Stealing was wrong, sure—but ten mana every day felt oh so right. I wasn’t going to make a habit out of this, though. Besides, it was only a few coins. Probably barely even enough to buy a loaf of bread, I assumed. Not that I had any actual knowledge on trade in this world.

I forced the mouse to take a vacation the next day.

She wasn’t happy about that at all and voiced her protests several times, but I had my reasons.

“Until Core Bond is ready to use again, no way. It saved your fuzzy little butt once, I’m not sending you out there without our ace in the hole prepared,” I had explained like an overprotective parent, “Rest, eat, do some stuff around here. Hell, you’ve still got that skill point—we can spend the day looking through your options to see which one you like best.”

“I’d rather just go explore,” she responded, turning her nose up and proceeding to the exit.

At the top of it was a rude awakening: I’d sealed the threshold shut last night and had no intents of reopening it for the moment.

“Nope.”

“Come on! I still have to bring that other coin back."

"It's not going anywhere."

After turning around and descending back down the tube, giving me lip the entire time, she settled into lazing around the vault for the morning.

“Great. Well, since you have me as a captive audience, why don’t you list off all of the skills I can choose from?”, she groaned, laying belly-up beneath my mogo bush.

“All of them?”, I deadpanned back, “Oh, yeah. I’ll just read them all off really quick—you know, however many thousands there are. Do you wanna pull up a seat? It’s not like you can plug your ears or leave the room to shut me up once I start—”

“Okay, okay! Jeez, just pick out some I’d like, then.”

Given that I’d bottomed my mana out saving her yesterday, under any other circumstances I was sure that I would have been far less willing to joke around. Not today, though. Because today, one very beautiful number had ticked up on my sheet.

That’s right:

SHARD OF COALESCED WILL LVL: 1 NAME: undefined

Traits:

Skills:

[Botany I]

[Biology I]

[Creator's Insight]

[Mech. Engineering I]

[Textiles I]

Features:

[Manamite Creation]

[Self-Synthesis]

HP: 10 / 10 CATEGORY: Elemental MP: 3 / 50 SPECIES: Dungeon Core WEALTH: 2 SIZE: Tiny XP: 22% MANAMITES: 68 / 200 STR VIT DEX INT WIS PER 0 5 0 9 6 7

Nascent heart of a world-born entity, crystallized from soul energy. Exerts control over a localized area. Criteria for Next Ascension Tier:

Level: 2

Wealth: 5

Cost: 50 MP Virtual Hoard:

➤424.6 Raw Stone

➤235.1 Loose Soil

➤38.2 Biological Material

➤45.9 Raw Lumber

➤6.1 Plant Fiber

I was loaded. Or I would be, soon enough. Which was a good thing, since I’d noticed that my mouse’s level had reached a threshold—the XP cost to level her up had doubled from a nice and affordable fifteen to thirty. Which…

Huh. I guess it worked out to the same amount of days of saving up, but still. This meant that once I got that thirty saved up, I had my choice of ascending her or leveling her up again. It also had the worrying implication that, if this pattern held, in three more levels her level up cost might double again.

My max was fifty, so that would price me out of leveling her up again until I improved that—probably through ascending myself, which was still off the table as I’d need five wealth.

We spent a few hours chatting and going over the various skills while I worked on some small improvements around the base. Installing an axle hooked into one of the walls of her room and slapping a wooden wheel onto it for her to run in was probably the best one I came up with. I also added heavy stone shutters covering the still-sealed grates, which I’d be able to control using two of my mechanical slots. With them in place, I removed the stone filler I’d clogged it with, allowing sunlight to stream back inside.

Eventually, we turned our attention back to picking out a skill for her. I gave her any options that I thought might appeal to her while she insisted that I ‘just hurry up and pick’ the entire time. Eventually I managed to catch her interest enough to listen at least, and she decided to take [Athletics I].

⬘ Athletics I ⬘ The wielder of this skill gains unnaturally-heightened agility and speed, granting a small boost to run speed, jump height and distance, climbing speed and endurance, and swimming speed and endurance. Slightly reduces stamina depletion from strenuous activity. Slightly boosts stamina recovery rate.

TYPE:

Passive

CATEGORY:

Proficiency

“Not bad at all,” I praised her, “You’re turning into a force to be reckoned with already. In fact… hey, you mentioned wanting to go outside, yeah? How about we see what’s up in that tree right above us. The one that the crow used to live in. Climbing that ought to be simple for you now.”

She sighed stretching her little legs as she stood up and made her way toward the periscope. “And what’s your plan if I decide to go exploring anyways once I’m out there? You gonna try and stop me?”

I paused, a bit unsure if she was joking or not. “No—I’ll just be very grumpy and you can be certain I’ll nag you about it.”

The black-and-white furred rodent rushed her way up the pipe to the surface, having to crane her head back to see up into the branches of the towering pine standing high above us. She approached it, finding handholds against the bark and testing them briefly, before beginning to scale the rough surface of it. While her scarred leg still worried me to look at, it never once slowed her down as she hurried upwards and into the branches of the giant.

I switched over to her vision, watching her hop from branch to branch as she made her way to the abandoned nest.

“No eggs, boss. Just an empty nest,” she replied through our link.

“Yeah, unfortunately. Not really a shock at this point. Even if there were some still here, if they didn’t hatch by now then they’re duds anyways,” I explained, adding, “Hey, while we’re up here, how about we head a bit higher? We might be able to get a good look at the surrounding area from up high.”

“I see you’re using me as bird bait.”

“Hmm. I guess, yeah. You know—there’s this parasite I’ve seen stuff about before. It’s super weird, like an alien species. What it does is it infects ants, taking control of their itty-bitty brains, then it commands them to climb somewhere high up and latch on so that other things will find it and eat it. Can’t remember the name of it, though.”

“You’re not helping.”

I snickered, adding, “Relax, you’ll be fine. Worst case, you rush down the tree and home is right there.”

Begrudgingly, she continued her ascent toward the very tip of the tree, clinging on for dear life as she gazed out on the surrounding area, a sweeping field of towering pines. While the sea was to the west, the east could be described similarly, though green instead of blue. This, unfortunately, meant that visibility was laughably low.

But, with what we knew, we could just spot the gap in the forest where the road cut through so far in the distance.

Aside from that, there was little to see of our immediate surroundings.

“From up here, it looks like I could cut through to the south and skip a lot of the rough terrain if I wanted to head back to the road,” she remarked, crawling back down just a bit.

“Yeah. Maybe tomorrow you can check it out. Just be careful, we haven’t scouted over in that area yet.”

“Those travelers might not be there come tomorrow,” she chided back, “I might be able to get us some more if I move quick.”

“They’re probably not even there now. They didn’t seem like they were going to stick around.”

“You can’t know that for sure.”

With nothing else to do up there, she darted down the tree as if it were on fire. She was very nearly at the periscope when she glanced over her shoulder, her neutral expression turning into one I could recognize: a grin.

Goddamnit.

“I think,” she started, formulating an excuse, “I think I’m going to go for a walk. Stretch my legs a bit.”

“Oh, you are, huh?”, I replied back, fighting the urge to groan, “And I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?”

“You will not.” She was already sauntering off and into the woods in the direction of what we’d seen.

Urgh. Stubborn little thing.

“I get that we’re on a bit of a time crunch, but you still have to take care of yourself from time to time.”

“Maybe tomorrow. Besides, isn’t that your job?”

I could take some small solace in the fact that I could still check in on her as she went on her impromptu adventure, and at least the terrain looked far simpler to navigate than anything she had dealt with so far. As opposed to cutting right through the rugged hills, she simply cut through a small river valley to the southeast.

The same river I was actively trying to harness.

Small world, I guess.

I kept working on my projects while she was gone. The aqueduct only took another hour or so to add the finishing touches to, at which point water began to cascade downward through the trough and slowly, steadily fill the reservoir. I didn’t spot any leaks or major issues, so I counted that as a success for now. Really, after all of the work I’d put into it, this final bit barely felt like anything at all. We had running water now, at least.

Naturally, my first order of business was to set up a shallow pool in one of the corners of the vault, along with my best attempt at a zen water fountain, purposefully carving the rock wall to be slightly uneven for best results. Really, it just made me wish I had a proper garden to walk around in.

Hm. That could be a nice large project to work on next—and with the aqueduct, I could actually do some proper irrigation and not just rely on harvesting rainwater somehow. Though I wouldn’t ever be able to walk around in it. Maybe my friend would enjoy getting to do so, at least. I could live vicariously through her, which was a decent consolation prize.

But plants needed sunlight, and leaving an open roof was a nasty weakness to open myself up to—one I’d already corrected once before, and I certainly didn’t see much wisdom in doing it again solely for the sake of this project. Best case scenario, it would help secure a food source, maybe some new construction resources, things like that. Worst case, something big and nasty hops down and smashes me to bits.

Maybe I could find a way to grow plants without sunlight. Until then, I’d hold off. Even the mogo bush was struggling a bit as things were and that was even with the sunlight grates I’d made specifically to keep it alive.

I started carving out a room to the west of the junction leading to the aqueduct, figuring that I could decide what to do with it later—now that I earned experience for building, there really wasn’t any point to not continuously expand, so that was the plan.

For the better part of three hours she scurried along the valley floor, slinking beneath the tall ferns and having to climb up another tree to reorient herself partway through the journey much to her own dismay.

Which lead to us spotting something we hadn’t been expecting at all.

“Definitely man-made, yeah,” I added, responding to the mouse’s initial inquiries about it, “Pretty small, though. Looks like it’s a shack or something—or maybe not, it’s got a lot of space cleared around it.”

I paused for a second, a little confused on how to explain the next bit I’d noticed.

❖ Shimmerwood ❖ Wood infused with liquid moonlight and mana. Actively resists deterioration as a result of the passage of time. Resistant to all non-magical fire sources.

“…The material it’s made of isn’t familiar to me at all. Says it’s called ‘Shimmerwood.’ So definitely not some random hermit's shack, I think.”

“Dangerous?”

I sent a shrug over our link. “No clue. Doesn’t look immediately dangerous but it’s definitely an unknown. Doesn’t look like a 'goblin war camp’ like those folks were talking about yesterday so your guess is as good as mine. You thinking about taking a look, or just sticking to your plan of getting the money?”

“Well, I am right here anyways,” she trailed off, already scurrying back down to the forest floor to approach the site.

What we found wasn’t a war camp or a hovel, though.

It looked like a shrine.

Tall pillars formed of stacks of square-cut marble slabs formed a loose circular perimeter around the clearing, with wildflowers sprouting up from what had once been a cobblestone path. At the center of it all was a wooden construction, small but ornate, with an overhanging roof sheltering an altar of some kind.

I had to briefly explain the purpose of places like this to the mouse; she found it odd that humans would waste their time building monuments to beings with infinite power. “If they are all-powerful, why do they not simply make their own shrines? It would certainly be faster,” she questioned.

“That’s not really the point of it. It’s about devotion—like getting someone a gift, y’know?”. Even after explaining it a bit, I still felt wary. This was a world where magic existed, unlike my old one. If that logic stood up, then who knew what kind of possibilities there were for divine beings? I made sure to remind her to tread lightly and not disturb anything as she explored.

There weren’t any people around, and it looked like there hadn’t been in quite a while either way.

The tooltip hadn't been lying, though. The building itself seemed to be entirely untouched by the ravages of time--even the paint looked fresh, neither chipped by weather nor faded from years of sun.

“Not really getting the best vibes from this place,” I grumbled, “There’s something going on here.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I sense it too. The air’s heavy here.”

Huh. Well, I couldn’t really feel that part, but I took her word on it. She didn’t show any signs of abandoning her path though, trotting onwards towards the central structure with only a modicum of hesitation.

“…You know, back where I came from, it was pretty common for folks to bring tribute to places like this. Gifts. Food or drink, pieces of art, clothing, money. Not sure if they do it here, though,” I explained, drinking in every detail of the place as she stepped closer.

“They do that here too, or at least they used to. I wouldn’t recommend taking any if you know what’s good for you, though.”

She stopped in her tracks, and I about jumped in shock.

That wasn’t her voice, yet it had come through our link all the same.

“Oh, spooked you, did I?”, the phantom voice butted back in with a bellowing laugh, “I thought I smelled core magic. What a pleasant surprise! Though I’m not sure if I should be insulted that you thought so lowly of me to send a mouse as your envoy. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

The mouse had done her best to turn tail and leave, spinning around and breaking into a dash only to find the shrine still in front of her anyways, screeching to a halt.

“Apologies. Let me just,” the voice continued, the world seeming to melt and shudder for a moment like the entire thing was a mirage, revealing the treeline still ahead of her, “take care of that. Now, again, how can I help you?”

“Who are you? How are you using our link?”, I sputtered, not bothering to wait for a response as I urged my scout, “Move, move! Get out of there!”

“Boss, I can’t move,” I heard her voice straining over our link, “S-something’s grabbed my tail, but I can’t see it.” Through her eyes, I watched her push forwards only to get yanked back as her own snagged appendage betrayed her, though a glance backwards confirmed that there was nothing there.

“Ah, so… if you don’t know who I am, you’re certainly not here just to seek my audience, then. Well, I believe an introduction is only fair game,” the stranger chimed back.

The air behind the mouse seemed to shimmer for a moment, the outline of someone coalescing as the deformed sky molded and reshaped, colors bleeding and melding and splitting into the shape of a person.

“The name is Cheshire. You may think of me as a guardian spirit of this forest,” chimed this colorless shape as it twisted into the form of a lithe man with a lurid grin, bent at the hip with my mouse’s tail pinched between clawed fingers, “And it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

He stood back up, taking her with him dangling helplessly like a clock’s pendulum in his grasp. She wracked her body, throwing it about to try and escape him, tiny claws scratching and swinging against this stranger's hand until I spoke.

“Stop.”

CORE-TOUCHED GUARDIAN OF THE BOREAL WOOD LVL: 31 NAME: "Cheshire"

Skills:

[Core Link III]

[Core Bond III]

[Core Synergy III]

[Core Boost I]

[Unarmed Combat VI]

[Tracking IV]

[Cooking II]

[Disorienting Howl]

[Aura Scrying]

[Illusion Magic IV]

[Spatial Magic IV]

[Enhanced Strength V]

[Enhanced Vitality V]

[Enhanced Dexterity V]

[Enhanced Intellect III]

[Enhanced Wisdom V]

[Enhanced Perception V]

[Athletics III]

[Acrobatics II]

[Charismatic Mien]

+12 Skills

HP: 493 / 493 CATEGORY: Demihuman MP: 209 / 212 SPECIES: Wolf SP: 195 / 195 SIZE: Medium XP: ?? GENDER: ♂ STR VIT DEX INT WIS PER 62 45 51 50 59 60

A demihuman created from a wolf. Possesses uncannily powerful senses. Blessed with power in exchange for custodianship over Old Ellomere Forest.

There was no way. No way to outrun him, outmaneuver him, or outplay him. We didn’t even have [Core Bond] ready yet. We had one option right now, and that was to pray we didn't piss him off.

“Ah, it’s quite alright. I was simply overcome with curiosity,” he remarked, cupping one hand around the mouse’s body and releasing his grip on her tail to hold her in a less unpleasant way, “It’s quite rare to see a core giving its monsters autonomy like this.”

“Employees,” I corrected, “She’s my employee.”

He paused, looking down at her right in the eyes.

“…So she is. How remarkable. My, and what odd choices for her growth. A core that isn’t a gibbering lunatic and a mouse with the mind of a human. Yes, I think a meeting like this deserves celebration, don’t you agree?”

“Whatever you want from us, we’ll do it. Just please, don’t hurt her, alright?”, I pleaded.

He rolled his eyes, erupting into a laugh. “A core with compassion no less, of course. Yes, yes—I have no plans to hurt your pet. I simply wish to have a meeting; a proper one, at that.”

While I was still on edge and not at all ready to trust this individual, I would listen. It wasn’t my life that was at stake here right now, and I couldn’t imagine how afraid she felt over all of this. Still, he moved gently, his narrow legs carrying him to the shrine. He nudged my mouse onto his shoulder and gathered a few odds and ends from the shelf of offerings on the shrine: a teapot, some leaves, and a single cup.

Seemingly satisfied with his selections, he turned away from the shrine and took a single step.

And appeared right within my vault.