“Rhamiel,” Joselin stated. “I like it. It sounds kind of Gnomish.”

“No, the original bearer of the name was something this world had never seen before. It called itself an Archangel and tried to fix our world. He fought against the rising flood of monsters and fought back against the greatest evils of his time. I mean, He fought and defeated the Gods in an ill-conceived attempt to stop the Age of Decline for Madness’s sake,” Dad explained with a heavy sigh.

“What is the Age of Decline?” Rhamiel asked, hearing the threads of something it had never heard before in those words. A story, perhaps? Rhamial was curious about that.

“We are in the Age of Decline,” Joselin told the Core seriously. “Over three thousand years ago, an event signaled the beginning of the Age of Decline that history called the Night of Gods Tears. Hundreds of lights fell from the sky in a beautiful shower, but it was the start of a calamity.”

“Every one of those lights was a Core of some kind,” Dad spat. “And they began culling the Civilized species for experience. If it was just the Cores, we could have banded together to take them out individually. But it was also the advent of the monster’s integration into the System. They gained power within the System, gaining ranks that acted like classes, making them a much bigger problem. Then there was the Boss Monsters.”

Dad spat to the side, and the action seemed hateful to the Core. “What are Boss Monsters?”

“The biggest, meanest, and most dangerous monsters in a group, species, or area,” Joselin stated through what sounded like memorization. “They are monsters that are incredibly hard to kill and have evolved to the point of being… categorized by the system as a Boss.”

“Okay…” Rhamiel trailed off. The Core found this exciting and valuable info; it’s not necessarily useful now, but it would be good to know. Maybe. But it had other priorities and spoke to them about what it wanted. “How easy is it to get Karma?”

“I do not know what that is?” Dad said tone annoyed.

“Oh, I know that. Uh,” Joselin said, eyes glazing over as she looked over something within the System. “You have an Attribute called Core Karma. Well, according to this, it is pretty uncommon to gain points for it. This says that Core Karma is like a cosmic scorecard that details when you do something noteworthy. Why?”

Then, before the Rhamiel could answer, she blinked and covered her mouth, “Oh, my Destiny. Yes, yes, you need to do that!”

“Joselin, what is going on?” Dad asked, exasperated.

“Dad, I can see some of the Core’s prompts,” Joselin explained, looking at him wonderfully. “It is impossible, right? Who can look at another person’s prompts.”

He shrugged, “Supposedly, some people called System Seers can, but if it exists, it is the rarest class I have ever heard of. What is this Prompt that has you excited? Remember, what have we always told you.”

Frowning a little, Joselin took a deep breath and answered, reciting from memory, “Never make a System choice in excitement. Take as long as you need because the choice is permanent and will wait for you to choose.”

“That’s right; the same goes for this Core’s choice.”

“Dad, the Core can increase its new Perk choices to a higher Tier by using some of its Core Karma. Cores, unlike us, don’t get tiered perks, but this means it can choose perks normally reserved for a higher level,” Joselin explained, almost bouncing in excitement. She looked towards where the Core’s little crystal lay and then her father’s face and smiled brightly at his astonishment.

“Well, isn’t that something,” he whispered. “I have to agree with Joselin, Core. Do it; this can only mean good things for you and this city you want to build. Especially if you want not to get destroyed for being a Core.”

The Core pulled up the Prompt and accepted it happily.

You have spent Core Karma to increase your Perk choices to ones of a higher Tier. As such, you can only pick Perks with some use due to your environment, companions, or current decisions. As such, here are your three options.

- Blueprint Generation - Every building has a blueprint that exists somewhere in the world, and the System already has access to many of them for system rewards and unique buildings. This Perk grants you access to the Architect’s Library Blueprint, a unique building that can access the portion of the System where all these Blueprints are stored. You will not get a choice of what Blueprint you get; generating a Blueprint is charging this Perk with Mana until a Blueprint appears. Needed Blueprints for City Building have a higher chance of occurring.

- Magic Radar Installation - Grants the Civilization Core, an installation dedicated to absorbing ambient Mana and creating models for map makers to draw accurate terrain Maps. Upgrading this installation can give it more functions, such as early enemy detection, underground tunnel mapping, special item surveys, etc.

- Enchant building - you can designate buildings to add special enchantments to. There are three orders of enchantments, primarily separated by the Catalyst needed for the enchantment. Distilled World Blood for weak enchantments, Purified World Blood for moderate enchantments, and Empowered World Blood.

The Core read them out loud after deciding that it was confusing. Some words here needed help understanding some concepts, and I wondered why these would be considered higher-tier Perks. As it read the descriptions for his Perks, both got more and more stunned expressions that made it concerned.

“What? What’s wrong? Are they bad?” Rhamiel asked concerned.

“Those…” Dad started, pinching the bridge of his nose. “These Perks make me hate you. For a level five, anything, all of them are powerful abilities. I wish one of them were helpful for your city’s defense.” Dad put air quotes up when he said the word city, earning a smack to the arm from Joselin.

“Do you know what you want?” Joselin inquired as she looked over something in her Prompts.

“I- I don’t know,” Rhamiel admitted, voice low. “I don’t understand any of this. What is a Radar? What are Enchantments? What is World Blood? What is a map? What is a Library, and why is one full of Blueprints? Why-”

“No!” Dad interrupted. “Just no, that is too many questions to ask at once. You have to ask questions slowly so that someone can answer them properly,” Dad told it seriously. “Ask me about one of your Perks.”

“Okay, uh… What is an Enchantment, and what can that do for my buildings?” Rhamiel asked, observing its buildings and comparing it to the vision it had a few days ago when it chose to become a Civilization Core. These were terrible in comparison, and I hoped this could help it.

“Enchantments add magic effects to things, equipment, or places. Enchantments require special catalysts depending on what is being enchanted. For you, it appears you need World Blood to enchant things. Rare stuff found only in World Golems or in the oldest of Ash Trees. Long story short, it would be a good Perk to get IF you had one of those Ancient Ash Trees Available to use,” Dad explained, getting a curious look from Joselin.

“What?” he asked exasperated. “I know trees and monsters and what they can give us to sell. I’m a Ranger; it makes sense. It would help if you learned more about them, too,” he grunted.

Unsure what that was about, I asked its next question. “Okay, but what about-”

“You know what? I am going to make this easy,” Joselin chirped. “I think you should take Blueprint Generation. The Enchant Building Perk would potentially be useful, but it could be a while before we find a World Golem or an Ancient Ash Tree,” she trailed off, looking at her father, who nodded in confirmation. “And we need a Perk that could be useful now.”

“But what about the Magic Radar, whatever that is?” that could be useful, right?” Rhamiel questioned.

“With my Dad here and hopefully soon others, right?” she looked at him again, and he shrugged. “We will not need something to help create maps for now. Right? Oh, you don’t know what a map is, right? A map is a drawing that shows the area around you, like hills, mountains, rivers, and everything else. It sounds like this could be very useful eventually. Hopefully, you can get it again.”

She paused and looked at the half-dozen buildings scattered about, “you need better buildings. Something that looks like they can stand against a stiff breeze.”

The Core thought about it, not loving the idea that she could so easily describe their need, and it did not come to that conclusion first. It could not decide if it just disliked the dynamic shift where she could be smart with it or if it appreciated not having to think too hard.

After a moment of silence, the Core said, “Okay, I like this idea.” And it accepted the Perk.

Blueprint Generation(Passive) - Every building has a Blueprint that exists somewhere in the world; the System already has access to all of them for system rewards and unique buildings. This Perk grants you access to the Architect’s Library Blueprint, a unique building that can access the portion of the System where all these Blueprints are stored.

You will not get a choice of what Blueprint you get; instead, you can charge an altar in the central portion of the building with Mana. When an unknown amount of Mana is charged into the altar, a Blueprint will appear. Needed Blueprints for City Building have a higher chance of appearing, and you can instead put a blueprint that you possess upon the altar and fill it with Mana. If that Blueprint can be upgraded, the magic will upgrade it according to the System.

Blueprint Gained - Architect’s Library.

The Core immediately looked at the Blueprint and stopped the invisible Drone in its current gathering task. Rhamiel could not see the Drone but knew where it was anyway, likely because it was part of its Perk.

Again, it cursed its lack of levels. With another level, it could have summoned a second Drone and sped up its building times significantly. It had three points to spend and four to get it. Cursing this pace, it thought about its options and came to a simple conclusion. It added two points to its Core Power, changing it from one point six to one point eight, and one to its Core Mana Regen, turning its four mana regen per hour to five.

Then, it took a moment to consider where to have the Drone begin building its newest asset. There was a limited amount of space, and the wireframe of the building was more significant than that of its houses and storage sheds. Checking the Blueprint, it found the figure for its dimensions at nine thousand square feet and was mostly made from stone and cut wood. Rhamiel was still determining how this would count as a unique building, but it was exciting.

It placed the wireframe in a portion of the clearing that it had spent the last two days clearing while Dad was on his way and sent the Drone to work. It turned its attention to Joselin and Dad and proclaimed, “Alright! Now, I need citizens,” Rhamiel told Dad proudly. “Can you go get some?”

Dad shook his head, “No, I can’t just go get some. It is not like I can go out for a stroll and gather some people. It’s not like going to the market for some eggs and poultry. I would need to travel and convince people that you aren’t a maneater, and I still am not convinced you aren’t.”

“Ah, come on, Dad,” Joselin whined, showcasing her age to both parties. “If it wanted to kill me, it would have done so before you got here. Seriously, please trust me. I would be fine if you went and got Mom and the others.”

“No, I am not leaving you alone with this thing until I know it can keep… you safe-” he trailed off, looking behind them. “What’s going on?”

Joselin looked and shrugged at the piece of wood floating, seemingly on its own, to a pile a short way away from the stream and towards the larger clearing.

“You can ignore that, Dad,” Rhamiel told him. “It’s just my Drone working on building the Architect’s Library.”

“Wait,” Dad stopped him. He rubbed his temples as he continued speaking, “You have an autonomous way to build? Drones? Most Cores that I have heard of have a way to build their deathtrap dungeons themselves. Can you do that, maybe speed up the process? If you wait, that will take forever unless you have a few… Drones.”

“No, I have the one,” Rhamiel admitted, suddenly feeling self-conscious about that fact. It was like he had something to be ashamed of, but it knew it could not control that. “I don’t know if I can; I haven’t seen anything telling me I can do that…”

All three of them were silent momentarily as Dad watched the invisible Drone move bits and pieces from the environment toward the spot where the Library was being constructed. Rhamiel was trying to think if it could do anything except watch its Drone build the Library or expand its Domain. Both felt like worthwhile tasks, but neither would impress Dad. And it wanted to impress him.

“Let’s not worry about that for the moment,” Joselin announced, pulling their attention away and towards her. “Rhamiel, Dad, I think it is time we talk about one of the Prompts I got when I first got this Subclass.”

Dad broke the silence that she let linger for only a moment too long by saying, “Are you going to keep me in suspense? What is the prompt about?”

Instead of telling him, she beamed and showed him and Rhamiel the Prompts.

Congratulations on gaining the System Guide Subclass; it is a responsibility and a Boon to be bound to a fledgling Spirit Core. Let alone the only Civilization Core that has existed in your world for over twenty-seven thousand years. Take pride and work with your partner towards glorious battle, dread victory, or eternal salvation!

System Guide Level 1 - Perks gained! Perk Spells, System Guide, and Core Guardian!

System Guide - The Perks and Responsibility this Subclass is named after. You gain a deeper insight into the Core you are bound to, being able to see their Profile and ask the system questions to assist your Core better. This means sometimes the System will give you Prompts to suggest to the Core if the System can allow it, but this may deny Rhamiel Core Karma for discovery.

Perk Spells - You and the Spirit Core Rhamiel are intrinsically bound, giving you access to some of its Perks in some capacity. Your abilities cannot surpass the Cores, but they can allow you to help where you can. Current Perk Spells available: Summon Drone.

Core Guardian - The main weakness of the Civilization Core is that they cannot casually create Dungeons, Groves, or Hordes full of monsters of their design for defense. This Perk grants you the following Buffs when you are actively defending them within its Domain: Lesser Regeneration, Heighten Physicality, Increase Vitality, Sharpen Wit, Empower Will, and Outer Hope Weapon.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Uh, Joselin,” Dad said, dumbfounded. The man opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to speak but unable to form the words. “What does Outer Hope Weapon Buff do for you?”

She looked it over and whistled, “It covers whatever weapon I actively use in an Outer Divine Aura defined as Hope. Creatures of Despair, Hate, or Fear will take Great Bane Damage, and all other forms of Evil will take Bane Damage.”

“That is…” Again, he struggled to find the words. “That is impossible. Nothing deals Great Bane Damage except…” He looked at Joselin, eyes wide with something extreme glinting in his expression. Fear, horror, excitement, or something else, Rhamiel could not tell.

“The Symphony Paladin?” Joselin asked him back.

“I think so,” he nodded.

Rhamiel was confused, “what is The Symphony Paladin?”

Joselin opened her mouth to speak and was interrupted by Dad, who spoke louder and a half second faster. “One of the fallen heroes who attempted to save the world from the Age Of Decline. They failed, only destroying a few Region Bosses. They were powerful, but the victory was temporary.”

“Because…” Joselin jumped in. “They did not try to fix the root cause of the problem, only fix the symptoms.”

“What is a symptom?” Rhamiel interrupted.

“Oh, uh… When people get sick, they have things that happen to their body. Coughing, sneezing, stomach problems, fever-”

“Boils, nausea, sweats-”

“Cramping, headaches, dizziness, weakness-” Joselin continued.

Rhamiel interrupted them, “What do any of these words mean?!”

Joselin looked at her father, shrugged, and said, “When people get sick, they don’t feel good. Symptoms are the specific way they do not feel good,” she tried to explain.

“Oh,” Rhamiel said, elongating the word. “I’m still unsure what you mean, but I don’t care. Tell me more about the Symphony Paladin.”

“Uh,” Joselin looked to Dad.

“Not much is known; the legend goes back several thousand years. What we do know is from books written about them. We don’t even know if they were man or woman: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, or anything else stranger. We only know that they used a Legendary Lance that no one has seen since that dealt Great Bane Damage to Demons and Fiends,” Dad told them with a shrug. “Honestly, I think the whole thing is a myth.”

“Wow,” Joselin whispered in amazement as she stared into her new status.

Dad coughed, momentarily getting her attention away from her Character Sheet. “Joselin, I think I know where you were going, but why did you bring up your new Perks?”

“Oh, I can speed up the Cores- I mean Rhamiel’s Building by using a Drone of my own,” she announced. Extending an arm, she intoned, “Summon Drone.”

There was a flurry of magic in the area a few feet away from Joselin. It started passing through the Core, feeling not uncomfortable but a little like a breeze through the trees in its Domain. The Mana hurriedly passed in and out of it to arrange itself before the young elf who used the magic.

But when the magic stopped moving, nothing was there to be seen. There was a disturbance in the air, a filled space where a slight breeze was passing around and not passing through. Confirming for Rhamiel that her spell worked, even though she was looking around frantically and checking for what she summoned.

She was spinning in a circle for the third time when Rhamiel stopped her, “Joselin, there is a Drone there; it’s invisible like my Drone.”

“Oh,” she blinked. “Can you control it?”

“Why? It’s your Drone,” the Core asked.

“But how can you use it to build the Library faster if you can’t control it?” Joselin posed the question.

Considering this, the Core tried to give the invisible Drone an order like it would for its own. It was all telepathic, but it did not move. Rhamiel tried for another few seconds to see if it was not thinking hard enough for the Drone to hear it. Still, it did not budge.

After it conveyed this to the two of them, Dad responded quickly. “Did you give it the Drone,” he smirked, looking at Joselin. “If it is a matter of possession, maybe you need to verbally give it the Drone, Joselin.”

She looked at the rough spot where the Drone stood and said, “Uh, Drone, I give you to Rhamiel?”

“Kids, I swear,” Dad groaned. When she looked at him quizzically, he said, “Are you asking it a question?”

“No?” she said in the same questioning tone. Then, when he gave her a hard stare, she repeated, in a more stern tone. “No.”

She returned to the Drone and said, “Drone, I give you to Rhamiel.”

You have gained control of your System Guide’s Drone. Time remaining until destruction: fifty-eight minutes, twelve seconds.

“Oh, it worked,” Rhamiel told them, telepathically sending the Drone to assist the other. “But this Drone will only last an hour. Why? My Drone lasts indefinitely unless it breaks or leaves my Domain long enough.”

Joselin looked unsure, pulling up some more invisible windows and reading them furiously. After a minute, she waved her hand, supposedly dismissing them and shrugging, “I don’t know why?”

“I do. The logic is simple.” He pointed at the general area where Rhamiel’s gem lay near the Artifact Dagger, which he had not noticed yet, “Your ability to summon Drones is a Perk.” Dad pointed to Joselin, “Yours is a spell. There are more defined limits than gained and innate traits gained through the System.”

“Oh,” Joselin spoke quietly. “That makes sense.”

“Now that that is settled and you have another Drone helping your Building go a little faster,” Dad started, smiling at his daughter. “What do you say we see if we can get Rhamiel the level it needs to go even faster.”

“What, how?” Rhamiel asked, excited for this.

He hesitated, rubbing his chin and taking a deep breath, “On my way here, I snuck past a group of Pine Golems. There were only a few, and nothing was special about them. What do you think happens if-” Dad stopped, looking suspiciously around him.

“Let’s just say that I am going to see if we can get you the level you need to get more Drones,” Dad stated. Nodding and looking around, he rubbed his hand on Joselin’s head vigorously.

It was long enough that she struggled against his hand and pushed it away with a scowl, a look that made him laugh.

“Okay, okay, I’ll be back soon, Joselin. For Love’s sake, stay with the Core. Please follow the Ranger Ethos and be both watchful and vigilant. There are no walls yet to keep you two safe from random monsters, and I am starting to believe it; for Destiny’s sake, I am,” he shook his head and breathed. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay, be careful,” she told him, going in and embracing him in a hug. Rhamiel looked on in interest, unsure about its feelings about this event. It did not feel significant, but it was real and looked comforting. It suddenly wished it had arms to join in, but that thought also looked ridiculous. A small gem-like itself with arms big enough to join in would be silly-looking.

When they parted, Joselin told him to be careful again, and then Dad hurried off into the woods and out of Rhamiel’s Domain as fast as he could. A sprint of the Core had never heard of one before.

“Don’t worry, Joselin. Dad is strong, right?” Rhamiel stated and asked at the same time.

“Y-yeah,” she confirmed. Then she nodded vigorously and repeated more firmly, “Yeah, he is. You’re right, Rhamiel; Dad is strong; why am I getting worried?” she asked confidently.

The Core did not share its opinion on why its System Guide was worried. Everything it knew about this world was that this world was trying to kill them, so he was doing something dangerous. Even if Pine Golem’s did not sound that bad, anything trying to kill you should not be taken lightly.

And so they were alone again. Joselin walked around the clearing, watching the invisible Drone carrying wood and loose stones and shaping them into their desired pieces before placing them around the clearing. Rhamiel had pulled up the Blueprint and explained the dimensions of the roughly square building made from oddly familiar materials. It was not a big structure, but it did not have to be to do its job.

A half-hour bled into an hour, then that turned into three, and Joselin had not said a word in a while. She picked up her damaged weapons and cursed quietly as she looked for the needed items. She picked up a long stick from one of the nearby trees and frowned; she flexed it and looked over its length before rejecting it and trying for another stick.

“Uh, Joselin, what are you doing?” Rhamiel asked as it split its focus between her and its little project. It was taking the time to look around its only other buildings and learn about their structure. It was a way to kill time and learn about its chosen craft. It felt a little easier to focus on it since Destiny’s appearance and the subsequent level-up of its Structured Mindset Skill.

She picked up another stick, shrugged, and tossed it aside. “My weapons were damaged beyond repair when that Werejackel was chasing me. All I have is this,” she drew a small knife that looked small, even in her hands. “And this won’t help us against monsters.”

“Oh, so… why the sticks?”

“If I can find a good one, I can tie my knife to the end and make a spear. It won’t be good, but I have a Perk that can help against Pine Golems.” She walked around the house the Core was working on and sighed as she found another stick. It wasn’t sure why that one was no good, but she kept looking.

“A spear,” Rhamiel let the word tumble around in its Crystalline head. “I don’t like that; someone like you needs something cooler than a stick with a metal stabby thing.”

“Look, Rhamiel,” She started, sighing again before groaning and running a hand through her hair. “I need a weapon, like now. I saw Dad’s face before he left, and I don’t know what he is doing, but I doubt it is nice.”

“What do you mean? He said he was going to get some Pine Golems.”

“And once, as a part of my training, he had me out tracking some goblins back to their hovel. It turns out it wasn’t a goblin but a group of Imps with a Drudge Imp leading them around. Their tracks are similar. He later told me that the goal of the exercise was to show wisdom and intelligence, leaving the bigger threat for a more senior Ranger or a brawnier Class,” She shivered at the thought of the Imps. “Long story short, I still have a wound on my thigh from where it stabbed me before I managed to escape.”

“So… what?” Rhamiel asked. “What do you think he is going to do?”

“I don’t know; he’s harsher than other trainers I have heard of but reasonably fair. He won’t do it if he doesn’t think we’ll be able to,” Joselin nodded to herself. Smiling, she found a four-foot stick that was to her liking. She still frowned at its flexibility but shrugged anyway. The one was at least straight, and she immediately walked back to the big rock she had been using as a seat and began tying her knife to the top of the spear.

It took a few minutes of trial and error, but she successfully attached the knife to the stick. She had to sacrifice a piece of her sleeve, cutting it into small strips to get it snuggly on there, but she seemed okay with the result.

Standing from her rock, she lowered her stance and slowly began moving around, swinging the spear slowly, focusing primarily on where the tip swung around. It was interesting, Rhamiel had no idea what she was doing, but it looked nice.

It only took a few minutes of watching her get bored with her exercise, so it returned to its studies of the ramshackle homes and storage sheds it had built. It only stopped briefly when Joselin interrupted it with a new summon of her Drone and gave it to him to speed up the Architect’s Library. At this point, the Library would take days, not weeks, to build, and it was rather pleased.

“Uh, Rhamiel, I think we have a problem,” Joselin said quietly, pulling the Core’s attention away from the roofing of the Storage Shed. She was moving towards the sheds, sprinting in sudden panic and dropping into a slide to get behind the building.

“What’s wro-” Rhamiel started before noticing the movement inside its Domain. Something that had been too preoccupied to notice.

Being able to see everything in its Domain with a little focus, Rhamiel focused on the thing prowling just outside the Treeline. The creature blended into the Treeline upon Rhamiel’s first look, first thinking that the beast had disappeared. Then it moved, and the Core discovered that the intruder in its Domain was a tree. The thing stood over ten feet tall, walking ponderously through the Treeline, pausing, then doing so again. It was slow and steady and terrifying. Worse yet, the thing was not entirely a tree; within the twisting of its bark and branches was another monster.

The wood and plant matter looked like it had violently grown out of this tiny monster’s body, its mottled and pockmarked green flesh broken by the tree that grew out and around the gaping wound in its torso. From that same wound, twisted vines and tendrils of sickly purple flesh followed the woods and twisted around the whole creature.

Its limbs were either non-existent or buried inside the wooden body of the thing entering the clearing. It looked vile, ugly, and wrong, and Rhamiel was disturbed by the seeming and misshapen mass of wood and flesh that comprised it.

“Oh,” Rhamiel whispered to Joselin. “That’s what’s wrong.”