it was much closer to the ground than before.

'Yeah, well I've got plenty of experience watching over kids... Shame I never really got the chance to be a real father.' It's been forever since I lost her, and I just didn't have the heart to find anyone else. 'My original world just wasn't the place where you could easily have kids... In the end, I just missed out on the chance to have my own.' If I still had shoulders, I'd probably shrug them at this point.

Though Basti seemed to watch me for a while, her thoughts swirling around all sorts of things as she sat up and rubbed her forehead against my core before laying back down on the step as her tail curled and flicked.

It was another few moments of quiet solitude as I worked on cleaning up my new pedestal when Jack flew in, landing carefully with a flutter of his wings as he whistled a proud little chirrup. "I'm back, Boss! Safe and sound, of course." He preened charmingly before stretching his wing as he hopped a little closer. "I also got eyes on those buyers, and they definitely sound like they'll be making the trip to pay us a little visit." He mentioned with a whistle of delight.

'Good work Jack, outstanding work. Go on, tell me everything.' I encourage him as I bring my focus down on him.

He tweeted out with delight, seeming very proud of himself as he hopped back and forth as if to pace. "Of course, of course... Let's see, where to begin..."