“Wow, you were right,” Dad confirmed a few hours later. The elf had taken an absurd amount of time, in Rhamiel’s opinion, to look over every building that had been built so far. He had even looked through the wreckage of the buildings ruined by the Goblin Dryad and the construction of the Architect’s Library.

He had confirmed Joselin’s words that nails weren’t used in the construction, nor any other type of joining medium like resin, screws, or glue. He even took the time to find out if the wood had been fit together, cut pieces out to make them fit together, and held itself together without outside help but found nothing.

“My conclusion,” Dad grumped, upset for reasons Rhamiel did not understand. “It’s some weird, sideways, Dungeon Core cheatery. Not even classes that focus on construction can not use nails or joints.”

“Oh, uh,” Joselin trailed off. “I never noticed.”

Dad shook his head and smiled, “Well, you neglected to take those architecture design courses in Scout School.”

“What?!” Rhamiel shouted. “You had the opportunity to take an architecture design class and didn’t?! Come on, Joselin! That would have been helpful now!”

Dad burst into laughter.

“Rhamiel, Dad was kidding. There was no Architecture Class in Scout School,” Joselin rubbed at her temples. She looked up a minute later and told him with exasperation, “Aren’t you glad Mom is not here yet?”

“Oh yeah,” Dad agreed. He let out a small peal of nervous chuckles, absently rubbing the back of his head. “She would have smacked me for that one.”

“Why?” Rhamiel asked accusingly. “For lying about non-existent school classes?”

Both elves looked at each other; their smiles grew as Joselin said, “Dad wasn’t lying. He was joking.”

“What’s joking, lying, but where everyone laughs at me after the fact?” Rhamiel stated sadly.

“No, uh, yes? It’s kind of like lying but meant entirely for humor,” she explained. “You know, it’s meant to make people laugh. What Dad just did was closer to sarcasm, and I do not appreciate it,” she snapped, glaring.

“Not just sarcasm, it was also a joke,” Dad defended. “It can be both.”

“Yeah, but it is always cheap humor. That’s what Mom says, and it’s why she always hits you when you do it. And that,” Joselin smirked. “Is funny to me.”

Dad stopped as a line of Mana passed through Rhamiel’s Domain and moved into Dad’s pocket. He withdrew his crystal communication plate and smiled at what he saw. “Well, I guess your Mother’s a fey beast; we said her name too many times. Summoned her.”

“Mom is not her name,” Joselin argued.

Dad shushed her; Rhamiel connected to the line of Mana with a bit of its own as Dad pressed on the center of the crystal. “Hello there, Dear.”

“Hey, Corinth. How’s Joselin?” Mom asked. She had a pleasant, smooth voice that was calming.

Looking up at Joselin, he smiled,” Oh, she’s fine. There have been some interesting things going on since we last spoke. How close are you to me?”

There was an extended pause that dragged on long enough that Rhamiel was unsure what was going on. It was a minute later when she spoke again, and she sounded chipper than she had a moment earlier. “Pretty close, maybe a few hours away if we don’t stop. Without leading the entire group here, I could be there in a few minutes. It’s such a drag,” she moaned, exasperated.

“Sorry, but we need them all here,” his gaze turned contemplative as he looked at Joselin. “Wait, please tell me that Hutch and Lohk are with you.”

“Unfortunately, Herron Lohk died in the ambush a few days ago. Her Son and apprentice are with us. Hutch, though, is here and wheezing the whole way here. I have never seen someone so ruggedly built and unfit for wilderness travel. Not fighting or surviving, travel. It is rather sad.”

There was a sound on her side of the conversation, a male voice, different but similar to Dad’s voice. It was more profound, where Dad’s was richer. Rhamiel could not tell what was said; he only heard her response: “Yeah, I said it! Who tried to eat the glowing fruit from an Applewood Golem?”

Dad laughed out loud. His hearty and bold laugh made his entire face light up, dismissing the remains of the shadowed, serious face upon his arrival. Rhamiel was glad that Dad was not such a stick in the mud, just a man who could be severe sometimes.

There were a few more remarks back and forth, and Rhamiel and Dad could only hear Mom’s side of the argument before she returned to their conversation. “So, I am this close to ditching them and going to my baby there to give her a big mom hug!” she gushed.

“No, no,” Dad said quickly. “I mean, please don’t. You are only a few hours away from us anyway, and if he keeps causing you problems, you can mute him, right?”

“Oooooh, I hadn’t thought of that yet,” she said, mischief in her voice. “Oh, I can also blind him for an hour.”

Rhamiel was not sure how to take this; this woman sounded crazy.

Silence was on the line for a few seconds until Mom said, “Nah, better not. Hard to walk if you can’t see where you are going.”

“Thank the Outer Gods,” a thankful voice said clearly from her side of the conversation.

“Yeah, better thank your lucky stars that you still have use. Otherwise, I would be a bit vindictive with you and all your whining and stupidity.” Mom told him seriously.

“Dear, please don’t bully him too hard. Not many of us are as powerful as you,” Dad chuckled. “Even if it sounds fun, we need him to like us and the new land we are about to build on.”

“Thank you, Corinth.” There was a rustling as the male voice on the other side of the connection, likely Hutch, spoke. At least one of you appreciates my skills. That and my ability to recite Pi to over a hundred places.”

“No one appreciates that, Hutch,” Mom said from her side of the line. There was another rustling, and Mom used an ability or spell. “Mute!”

There was a long moment when there was a loud inhalation of air over the device. “Yeah, see what happens when you say stupid things? You don’t get to say anything at all for an hour. Ha!”

“Okay, Dear,” Dad said with a smile. “I think I better go so you can focus on getting here. If you need help, call me, and I’ll come after you. Okay?”

“Alright, Dear. Bye!” She said in response, a bit of cheer in her voice.

“See you soon.” He said as he pressed a part of the crystal, cutting off the mana line.

Joselin stood there, staring at Dad expectantly.

“She’ll be here soon as none of them slow her down too much,” Dad told her. “In the meantime, what do you think of using your Mana and Drone summing power to help Rhamiel build this Library faster so he can focus on other things? Like houses?” he suggested.

He gestured to the construction site, and Joselin looked at it dismayed. The Drones were moving in their semi-invisible way, building the Architects Library; one was preparing the foundation, and the other was sticking wood planks together. It was coming together, especially with Rhamiel using his Mana Processing Skill to process logs into boards for them to use. It was carefully managing its mana amount, halting its input of Mana into Domains expansion and focusing on speeding up the production of pieces needed to build the Library.

Every component was processed, speeding up the construction by a few minutes, and Rhamiel was eager to see it done.

“Fine,” Joselin agreed. “It’s just… boring.”

“Well, so was learning to make your arrows. But tell me that that skill was not useful. But if you are bored, you can go over there and try to help build-”

“No, never mind,” Joselin quickly interjected. “I’m good. Summon Drone!” She announced, beginning her contribution to Rhamiel’s building. She hurried over to get closer to the construction and away from Dad, who was smiling at her antics.

Dad shook his head. “Rhamiel, you are newly born, so that I can assume the answer. But have you heard the story of Yearlos the Deceiver?”

Rhamiel did not have to think about it for more than a moment. “No, I haven’t heard of any other Cores since I fell from the sky. I know they exist, but I know nothing about them.”

Nodding, Dad spoke. “This story was told to me by my Father, and his Father told him, for he was there when Yearlos first arrived as a beast of little threat. It appeared as a small cat, black and white, with feathered wings and a limp in its stride. My Grandfather took pity on the beast, seeing it not as a threat but as a twisted animal who needed help. It only took a week for them to discover the surplus of people going missing inside the city. It is an unfortunate state of affairs when a few people going missing is not uncommon.”

“What happened to them?” Rhamiel asked.

“Rhamiel, we have known of the different types of Spirit Cores for a long time. I do not think we know of every type since I have never heard of a Civilization Core before you. And Yearlos, it was a Beast Core that bound itself to ethereal shadows. Once inside our gates and left alone, it began hunting everyone below level thirty. It avoided anything more than two opponents at once and consumed those it slew with its shadows. My Grandfather believed, as his peers believed that it leveled up by killing, like normal, but it had extra perks or a skill that granted it more power if it ate its victims.”

Rhamiel gave him a moment, leaving an amiable quiet between them for a long moment.

“Did they stop Yearlos?”

Dad nodded, “I wish I could say my Grandfather killed it, but no. He told my Father that it took the Guard Captain to kill it, but they failed until they discovered its ability to incite hallucinations and insanity. They thought they had killed it six times,” Dad shivered.

“I brought this up to ask a question. Please tell me that you aren’t lying to us. I know you swore on Destiny that you did not intend us to harm, but… my daughter was already here, now with my wife and the survivors of Patrov on the way… I am just worried that you are waiting until all of us are here; then, you will open up the ground and eat us all.” He rubbed at his face, releasing a stress-filled sigh as he looked back at Joselin. “I guess I just needed to say that I hope you are not going to drop the other shoe on us.”

“I would never!” Rhamiel exclaimed. “I don’t wear shoes, Dad, you know that.”

His smile widened exponentially, and then he let out a peal of barking laughter that reverberated across the clearing. It took him a solid minute to calm down from the sudden hysteria. The fit made him take a few steps back into one of the storage sheds. After catching his breath, he said, “Please tell me you know what that expression means. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

Rhamiel took a moment to think about it. “Given the context, I think it is waiting for something unavoidable. Like how you guys found me, a Spirit Core, and now you are just waiting for me to eat you, your wife, and your kid the first chance I get. Right?”

Dad blinked a few times. “Well, uh, yeah, that’s right. I was not expecting you to know that. Please tell me that you are not secretly intelligent behind this childish and innocent face.”

The Core did not answer for a moment: “Huh, I don’t think of myself as intelligent. I didn’t think of myself almost at all, at least until you got here and started asking all these questions. Now you are making me, what’s the word? Look into myself and think about my actions.”

“Introspection?” Dad offered.

“Hmmm,” Rhamiel said quietly. “I think so; it sounds right. Anyway, you have made me a bit more introspective and-”

Rhamiel paused a disturbance of Mana and strange powers moving into and through its Domain. The magic moved through like an errant breeze, quick and noticeable to the Core as the trails of magic accumulated at Dad’s feet.

An explosion occurred, the detonation like the cracking of thunder and the sound of a dozen felled trees hitting the ground at once. The strange magic immediately knocked back Dad, but he tucked himself into a ball, rolling a few feet before rising to a crouch. He drew his bow and aimed an arrow at where he once stood, a cloud of dust blocking his sight of the offending thing now there.

While Dad could not see it, Rhamiel could see through the cloud. What stood in the cloud of dissipating sparkling Mana was an elf, like Dad and Joselin. Rhamiel was reasonably sure it was a female, given the similarities this one shared with Joselin compared to Dad.

This female stood around six feet tall and had high cheekbones that seemed much more defined than Dad’s or Joselin’s. But she had long blonde hair tied loosely back behind her and sparkling green eyes that stood out against her pale skin.

She wore a white blouse under a mottled black and purple cloak that sparkled as if made of the night sky. She wore a deep scarlet skirt that hung from her waist to just below her knees, with vertical creases that looked purposeful in their design. Dark brown boots that were scuffed and scratched tied together her entire ensemble, the only dirty part of her.

Rhamiel watched; there was nothing else it could do now as the dust cleared, and Dad could see the woman standing there.

He released the tension on his bow, lowering the arrow tips as he stood up from the ground. “Really, Elgeia?! You could have killed me that time!”

While he could see through the cloud, she could not. “Corinth? I hear you, but I can’t see you.” She waved a hand around her, muttering a short phrase, and the dust about her dissipated in a burst of wind. Blinking, she looked at Dad and smiled widely, “Oh, finally! Someone I can stand to be around!” she cheered.

“Mom?” Joselin said, confused at the woman’s sudden appearance.

“Mom?!” Rhamiel exclaimed. Then said in a more emphatic voice, “Mom!”

“Josie!” the woman cheered, hurrying to Joselin and wrapping her arms around her. The young woman was so stunned by her Mother’s appearance that she allowed the full embrace, an act that she immediately regretted.

Rhamiel could hear several distinctive pops from their embrace, and Joselin groaned at the force in her hug. The Core was sure that if she squeezed any harder, Joselin would take damage.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“I missed you both so much. Everyone else in Hamlet is so whiny, especially Hutch. I mean, Gods, even muted, he somehow managed to tell me and everyone else that his back was hurting from his terribly built pack. His pantomime, not mine,” she explained in a rush of words. She immediately began to mime the actions in question, and Rhamiel agreed that would get annoying.

“So after Hutch did this whole thing, I used my Transposition spell to get here and to you two in a hurry. Now!” she exclaimed, smiling widely. “All my stress has melted away, and now I am happy again.”

Dad shook his head, wistfully smiling at Mom, “So, you just left the rest of them there. In the middle of nowhere? Waiting for some Errant Demon or Scion Executioner,” Dad squinted at her acusingly.

Mom turned, putting Joselin between herself and Dad. “please, stop using that husky disapproving stare that does nothing for me, I mean, to me,” she said in a way that implied something different. Rhamiel had no idea what.

Joselin groaned in disgust, “Mom, seriously.”

“Yes, I’m serious,” she said, releasing Joselin from her arms and holding her shoulders. She kept Joselin at arm’s length between Dad and her as she said, “I hate it when he looks at me like that.”

“Honey, I’m serious. You left them out there. What IF something gets them?” Dad questioned.

“Oh, they’ll be fine for a little while. I used a scanning spell, and it said there were no monsters,” she said, releasing Joselin. “But I would suggest you go get them before something does go and eat, kill, or otherwise maim them. I am going to stay here with our daughter.”

“Me?!” Dad asked incredulously. “Oh, no, no, no. You left them there; go back and get them.”

“But if I go back, I think I may send Hutch into the upper atmosphere the next time he complains about anything. I mean, seriously, Corinth. At the bare minimum, survival courses in school are mandatory. He should know how this all works,” she groaned.

Dad walked around. Joselin, the living shield, stood beside Elgeia and took her into his arms. “I missed you too. I’ll go get them, IF, and I mean IF,” he gave her a hard stare. “If you promise to talk to Rhamiel and help him a little. We need him to finish his building to get the next ones going.”

“Who’s Rhamiel?” she asked, breaking their embrace and looking at him confused.

“Oh, uh, He?” Joselin looked questioningly at Dad. “Since when was it a he?”

He shrugged, “It just sounds like a he.”

“Oh, okay,” Joselin moved along. “Mom, Rhamiel is the name of the Core that I found. The one that is helping us build our new home. Rhamiel, can you say hi to Mom?”

“HI, Mom,” Rhamiel exclaimed cheerfully. Elgeia spun around in a circle, out of Dad’s embrace, and looked around her as if trying to find a hidden foe. “I know they said my name already, but I’m Rhamiel, the Civilization Core!”

“Oh no,” Dad sighed. “This is probably not going to end well.”

“Where is it?” she said in low tones. “I can hear it, but I can’t see it.”

“Mom, mom, please,” Joselin pleaded. “He’s fine. He could have killed me days ago, but he didn’t. And this was before he knew about the rest of you and the town.”

The Core knew she had been practicing some of these excuses, these lines of reason for the last day whenever she was alone. She did it purposefully while away from Dad, so he tried not to comment.

“Corinth?” she asked, turning to look at Dad.

He gave her one slow, tentative nod. “So far, so good. I think it will be fine. Especially since he gave her a subclass that made her his conscience.”

“What?!” Mom let out in surprise. She turned to Joselin, who stared at her with a wide-eyed smile. “What?”

“Elgeia, either you need to go get the villagers or make that promise. Do you promise to help him if you can?” Dad asked, staring at her intensely.

Her face dropped from happy to slightly frowning, “Oh, bother. Fine, Corinth, I’ll stay here and help if it come up. But I don’t know how it would come up,” she grumbled.”

He shrugged, “That’s alright. Do you know roughly where you left them?” he asked, then gestured for Elgeia to follow him. “Come on, tell me while I get my gear.”

Elgeia’s face immediately picked back up as she followed behind him. She reached him in a moment, walking beside him and quickly looping an arm around him. Dad curled his arm around her, and they walked and talked, mentioning landmarks Rhamiel did not recognize.

“So, that’s mom, huh?” Rhamiel asked Joselin. “She seems neat.”

Joselin sighed, “Oh yeah, she’s… neat,” she grimaced. “At least until they tried to blow up my first boyfriend or cursed me when I tried to follow Dad and watch him fight a Drake Princeling. Stop following in your Father’s footsteps; it’s too dangerous,” she said mockingly. “Mom is powerful and useful, but she is also a bit of a worrywart and a little loose with her magical powers.”

“Really? Anything she can do to help me?” Rhamiel asked shamelessly.

Joselin paused, watching her parents walk away together, arm in arm. While watching them, her expression seemed nostalgic, happy, and sad. When she did speak, it was only after she walked around the house that she remained standing, and she smiled conspiratoriously. “Actually, yes. I think she can. You only need to be yourself and ask the right question.”

“Ooh, I’m excited.” Rhamiel Cooed. “What do I need to ask her?”

Fifteen minutes later, Elgeia returned as Dad left the clearing and headed out of Rhamiel’s Domain. Dad was sad to see him go but was happy to be getting new villagers soon—so happy, in fact, that he told her so.

“Mom, do you think the other Villagers who are coming will like it here?” Rhamiel asked her, his voice an excited stream.

“Mom?” she asked the air, turning around as if trying to find the source of the voice. Where are you? This is rather disconcerting.”

“Oh, I’m here, but I can project my voice anywhere in it,” Rhamiel explained. “But I repeat the original question. Mom?” she asked.

“Yeah, your Mom,” Rhamiel stated. “Dad is Dad, and you are Mom.”

Elgiea looked stunned for a long moment. Her face went blank as she stared into the distance. “You call Corinth, Dad?” she questioned the air, looking up as if she could see a spirit to talk to—or at least something to aim her voice towards.

“Yeah,” Rhamiel chirped. “I don’t think he liked it at first, but he let it go after the first day,” he stated proudly. “Calling him Dad is much better than… Corinth. Bleh.”

She again went silent for a long moment, turning her gaze towards the Architects Library construction site. “And now you are calling me… Mom.”

“Yes,” Rhamiel said hesitantly.

A few more seconds passed in silence as she seemed to consider him calling her Mom. He waited nervously, continuing as a smile curled upon her lips. “Yay, I’ve always wanted a son!” she exclaimed. I wish I could hug you!”

“Yeah, me too,” Rhamiel agreed. “But no arms, just a little gem.”

“Awww,” Mom let out sadly. “That is so sad.”

“It’s not so bad. I’m so glad to have a Dad and a Mom now!” Rhamiel said happily.

“And now, go in for the kill,” Joselin whispered from her vantage point, crouched and hidden in the bushes. Her Ranger Class gives her superior sight and hearing, allowing her to hear her Mom falling into the trap perfectly.

Mom gushed at the happiness in Rhamiel’s voice, “Yes, yes you do, sweetie!”

“I just want to be a good Core for the people coming; I just wish I had a way to get more Mana and speed up all my processes. If I had more, I could probably have the Library done before they get here,” Rhamiel sighed. “Oh well.”

“Wait, I do have a Perk that might be able to help you,” she said, a little unsure. “But, uh, I’m not sure I should. It would probably work, but-”

“Really?” Rhamiel exclaimed happily. “Any help you could give me would be beneficial, Mom! I think we can do anything if we work together!”

“And right for the jugular, nice!” Joselin hissed from hiding, pumping a fist and smirking at her Mother. Rhamiel wasn’t sure why she felt so vindictive against her Mother, but the Core would accept an offer of help. Especially from someone as powerful as both Dad and Joselin suggested.

“Well, okay, Sweetie,” Mom sighed. She rubbed at her eyes and sighed as she explained, “I have a Perk that allows me to connect my Mana Pool to another person, allowing them to use my Mana as their own. And I have a lot of Mana; I would not normally suggest doing this. What if we get attacked by monsters?”

Rhamiel deflated, “Yeah, that’s a good point. Is there any way we can let Joselin defend us?” he asked, hoping to get the help and the Mana still. “Or what if I only use some of your Mana? You keep most of it.”

Mom thought about it while Rhamiel let loose with another idea or two. “Or we could find all the monsters and then blow them up first.”

She took another deep breath and said, “No, where’s Joselin?”

“Oh, uh, give me a moment,” Rhamiel said, turning his attention to Joselin. He whispered only to her when he talked to her, “Uh, do you think she’s onto us?”

“Unlikely, but Mom isn’t stupid. So… maybe? Just tell her that I am on my way and will be there in a minute,” Joselin told Rhamiel, then nodded to herself. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” Rhamiel muttered, then returned to Mom. “I found her; she said she’ll be here soon. Why? Oh, do you want her here when we blow them up?”

She shook her head, “No, I want to ask her a question before I do anything.”

“I think she knows!” Rhamiel hissed to Joselin, making sure only she could hear him. “She wants to ask you a question.”

Joselin took a sharp breath. “Okay, okay, okay. She tends to prefer honesty. So if she asks me directly if we conspired against her, I’ll tell the truth. Otherwise, I will play ignorant. You do the same. Got it?” she whispered sharply.

“Got it,” Rhamiel said, then waited a minute to make it look like she traveled before Joselin appeared before Mom.

She walked up from the treeline, using her makeshift spear as a walking stick as she approached her Mom. “Hey, Mom, Rhamiel said you wanted to ask something.”

“Yes, yes, I did,” Mom said, looking around before leaning in. She raised a hand to the side of her face conspiratorily and asked, “Did you tell him to try and use my weaknesses against me?”

Joselin’s eyes went wide, “What? You have a weakness? Mom, I thought you had no weakness. Not fire, nor wind, nor beasts claw, nor surrogate children can bypass your defenses. Right, Mom?” She eyed her Mom with a powerful stare and a sly smile.

“So, what were you hoping to get me to do?” She asked, returning the smile.

“I was just hoping you would use some spells to speed up his Drones or buff his mana potency to see if it gives him more drones,” Joselin shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I was considering using my Share Mana Perk to give him my Mana,” Mom explained. But he was lying on the we can do it together stuff a little thick,” she shook her head with amusement.

Joselin chuckled, “Actually, that’s just him.”

“Really?” Mom said, a little surprised. “So he is just a few days old, huh?”

Joselin nodded.

“Huh, alright then,” Mom nodded, smiling widely. “Alright, Rhami, can I call you Rhami? Of course, I can. I’m Mom. Where are you? If I am going to buff your Drones and then share my Mana with you, I will need to touch your Core. Just don’t expect this often.”

“Why not? This sounds useful, a good shortcut with a plethora of uses!” Rhamiel cheered.

“Simply put,” Mom grimaced. “It’s not comfortable. It is pretty painful.”

“An unlisted negative?” Joselin asked, grimacing as well.

Rhamiel looked between the two women and was surprised to see their familial similarities. In this case, they had the same grammar. Rhamiel let out a small and short laugh as he said, “Hey, look! You both have the same face right now!”

Rhamiel regretted commenting on it; neither woman appreciated the comparison.

After the rather thorough and loud description of why you do not comment on those sorts of things, Rhamiel got a prompt.

Elgeia Setella (Mom), Mother of your System Guide, is interested in joining your barely existent Settlement. Will you allow him to become a citizen in your Settlement? YES or NO?

After this conversation, Rhamiel wasn’t sure he wanted Mom in his Settlement; she was a little mean. So was Joselin, now that he thought of it, and he was stuck with her as his System Guide. What was one other mean person who wasn’t always mean?

Rhamiel told the Prompt; yes.

Your Settlement now has 03 members!

Acheivement Unlocked: The Family Unit! You have had every member of a single-family join your Settlement willingly. How happy they will be in your rinky-dink little place of a Hovel. Tier 1 Upgrade gained.

System Message: The Achievement System is a way to incentivize Soul Core to do the thing. It is like the Quest System that mortals gain, but yours requires more thought and action and is more inclined to be a little out there. You can only achieve something once, but the bonus can apply to any skill once before you need a higher-tiered upgrade. Check with your System Guide for more information as well as the other Advancement Opportunities.

“Joselin!” Rhamiel called, concerned. “Something happened!”