(Curator POV)

[Then it’s settled! We’ll set the date two weeks from now!]

[And, smooth transition! Let the one-hundredth and seventy-fifth dungeon core meeting commence.]

...I kinda zoned out. Something about goblin country, everything went by so fast. Names, places, topics, all of which I was oblivious to were being thrown out left and right. Even the discussion was too intense for me to get a word in. Eventually, I’m sure they’ll notice the smoke spewing out of me.

“How bout we call it a day and let the newbie get in a few questions.” G motioned for an early end, which unanimously passed.

“So what’s on your mind, Books.” Courtesy of Smith. I guess that’s my nickname here.

It’s a bit mind frazzling with all eyes on me again. I’m drawing a blank but let’s start simple and work my way from there. “So, where exactly are we?” ‘A white void’ ain’t much of a descriptor.

[This? This is a place between worlds.]

Makes about as much sense as any. Then again, he could’ve said Cathulu’s toilet, and I would’ve been okay with it. Still, it feels lacking. Unimpressive? Sorta.

[Wait! L- Let me explain.]

He read my mind, didn’t he?

[Imagine a tube, right? And it’s infinitely long, goes on forever. You following so far?]

“Yeah. Tube. Gotcha.”

[Now imagine that it’s full of marbles. Course, since the tube is endless, there’s also an infinite amount of marbles.

And they roll around constantly, clinking and chipping on one another. To prevent this, there’s cotton inserted between each one. And that’s where we are.]

“Right, so we’re in the white space of the multiverse.” Dunno why he didn’t lead off with that.

[Good idea. I’ll steal that for next time. Also, we call this The Null, by the way]

This one statement had the serious duo of Seth and Head celebrating like they were hopped up on illegal DP, let's say, and just broke the stock market.

“Really, that fast!? It took me two months ta figure out what Whit was on about.”

As it so happens, Smith was rightfully taken aback. This explanation was one Head and Seth drilled into Human-Like Being’s... Whit’s skull after repeated... Butcherings of the scientific world, as G put it.

[Well, anything else?]

“Not really, I’m still drawing a blank... O-Oh, Wait! What’s divine essence?” Really makes a core wonder, seeing how they- Well, I’m gonna be blunt. It sounds like protagonist juice to me.

“Oh. Oh. My tur-” Smith’s eyes lit up like a kid wanting to answer the teacher’s question. But sadly, as always, it went unnoticed when the smart kid in class cut in.

“Ahem, allow me.” Seth, still in the partying mood, was hyped to answer some more questions. Succinctly, of course.

“Divine essence, you can think of it as divine mana, are granted to individuals by the gods of this world. Inherently mortals can’t use this power, so the gods thought of a workaround. They created skills or mutated existing ones people already had to work as catalysts.

When these skills are used within our domain, the flood gates open, allowing us to absorb it. As for its usag-”

“MY TURN!” Smith returned the favor. “We can use divine essence to make a whole buncha of things that we wouldn’t normally unlock.” Satisfied getting a word in, she went dormant.

“To expand, think of divine essence as another pool to draw from. Finite, but similar to DP, with the sole exception that it ignores the system. Meaning you can create or mutate anything in your domain, creating new types regardless of unlocks.”

[Speaking of which.]

*Snap*. My menu appears, displaying all the information that was hidden from me.

[Surprise!]

There was a brand new option dedicated to essences! Revealing that elegance and vanity were the two types I absorbed. Elegance, from The Stranger, I’m guessing. And vanity from the first prompt.

“I would advise you to take things slowly, start with augmenting rather than creating anew. The process is different for us all, so please practice discretion.”

Hmm, so we’re basically jacking other god’s powers for ourselves. Or is it with Whit’s permission? Can’t he just grant us his boon? He is a god, after all. Oh, well. My mind’s practically running a marathon right now!

If divine essence can do as they saaaaay. Then, heheheh!

[Looks like the meeting has run its course. I’ll leave you guys to prepare for the war.]

[You’ll be teleported back home shortly.]

Stepping backwards into The Null, he dissolved into the background.

Bidding farewell to my fellow dungeon cores, as-well-as exchanging in some competitive long-distance trash talk with my arch-enemy. Darkness soon took me.

I found myself back in the dungeon, staring at the same screen. “Alice, how long have I been out?” If my internal clock serves, it should’ve been about four hours.

“Curator, no time has passed. The Null works outside the bounds of time.” Hmmm? Well, Alice would know about the void through Whit, right? “The other avatars informed me as such.”

“The who?”

“They thought it best not to overwhelm you. Instead, I was placed in a different plane to mingle with the rest of the avatars.” I hope the other avatars were a good influence on her. I should probably ask- Later. Later, times-a-ticking!

“Good. Alice, we have a war to win. THIRD FLOOR, YOU SHALL TAUNT ME NO LONGER!"

In the bowels of the third floor, I excitedly pop open the ever so fantastic menu. “Ohh, it’s been a long time coming.”

I’ve been thinking of deviating from the usual floor patterns. Something iconic to modern-day fairy tales and a mainstay to older ones. Ehhhh. Well, through the magic of sum cost fallacy, this floor is larger than both the first and second floor combined!

Painting the first leg of the floor in the magical forest theme. Each stroke saw life far larger and lusher than their diminutive woods counterpart spring from the bedrock, shooting past the muck.

Worms composed from balls of light, which I hope to god aren't fairy made. Saunter listlessly around the newly sprung but already ancient wooden behemoths, emanating a serene dimness.

With trees looming over the land, blotting out the... darkness... I-It was thick and acted as a roof that’s the point. So employing the same principle as the cinder wolves’ mini floor, creating a slope going down from the entry point and there! An opening for what’s to come.

Finally, sprinklings of iconic mushrooms. Like white spotted redcaps, and withered but warmly glowing toadstools to complete the picture.

These were added by hand. Ain’t no magical forest without good’ol shrooms! Really it boils down to atmosphere and expectations. Always with an otherworldly vibe, being plant-like enough but not.

They were created from the leftover nightmare flora I absorbed. My only guess was since they were spawned from a divini-fied skill. They sorta mutated themselves by incorporating my own essence.

Whatever the case was, I acquired them after the essence refining process finished.

Speaking of essence, let’s see here. The new option was simplistic, allowing me a choice of either-or. Selecting ‘Elegance’ pooped out a DP-ish looking orange orb. Like a wild child, it was far more robust and radiant. If a usual DP ball was a lamp, then this one was the sun, blinding and, for a lack of a better word, elegant. A perfect sphere devoid of blemishes.

Whereas vanity was jagged and reflective. A mass of broken glass which somehow always showed a person’s best angle.

Alright, step by step. Let’s do this right the first time... Wish I had knuckles to crack. Materials prepped and ready with Alice transporting them down, I got to work building up each wing. Floor by floor, room by room, stacking countless bricks with a slathering of divine essence to bind them all together.

For the finishing touches, I worked on instinct, weaving, and stretching the essences. Akin to lining clay onto a skeleton, wrapping an egotistically imaginative world in fine tapestry.

By the end of my obsession, it was finally complete. Towering over the tree line, looming above all else, it was the third-floors centerpiece. Well, not ‘just for the third floor’. This is a peculiar ‘floor’ after all. Or I should say, set of floors! YES! One superstructure, comprised of multiple floors, taking place simultaneously within it.

A castle, in definition, vain in its opulence and majesty. Yet so breathtakingly elegant, each piece thought out and meticulously placed, that it could’ve been mistaken for a painting. The fluttering dream of many, a shadow of perfection that many try to replicate in the realm of reality. An existence that could only dwell inside fairytales.

[Castle of Pride has been created.]

And brilliant it was. A deep crimson monument backed by the moon-. Hold on a second. Menu. Set time night, okay. Backed by the moonlight, a reflection of beauty unobtainable by mortal hands.

Whew. You know I rarely ever feel tired, but it feels so rewarding, like a pat on the back. It’s only a shell right now, and I only need part of it for the war, but I hate to see things go unfinished. “Alice, time?”

“A week, one day, seven hours, twenty-three minutes, and one second.”

“Thanks.”

Almost done. First characters, then furnish...

Floating down to the isolated lake which went untouched during the invasion, I visited the lone wolf who laid at its shoreline. “I haven’t forgotten about you.” Body still deformed from battles past. I’ve deliberated on what direction to take him.

One of the unlucky few who survived the adventurers and fire and even unluckier failed to evolve into a cinder wolf. Fur dyed an ashen brown, his body forged invalid. Crumpled stout, the fur from his torso rode up to his neck, creating a pseudo mane.

I only came to a conclusion after seeing the fire in his eyes. They were mere flickers before his time with the adventurer boy. But after spending time with him, those dying eyes awoke. An intensity, screaming ‘I want to live’.

I’m going to grant his wish.

Seth’s warning, gotta prepare for anything. Cocooning him in divine essence, sparingly. A tattered book appeared in front of me, pages seemingly ripped from the spine. It contained everything the wolf was in chapters, similar to how the creatures in Alice’s tome was stored.

We couldn’t write anything new before, but... getting a quill pen out, I dipped it into both essences. Bringing the tip to paper, it stuck! Changing the wolf as I jotted down attributes. To varying effects.

For one, I had to be absolutely thorough in my writing. Any vague statements led to changes manifesting in ways I didn’t intend. Another thing was the wolf unconsciously rejecting some changes. Thing’s that he held fondly were set in stone.

And as a piece de resistance, I walked a fine line keeping the essence from going berserk, like something was vying for control.

Oh no, you don’t! I’m not even gonna toy around with trying to figure out what that feeling was. Just smother it with DP, fill in the cracks, and continue writing.

By the end of it, chaotic energy swirled within the wolf’s cocoon. And not to toot my own horn, but I even managed to fit a few extras, foreign invaders be damned. You know, normal stuff.

Incorporating influences from other beings. I know Seth told me to take things slowly, but... Yeah, who dares win, Right? Some of the newer plants here, boggart influence there, a dash of black dog. May have gone a little overboard. But hot damn! Was it fun, figuring out which part fit where. It’s been an interest of mine ever since I started weaving DP.

Digressing. Now that Beast is dormant, I’m sure it’ll only be a matter of time before he emerges. I head to the second floor, determined but weary, my greatest challenge yet. Boggart bureaucracy.