The Core did wait patiently for Joselin to wake; it did. But after what felt like an eternity to the two-day-old Core, it decided to wake her.

First, it tried to create water above the Elf to wake her up but found that it could not make it. It knew it had Mana to create the water, even double checking and finding it full and wanting to be used. Or at least, the Core tried to use it.

It could only think of one thing that explained why it wasn’t working. It had no Domain set up. Until it reset its Domain, there was little it could do to influence its surroundings. The fact alone that he was waiting at all for an Elf to awaken made it wish it had chosen to become a Creature Core instead. Legs sounded nice now.

But it was stuck with this fate, so it had to make do with waking the Elf.

Using a little bit of Mana with its thoughts, it projected a voice Joselin could hear and said, “Time to wake up! I want to get to work!”

She woke with a start and was on her feet in a few seconds. She was looking around in a frantic state, her bag containing the Core and its sapphire in hand, ready to swing. She spun around, breathing heavily, and, of course, found no one.

"Oh good, you're awake! Come on, let's explore! Do you need to find a place for me to lay down my Domain so I can begin!" The Core said excitedly.

Joselin looked down at her bag and glared at the tiny crystal. She then looked up at the sky. The Core could not tell what she was looking at. "Seriously, I was only asleep for, like, thirty minutes. She couldn't have let me rest for a while longer? I don't even have any water to rehydrate; the best I can do is ensure I am rested."

"Oh, do you need water? I didn't know you needed that, " the Core admitted.

"Yeah, I do," she said thoughtfully. "Oh, right, you are a crystal. You do not need to drink water, right?"

"Well, no, I don't. It's not like I have a throat to drink it with," the Core paused. "Well, how long do you want to rest?"

"No point now, is there?" She asked rhetorically. "You already woke me up, and I do need to go looking for water anyway. And I think my dad once told me that every town or city needs a place to get water. So, two birds with one stone?"

While the Core did not know what that meant, it agreed with the sentiment. "Sounds good to me. Can we get going now? The sooner we find a place, the sooner I can be put down as soon as I can level up!" It cheered.

Joselin couldn't help herself; she chuckled a little at its enthusiasm. "Alright, I think I saw a stream when I ran away from that Werejackal last night." She looked around, giving her a sense of her bearings before pointing, "This way, I think."

This time, the Core stayed quiet to avoid annoying its ride. They stayed silent for the next two hours while Joselin walked and talked to herself. She mostly talked about the plants and the field animals they encountered along the way. She sounded like she was trying to occupy herself, and the Core was enjoying the free information.

With the basic language information from the system, it knew most of the names. And while it could not see without its Domain, it would envision what she described pretty nicely.

“And here we have, ooh, a patch of lavender. You can tell by the shoots of blue-violet flowers and their particular leaf shapes. People use the oils in the flower for its smell, which has minor healing effects. It is good for keeping insects out of gardens, too. I-” she stopped, looking round at the area before her.

“Oh, I think we’re in luck. Core,” she told him, joy in her words.

“What? I can’t see!” The Core shouted.

Joselin had a thought, one that made her reach into the bag, withdraw the small crystal, and look at it critically. “Hey, quick question. How can you see to find a good spot without your… Domain?”

“Oh, I don’t think I can,” the Core said. It paused momentarily, trying to look around but having no luck. “Nope, can’t see much. It’s all kind of… blurry and one-dimensional. I think,” it said, unsure. “Is it a good spot?”

Nodding, Joselin described the scene. She told him that they had just entered a small glade where the sun streamed down from above. It was serene, with the tall grass and loose herbs strewn about. Running through one corner of the clearing, a stream moved cool water in a quiet trickle. Next to the stream laid several large boulders and something that specifically caught the Elf’s eyes.

Impaled upon the largest stone was a tarnished single-edged knife.

“Wow,” the Core remarked as it thought about it. “This sounds like as good a place as any to put me down. Why not over by that knife? I want to see it!” The Core almost vibrated in her hand; it was so excited.

“Alright, just calm down,” Joselin told it, walking over and gently setting the Core next to the old blade. She hesitated at the blade, running her hand over the knife handle, and shaking her head, and stepping back.

The Core immediately willed out its Domain and breathed an audible sigh of relief. “That is so much better; I can see again. Now, please set down my gem, the Sapphire, and I will get to work- oh, ooooh,” The Core said, happy as it got a few new prompts.

“Neat!” the Core exclaimed. “I leveled up!”

“Really, what level are you?” Joselin asked.

“Level 3!” it triumphed. “Now I can get to work!”

“Wait, just level 3?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you were a little higher.”

“Nope!” the Core chirped. “Why? What can I do with a level-up?”

“Did you get attribute points?” Joselin asked. She did not sound like she was expecting the answer she received.

“Yep, I now have six,” The Core said, “the system said I can spend them on my progression, but I don’t know how to do that. It told me what my attributes do, but I haven’t needed to do anything yet. Oh, oh, I even have two Perks!”

“Level 3, and you have two perks,” Joselin shook her head. “Now I kind of wish I was born as a Core.”

“No!” the Core shouted. “Don’t wish for that! Being born is the scariest thing I have ever done! I fell through the sky, screaming, not sure if I was going to shatter upon impact with the ground… I got lucky.”

“Wait, you were awake when you fell?” Joselin asked, putting a hand to her mouth.

“Yeah, so let's stop talking about it,” it told her. “How do I use a Perk?”

“Oh, uh, depends on the Perk,” She said, can you read the information?”

“Sure!” it said, happy to be talking to someone.

This Basic Perk will only allow you to summon Basic Drones that can accomplish many basic tasks.

They may last outside your Domain for one hour/ point in Core Mana Supply. If struck with enough force, they can be destroyed. They have five durability per point you have in Core Structure. You can summon 1 Basic Drone/ Core Strength.>

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

“Oh, so that’s how that works.”

“What?” Joselin huffed. “Wow, I am getting tired of saying that.”

“It looks like my Perks are designed to work together. I can summon Drones to do low-skill tasks or automate building my buildings,” it explained. It then chittered excitedly, “I am so ready to begin!”

“Okay, what kind of buildings can you build?”

“I can build a Basic Dwelling, a Basic Storage Shed, a Civil Center, and a Remote Gathering Post. Whatever that is,” The Core went quiet for a moment, puzzling the Blueprints name in its mind. “Oh well, I have other things to build.”

Joselin interrupted it, “Wait, wait, wait,” I have heard of Perks like that. Alchemists have a perfect memory for their recipes. Have you tried looking at the blueprint descriptions?”

“I can do that? Wait, give me a minute!” it shushed her as it thought about the Blueprints, specifically the Basic Dwelling Blueprint. As expected of itself, a Prompt appeared.

-Name: Basic Dwelling (Tier 1 Blueprint)

- Building type: Non-magical house

- Description: A simple wooden box of a home with little comfort, only separating the inside from the out.

You do not have the required materials in your Domain or any owned Storehouses to build this structure.

“Okay, interesting, but how do I build it?” the Core grumbled.

This means a Civilization Core’s Domain size needs to be exponentially larger than any other Spirit Core type to contain your Buildings. Thus, it is recommended that you invest your first six points of Attribute Growth equally between Core Strength and Core Mana Recovery Attributes to maximize your current Domain growth speed.

Or don’t, and take a lot longer before you can do anything neat.>

“Oh, that is a good idea, Mean Text Person,” The Core said out loud.

The sudden words startled Joselin, who flinched away at the sound, “Ah, who’s Mean Text Person? Where is he?”

‘“What?” it asked, not paying attention to her. “Oh, someone is adding extra notes to some of my system messages, and they’re a little mean. Nothing to worry about, though,” it took a moment to envision the goal it had in mind, namely putting those points into its Attributes as the prompt suggested.

The Core vibrated with the increase in its intake of Mana. This felt good, and it put that new power to good use, growing its Domain. It wasn’t much, but when it checked its maximum Mana, it found a full mana pool. It wasn’t sure why. Maybe it still gained Mana while traveling out of the cave, or perhaps it was an effect of allocating its Attributes.

It had no idea; it just put all that Mana into spreading its Domain, especially that knife stuck into the stone near it.

It stopped after putting in a single point after it gained a prompt.

The Core harrumphed; of course, it couldn’t learn anything about this. It was so annoyed at this turn of events that it almost lost its focus on the rapidly expanding Domain. This was four times faster than it had been moving before, and it was ecstatic, the emotion flipping like a switch.

So the Core moved on to its next designated task, excitement vibrating its tiny crystalline body.

[Summon Drone] The Core thought with all its mind, unsure what it was creating exactly.

Joselin squeaked in surprise as a small white-blue orb appeared in the Core’s center of vision. It was covered in sparks and embers of silver flames as it hovered there and waited.

“Ah, what is that?!” Joselin exclaimed.

“It is a Drone!” the Core shouted. “Calm down; it isn’t going to hurt you.”

“This-” Joselin took in a breath, then released it. “This is your Drone? Really? Why does it look like a Will-of-the-Wisp?”

“I don’t know, I have never seen one of those before,” the Core informed her and looked at its Drone. “How do I get it to get stuff for me?” it questioned out loud, pondering its question.

“I don’t know,” the Elf answered unhelpfully. “Have you tried telling it what you wanted it to do?”

“Of course not,” The Core answered indignantly. “Drone! I need…” It paused to look up what materials it needed for Joselin’s shelter. “I need five units of worked wood, three units of wood pulp, and ten units of loose sticks. Gather them!” it ordered with a loud proclamation.

The Wisp drone turned and moved towards the nearest tree, an item appearing in its hands made of the same substance as its body. As the Core watched, a large gash appeared in the trunk as the Wisp struck out at it with an invisible tool, and seconds later, another chunk disappeared. It continued this while Joselin and the Core watched with amazement for a minute. Then, with a crunch, the tree gave out, falling to the ground.

It took a moment for the Drone to move again. It did not look like it hesitated, just that it took a moment to think through what it was doing. Seconds passed, and it treaded forward and began to peel the bark and smaller branches off the tree with efficiency. Step by step, pieces were removed, processed, and pulled apart with invisible tools that made Joselin more and more uneasy with every passing stage of the process.

Eventually, in a period that felt like minutes while the Core watched and spread its Domain, the Drone had finished its job. In three piles of different types of wood were the various pieces that the Dwelling needed.

Then, in excitement, the Core told the Drone. “Build the Basic Dwelling!”

The Core’s view of the surrounding area changed; everything outside its influence was blacked out with a veil of perfect darkness, and everything inside was covered with green lines that highlighted their position in his Domain. But in this vision, something else was highlighted in contrasting white lines that the Core assumed was the basic Dwelling he was trying to build. This structure was placed in the middle of the clearing, a little left of the Core’s currency position and stream.

It took a moment to try and move the Dwelling a little further away from its initial place, not liking its location. It found quickly that when it tried to force its Structure somewhere else, the wireframe, as the words in its head told it this vision was called, turned a violent shade of red. This denied it the ability to put the Dwelling where it wanted to build it, and the Core grumbled in distaste. It did not like that spot, but it had little choice if it wanted to build the Dwelling.

So it returned the wire-frame Dwelling to its original place and sort of ‘thought’ the Dwelling to be built there.

It took a moment, like while it was gathering, but the Drone soon began to build the Dwelling.

“Wow, this is… neat?” Joselin commented after a while of remaining silent. “Why is it so slow?” she grumbled.

“I don’t know,” The Core answered thoughtfully. “Just be glad I am building you shelter instead of doing anything else. I think… I would have rather spent my time telling the Drone to begin clearing the area of trees so I could have more room for buildings. Now say thank you that I am using my time and Mana on you,” The Core ordered seriously.

There was a long silence between them as the Drone continued to put the Dwelling together. It was slow work; the single Drone could only do so much, so quickly, and there was little other work to do.

So, while the drone built the Dwelling and Joselin remained quiet, the Core returned to building its Domain. It enjoyed extending its sight by the inch with every bit of ground it gained access to. Again, hours passed as the Drone worked and built the Dwelling, starting from the floor and working up.

Twilight was coming when the Dwelling was finished, and the Core was not impressed. This Dwelling was only around fifteen by ten-foot square of rough wood logs for walls and loose sticks making up the barely serviceable roof. The floor was the rough dirt and grass that was there before, just stamped flat with the invisible powers that it used for its work.

Joselin walked up to it and stepped through the rudimentary door that was made with the Dwelling and looked around with a face that told the Core that she felt what it was feeling.

“Yeah, cannot say that I like this either,” it told her. “It’ll work for the night while you wait for Dad to come, right?”

“Y-yeah,” Joselin responded. “His name is not Dad. I call him Dad because he is my father. He is not your father, he and your mother did not have relations that ended with your mother giving birth to you. Therefore, he is not your dad. So please, stop calling him that." Joselin practically begged, her face becoming a slight tinge of red.

The Core did not respond; it planned on calling him dad until the man told it to stop. Even then, it might continue. Not for any reason to annoy her or him. The familial title just felt right.

The Core pondered its feelings on the matter for a moment, only splitting its focus between spreading its Domain and pondering why it wanted to continue to call her father Dad.

It also pondered the message it had received with no small amount of Glee.

Before it knew it, hours had gone by as it spread its Domain and saw more of the area that surrounded it. The process was slow but satisfying to watch as it found that this was a good spot for it to spread out. It had ordered its Drone to begin clearing the area and preparing the area for more buildings.

The Core had a dream, one that it enjoyed envisioning as it watched its Drone and its Domain work. A city spreading out, one like the one it had envisioned when it was given the choice of Core species to become. The longer it imagined the city, the more it changed subtly and the more fantastic it became.

It was unsure how realistic it was with its imagination, but that was a problem for later. Until then, it watched as its Drone cut down another tree with invisible tools and prepared it for storage.