The illusion took a closer look at Theanore. It smiled and reached out an illusionary hand to pet the little girl.

“You are everything I hoped for.” Said the dungeon core of the dungeon of illusions. “A perfect decoy for the core room.”

That made Theanore blink. She was supposed to be bait?

“Mommy, I am a dungeon core but I would like to get to meet you in person. Can you please come over and say hi? I don’t think I can make it all the way to where you live.” Said Theanore and the other dungeon core smiled.

“Well, if you are inviting me then how can I say no? To be a mother…I suppose I am that to everything I create. But for you, I will take the role gladly. Who looked after you until now, dear heart?” Said the woman in a sweet tone.

“My father, Crassus, and Mari the merman. He and I are going to get married one day. He keeps saying it.” Said Theanore. To her, this meant something like a fancy pledge of eternal friendship. Her mother looked to the only male that was closer to Theanore’s age and send him a glare.

“And with whose blessing are you demanding my daughter’s hand?” She asked and Marinus gulped.

“Well, uncle Crassus doesn’t seem to mind.” Said the merman and Crassus sighed.

“I do mind. They have five years of a difference. Plus, it happened too quickly and Theanore still doesn’t understand what marriage is. Hopefully, you can shine some light on the matter for her, Mrs.…”

“Esmer von Kleindorf. A pleasure, Crassus. And drop the Mrs. I am not married and older than you by a couple thousand years.”

Crassus chuckled at that and rubbed the back of his head.

“Esmer, then. I take it you will teleport right now? There is a barrier in the forest. Do you need permission?” Asked Crassus and a blue light appeared in the house.

“No, my daughter’s home is my home and my home is hers.” Said Esmer von Kleindorf. She went to Theanore and scooped her up and nuzzled her hair.

“You, little lady, had me worried for five months. I got the message you were created and I combed my entire dungeon to find you but saw nothing. Who took you away?” Asked Esmer and Theanore giggled. Her mother had searched for her. Her mother cared.

“Tania the system needed a dungeon core and she thought I will be super good at it and so she took me. I was born from an apple tree. It has a ghost aura around it left behind by a fairy. Her name was Bellchime.” Said Theanore as she wiggled out of Esmer’s hold.

“Can I get a tour of your dungeon then, dear heart?” Said Esmer and Theanore grabbed her hand and began leading her out.

“We live in the house, but we used to live in the grotto. But let me show you the giant hamsters first. They have babies!”

After a tour of the entire grotto and the surroundings, Esmer knew she couldn’t take her nymph away. She had a farm here and her fiancé? Yes, the boy was that. Her fiancé had a fish farm too. They were living a simple life with the occasional enchantment breakthrough to break the monotony of their daily life.

Esmer was given a four-leaf clover for free and she absorbed it in her skin. She didn’t have the heart to have her daughter return the investment after such a gift. She even felt guilty about how she treated the gremlin when he first arrived at her dungeon.

“And this is everything, mommy. I want to gift you 1000 builder ants to start your own colony. Since I can’t come with you to your home and all.” Said Theanore. Esmer nodded and she saw ants disappearing and she got a message from her own system that the first floor of her dungeon now had an anthill under construction.

“I can’t just leave you, Thea.” Said Esmer and Theanore beamed at her. Small droplets formed around her eyes. To have a mother who cared was truly something she had been aching for.

“I’ll tell you what. I will manage my dungeon from here. How would you like it if I came to live here from now on?” Esmer was hugged and Theanore was laughing and crying now. She felt warm inside. Her family was complete.

Esmer did have to leave to collect her things but she came back after an hour. At this time the ants made her a room connected to the house and she left her things near her new bed.

She had so many ideas for her daughter’s dungeon. To start with the little girl had an abundance of silk, but she sold it mostly as a raw resource. What her daughter needed were pixies to make things from the silk. They were the best seamstresses and they were harmless.

Esmer told this to Theanore and the little girl asked Tania how much did she have to spend on a pixie, only for Tania to tell her that her level was too low to get pixies as a selection. Theanore was only level 7. She needed to become level 10.

But Theanore received good news in the form of Esmer telling her she was level 9999 and had all the skills and could teach her. For level 8, an easy skill was paper folding into figurines. The children and Esmer spend the afternoon making frogs from paper and playing with them. Even Crassus came and joined them and he was “attacked” by three frogs which Esmer animated to chase after him.

He played along and he ran, but not too quickly, from the frogs in circles as the children clutched their sides and laughed away the remainder of the day. Theanore got to level 8 with the paper folding and she asked her mother what else she could do to gain level 9.

“Gymnastics.” Said Esmer. Her daughter needed to learn how to fight in case someone decided to kidnap her again. Esmer just needed to teach her in such a way that she wouldn’t suspect a thing.