We made it to safety. We were out of the zoo, across the road, and approached the double doors of the school building. After everything I’d been through that day, I knew I was ready for some rest. The boost of energy after my swim in the pool had disappeared. The mana funnel was gone, and I was pretty sure the monsters were dealt with. At least the dangerous ones were gone. If anything else attacked the school, they could just wait until I woke up from a nap. Or the men with rifles could take care of it.

Wait. Why were they pointing rifles at us?

“What the fuck,” Carter exclaimed.

“Your kind aren’t welcome here,” Commander Hogan said from his place behind the line of riflemen.

His pompous baritone resonated down the halls of the school, echoing off the lockers and walls. When I looked at his face, the expression did not match his voice. It sounded like he was apologizing, but his eyes told the truth.

“What the hell does that mean?” Carter demanded.

I agreed but kept my mouth shut. I was too damn tired to care.

“We don’t want you freaks around our kids,” someone shouted behind Hogan.

I realized what had happened. Somehow, Hogan had convinced the people inside that we were also a threat. I wasn’t concerned with how he did it, though. I had no intention of staying here long-term anyways. I had a family to get back to, and I’d sworn to protect my country. I couldn’t do that here, assuming there was even a country left to protect.

“Yeah, it would be a shame for us to be a bad influence on the children whose lives we just saved,” Andy cut in, his voice laced with sarcasm.

“No need for that,” Hogan said smoothly. “We’re all truly grateful for what you did, if you did, in fact, do anything.” His voice echoed magnanimously through the school building. I could see a bead of sweat sliding down his temple, and when I focused, I could hear the rapid beating of his heart. The man was petty. I had challenged his authority, Carter and Chavez had both defied him publicly, and he was just trying to save face by painting us as the dangerous ones.

And what did he mean we may not have done anything? I bristled at the insinuation. Well, I didn’t bristle so much as twinge with annoyance. The man had no idea what we’d just been through. Two of us were unconscious. Hell, I might be unconscious and not know it.

“But humanity has to take care of its own,” Hogan continued as if he regretted the decision he had to make. “And the concerned parents have made their decision.”

“You really are a special kind of ass,” Carter fumed. I could tell she was finally relieving some of that built-up tension after combat. Honestly, I was just glad it wasn’t directed at me.

“How dare you!” the commander thundered. “I am trying to do what is best for the people here.”

“And this solution makes you the dumbest rock in the rock pile,” Carter shouted back. “Let’s get out of here.” And so saying, she turned on her heel and stormed off.

“That arrogant son of a bitch!” We hadn’t made it a block before she exploded into a true tirade. “Doesn’t he realize what we just did?”

“He probably doesn’t,” I said tiredly.

“What?” She whirled on me, and I backed away from the heat in her gaze.

“I’m just saying that he probably has no idea.”

“We told him what we were going to do,” Carter seethed.

“Yeah, and we started by cutting up dead bodies and playing in their guts. I mean, just look at us.”

My pant leg was missing up most of my thigh, hinting at daisy dukes, but my other pant leg ruined the effect. My wife would have said I didn’t have the legs for it anyways. Not that you could see my legs because most of my skin was still covered with the black substance from the pool.

Carter’s top half was a mess of bloody clothing, while her bottom half was completely clean, if still damp. Half of Andy’s shirt hung open, exposing his chest, and the opposite arm was missing from the elbow down. Oddly enough, I thought the other two members of our party were probably in the best shape. Aside from them being unconscious, of course.

“Looks like a storm is rolling in,” Andy spoke up, and his voice sounded as tired as I felt. “Should probably find someplace to lay low for the night.”

We all agreed and made our way toward the nearest structure away from the school. It turned out to be an outdoor pool. We cut open the chain around the gate and went through the front entrance.

A three-story climb could take a person to the top of a one-person water slide that emptied into a shallow pool. There was a lazy river that would take less than thirty seconds to go around completely. If you were incredibly slow. The pride of the pool was the platform high dive, which rose about thirty feet above the pool. It looked new, given the lack of peeling paint on its side. I could even see a plaque on the side of the tower and what I assumed was someone’s name. My eyes paused on a shallow section of water that was roped off from the much deeper play area, presumably so children under two wouldn’t try to drown themselves as they went into deeper water. My daughter tried to do that once. I missed my daughter.

Even though it was an outdoor pool, I still picked up the unique scent of chlorine from the water. The fence around the pool area was still intact, which was promising, but we didn’t trust the security of the fence, after what had happened to the far more solid zoo gate. So, we decided to spend the night in one of the locker rooms. The men’s locker room was more filthy, so we opted to use the women’s locker room instead. The floor was concrete, and even though it hadn’t been used in days, it had the ever-present sheen that made it look wet. So instead, we opted to sleep in the showers. The concrete in there at least looked cleaner. Before bedding down, we tried to turn on the showers. They dripped a bit of water but were otherwise disappointingly useless.

“I’m going to raid the lifeguard station,” I said before heading back out into the general compound.

I kept my eyes peeled for killer squirrels as I made my way over to the station. It was a small building, too small for five to sleep comfortably. Plus, the lock on the door was broken… now that I had cut it open to get inside.

I grabbed everything I could carry. I draped multiple layers of towels over my arms. There were even two cots in the back corner, which I could drag easily once they were folded. I stole a box of granola bars from a snack drawer. Lastly, I nabbed a stack of unused paper cups and a 10-gallon, bright orange Gatorade cooler that still sloshed when I picked it up. The water inside was warm, but at least it was clean, and I finally managed to get the taste of whatever that black tar stuff was out of my mouth.

I arrived in the locker room like a hero, my arms bedecked with bedding for sleeping on, cots for comfort, food for sustenance, and water for drinking. I also had a sword over my shoulder and a machine gun on a strap over the other. I was a complete badass. And I found everyone asleep on the floor in the shower. Andy was even snoring.

“No, it’s all good,” I said into the quiet as I closed the door to the locker room and slid the bolt to keep out unwanted visitors. “I’ll take the first watch.”

I ate a granola bar and fished around in my backpack for my water bottle, promptly filling it from the cooler. Finally, I reached into my backpack and pulled out the strange core, which was still glowing with a faint green light.

“Well, it’s about time.” The voice was still only inside my head, but this time I noticed the core flicker as it spoke.

“Are you talking to me?” I whispered. If I was wrong I didn’t want to wake the others and make them think I was crazy.

“Is there another monkey I can talk to?”

“I am not a monkey.”

“No, of course not,” the voice answered. “You have even less hair and are moderately more intelligent. I’m not sure which is better, actually, but it doesn’t matter because you’re all just meat sacks to me.”

“And you are?”

“You may address me as ‘Almighty God’.”

“That position is already claimed.” I rolled my eyes at the orb, though I had no idea if it could see me.

“Not that you would be able to tell the difference.”

“Look, if you want to discuss philosophy, then I’m just going to put you back into my bag. You can come out when you want to be useful.”

“No, no. That is okay. We can try to blow your mind later. Actually, that’s probably just going to happen anyway. Not much going on up there.”

I began moving the orb back toward my backpack.

“Wait! I have information. That new transition you just had in your core. I can help you understand what happened. And about mana.”

“In exchange for what?” I asked skeptically.

“I help you, you help me later. Call it a favor. I wouldn’t have anyone to talk to otherwise.”

“And you can teach me about mana?”

“Mana,” the voice repeated more clearly. “Or power. The energy that is found inside of you.”

“Like my soul?”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. You’re not there yet. It’s the energy in your cores.”

“You can see my cores?” I asked.

“I use mana to see, and your cores are full of it. It’s how I would imagine you would feel if someone were shining a light directly into your eyes.”

“Oh, um… sorry?” I wasn’t entirely sure what to say. It’s not like I could do anything about it. Or could I?

“Well, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Well, then.

“So who are you?”

“I am power!!!” The voice thundered inside my skull, almost causing me to drop the core. “In all seriousness though, I’m just a specialized core. I’m a dungeon core.”

“A dungeon core?”

“Yes! A dungeon. A place that makes monsters that become stronger and stronger over time if they’re not stopped. If you hadn’t cleared my dungeon within the next week, I probably would have taken over the region without much difficulty.”

I thought about the zoo, and the empowered animals we had wiped out. “Dungeon means something very different in our world.”

“Of course it means something different to meat sacks! You don’t know any better.”

“So… you’re a dungeon core. What does that mean?”

“Most cores collect power. That’s the most common type of core out there, especially on your newly-transformed planet.”

“Hold up, transformed?” I interjected.

“You are not going to learn everything if you keep interrupting me. Yes, transformed. As in, your whole system of energy has been altered. Anyways…” Somehow, it felt like the core was glaring at me. I’m not sure how to describe it, given that it didn’t have a face, but it still made an impression. “The most common kind of core holds mana, the life energy of the universe.”

“Can we come up with a better name than mana?”

“Mana is a fine name.”

“It’s a boring name.”

“Come up with something better, then.”

“Says the being without a name.”

“I gave you one option, but you didn’t like it.”

“‘Almighty God’ is not a name.”

“How about ‘your majesty’?”

“I think I’ll call you Corey.”

“That doesn’t sound like the noble name of a wise being.”

“So what other kinds of cores are there?”

“Oh, yes.” I could already tell that Corey enjoyed flouting his superior knowledge. But as long as he was willing to continue as a source of information, I would continue to ask questions. “The second kind of core holds information. When a creature dies, it can sometimes pass along some experience through its core. Usually a very strong experience. Then, whoever absorbs the core receives that experience, usually as a memory. Finally, there’s me. I am the most special kind of core because I have a Will.”

“What is so special about that?”

“What do you –” he cut himself off in frustration at my question. “Gah! I can hold energy, information, and I have the will to use it. I’m basically like you, but without all the mortality.”

“You’re saying that you’re some kind of immortal being?”

“Yes. How would you feel about ‘The Ruler of All Things’?”

“I think I’ll stick with Corey,” I said.

“The Immortal Corey!” the being said in triumph.

“So what was in the pool and all over my skin now?”

“Water was in the pool.”

“And this black shit?”

“Essentially it is corruption that was purged from your body. Throughout your life, you probably made choices that were less than ideal for your body. The mana has purged all of your bad choices so that you are in peak condition.”

“For what?”

“To continue on your path of progression.”

“Progression towards what?”

“How should I know?”

“Aren’t you the Immortal Corey?” I asked.

“Just because I’m going to live forever doesn’t mean I already know everything,” Corey said, distinctly annoyed. “I’m three days old, after all.”

“Is there some momma Corey I need to keep an eye out for?”

“Ha ha ha,” Corey fake laughed.

“Well, how do you not know anything about this progression?”

“I know about progression, but everyone’s path is going to be slightly different.”

“Well, then just the basics?”

“Well, the first ranks are the same for everyone. First, you absorb energy until your body has changed to the point that you can actually see mana around you. This is when your core truly forms, or in your case, cores.

“After that, you have to absorb more energy, but the energy you absorb during this period is very important. It will set your path for future progression, but that is the part I don’t know about because it is different for dungeon cores like me. Or at least I think it’s different.”

“What would your progression look like?”

“I absorb mana. I have to absorb more and more, theoretically taking from more and more condensed sources. Since I’m a dungeon, that means sending out monsters to kill people and drag anyone with cores back to the dungeon so I can absorb their power. Right now there is a flood of mana in the atmosphere.”

“You created that mana funnel, didn’t you?” I said with realization. “That’s why after I pulled you out of the pool, it disappeared.”

“Correct! Yes, there’s so much mana in the air, the fastest way to gather it right now is to simply absorb it from the upper air. That won’t last long. As it sinks down to the surface, animals, humans, plants, and other dungeon cores will absorb the remnants on the surface. Some will still come in from outside, but it will be a mostly closed system.”

“You were talking about your progression,” I said, trying to get him back on track.

“You were the one who interrupted,” he scoffed. “Anyways, dungeon cores are special. We have mana but also have Will.” I opened my mouth to speak, but the dungeon kept going. “No, let me have my moment. Dungeons begin with the ability to affect the mana around us, using our Will. We begin our development three stages higher than humans. You have to form a core, purify your body, then condense your Will into your core. I am a core. I don’t have a body – because I’m already pure, I might add. And I have the will to affect mana. I’m what you would call a Jade rank dungeon core.”

“Jade?” I’d held off asking questions until that moment, but I needed to ask.

“Yes, Jade. As in the rock.” He paused. “You have heard of a Jade stone before, right?”

I shrugged in response.

“Well, I’m a Jade dungeon core, which is where we all start, and unless there’s another dungeon out there that has been very lucky, all of us are Jade right now.”

“How many dungeons are out there?”

“How many interesting places are there?”

“Depends on how you define interesting.”

“That’s a stupid answer. I guess we’ll find out anyway. Dungeons appear anywhere there is an interesting place. We feed off mana and will, so it needs to be a high concentration of energy and intention.”

“And you appeared in a zoo?”

“Yes! The zoo. Lots of different energies in those creatures from around the world. Of course, I had to just absorb the energy from most of the animals, since they were useless non-predator species. And the location had a lot of children go through there. Children have such wonderful imaginations! Made for a delightful source for my Will, if I do say so myself.”

“What rank am I?” I wondered aloud.

“Citrine rank. Humans and animals all start with no rank. When they form a core, they will be Quartz rank. Then when they absorb enough energy of high enough quality, they will be able to reach Citrine like you. Not much of a difference, frankly. The biggest change is when you finally manage to condense your Will, and you reach Jade, like me.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“As I said, I don’t really know what is coming in my progression. If I can progress any more. But your progression will be to the same point as my own.”

“Why can’t you progress anymore?”

“Well, I could, but someone extracted my core from my dungeon. Either I need to go back to my dungeon or make a new one. I need to be on or in the ground to affect my environment.”

“You need to be planted like a tree?”

“If the monkey wants to simplify it that way, that is one way to do it.”

“You said you absorbed the mana in the air. Is there any way I can do that?”

“Not yet. You can’t cultivate until you reach Jade, like me. There will be some normal absorption, but cultivating power requires a Will to affect the mana outside of yourself and the mana inside yourself as well.”

“I already have some control of the mana inside my body. I used mana to heal my wounds.”

“Oh, did you now?” Corey stopped talking for a moment. “Oh, this is bad.”

“What?”

“You’ve damaged your mana channels into your legs. If you don’t want to be a cultivation cripple when you reach Jade, you are going to have to fix that.”