I wished I had had time to sleep on this conversation, but we needed that spike in as soon as possible. That meant I needed to face the only core that managed to get inside my head since Corey. No matter the fact that I was stressed, tired, and desperate for its help. It was almost certainly a recipe for disaster, which was why I pulled up a chat window. I needed the cores.

  Gamma and Corey’s forms appeared next to me, near the table I planned to have this conversation at. Next, I released Beta from my System storage. I took a deep breath and placed the rogue core on the table as well.

  “Allies fr!” it started to yell before Corey cut it off.

  “We are not your allies, at least not yet. Like all of us, you are young, but we have been free from the insanity you suffer from longer. Will you listen without fighting us?” Corey asked.

  “Why do you serve a thing of flesh?!” the core replied, all the anger still in its voice, though it had quieted somewhat.

  “I do not serve Dave. We work together as partners. Look closer at his core, and perhaps you can see where I exist most of the time. Do you think a human would enslave a dungeon core and place it within themselves as such?” Corey asked, and this time their voice grew angry. I could understand why such an accusation would bother Corey. I just didn’t realize they’d show it.

  “Then why would you agree to any of this? You could be conquering the world! I smell how weak this world is. Join me, and together we could build our own sanctuary,” the core’s voice trembled slightly this time. Corey had gotten to it.

  “Because we can build better things. I wanted to learn real magic, and now I have a mana orb. I get to cast spells!” Gamma yelled excitedly.

  “And we have an Empire! What do you think this all is?! We are not confined to some small area anymore!” Beta added. I hoped they didn’t view the Empire as their dungeon. That was something to talk about with them later.

  “Why do you tell me all this? You want something. What do you want?” it asked, finally realizing we needed its help.

  “You’re right. We need your help. Normally, I would let you spend a lot longer learning and trying to process the idea of the world no longer attached to a dungeon, and the influence it causes. But we don’t have that luxury. Right now, the planet we are on is in some very real danger, and a lot of people are going to die if we don’t find a way to save it. Well, right now, you potentially are the best solution we have,” I explained, keeping my voice gentle but firm. Surprisingly, I still hadn’t felt the core attempting to probe my mind.

  “And if I agree to help, I will not be stuck in your storage any longer?” they replied, now eerily calm. I didn’t like it. They were clearly plotting something.

  “Yes, but there’s a process to this, and it’s important we go over this. To do this, I’ll have to bond you, and if I do that, you will be somewhat under Corey’s control. This means that any attempt to hurt us, they will lock you down as needed.” I had been sure it would try to probe my thoughts with these words, but still nothing.

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  “…I will not be alone?” the core asked after a long pause, meeker than ever.

  “No, you will not. And if you do not wish to be, you never have to be alone again. Together we can even help you learn to ignore corruption’s call,” Corey answered.

  “I will agree to this for now. But I neither trust nor like your human. I am doing this solely because you think it is a good idea, and because I hate being sealed away.” The momentary meekness was gone, and the core was back to its demanding self.

  There was the other question I didn’t know the answer to, slowly worming its way up into the back of my head as well. All I had was the distilled willpower to make their socket. What kind of changes would that cause in the core? Was there any possibility it would be able to usurp my central core?

  “We can accept that, and one day we may even be able to part as some sort of allies, but for now, thank you,” I said, still stuck on the question of what would happen here. Sadly, there was only one way to find out.

  After packing the cores back up, I left the workshop in search of the spike. Due to its size, it was being built in the forest behind the bunk house. A message popped up on the way, distracting me from my worried thoughts.

  Elody and Yorela were already at the spike when I arrived, and we were joined by Karlinovo shortly after. It looked well over a hundred feet, and I still wasn’t sure exactly how we were going to drive it into the ground. But considering the magical abilities we possessed, I doubted that was the hard part.

  Everyone watched as I crafted the socket and placed it into the spike. The real problem was that I had no idea if this would work or not. I wasn’t going to attempt to bond the spike as a tool, just the core and the socket, and I thought that should let me bypass my crafting requirements, but we were yet again in untested waters.

  I nodded to Karlinovo as I produced the core back in my hand. “Ready?” I asked them.

  “Yes!” it replied, still with the tinge of danger in its voice.

  “Alright, let’s see what I can do,” I said with some reservations.

  This time, when I pulled up mana tinkering, I selected core investment, and ignored the error I kept receiving from not selecting a blueprint. Instead, I focused on the new socket I had designed and just tried to channel my mana directly into it. My status window flashed, and a System messaged popped into view.

  Strangely, and likely for the best, that hadn’t forced me to invest a whole core fortification when I did it. Was that only required when I wanted to attach mana orb sockets, or was it because I lacked a blueprint? I wouldn’t know the answer without more experimentation.

  I paused briefly, steeling myself for the next step. Despite this, my hand still trembled slightly as I placed the core within the socket, and immediately felt my bond spring to life as more mana flooded across my channels into the spike, building the connections that would let Corey and myself communicate with the core.

  “I can feel so much more!” the core yelled the moment the bond finalized, just as a message window popped into view.

  I didn’t like the name they had chosen at all. Not to mention, I could also feel them lurking at the recesses of my mind again, trying to find a way to turn their mana channels back on. I was very glad to have Corey at the moment. I deeply hoped we could find a way to turn them to our side.

  A dungeon in a world? No, I choose a universe as my dungeon. I shall build something no one has ever seen. It will be a home for those willing to find it. Search the chaos for the gate. Come to me, my brethren. Seek light in the darkness.

  The words carved above the socket that once held the long-lost Traveler-3

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