I watch as a few select Assassins are transported by space magic, along with the Lord and his men, to his city, Ishda. I almost shed a tear as they disappear until I remember that they're off to better the world and to help me while they're at it. There were quite a few jobs that the apparently-useless lord decided to drop in our laps.

What sort of Lord is he anyway? If he knew about the other problems in his city, before his daughter was kidnapped, shouldn't he have done something about them then? Just what has he been doing all this time while the shadows have been planning a rebellion and emptying his coffers? His daughter's abduction is like a rotten cherry on top of a mouldy cake.

Why did I agree? In fact, don't answer that, please. I know why I did it. If we do a good-enough job, then the Lord will have to accept my city as part of his province. If that happens, it gives Varona the credibility it needs to become widely accepted throughout Tira, hopefully.

All-in-all I sent three-dozen Assassins to the capital. Noir, Carrie and Dropper went with them to lead three individual squads, each with their own mission.

Carrie's job is to find the ministers who are embezzling funds from the treasury. I told her to start with the treasurer himself, but after that her squad will have to follow the paper trail.

Dropper's task is to find the kidnappers' hideout and rescue the Lord's daughter. I told her to start in her bedchambers before she moves her search to the seedy side of Ishda.

Noir's mission is a simple one. He doesn't really need a squad for it either. They're there for other reasons and just in case something goes wrong. Which I'm expecting to happen with the loud-mouthed Assassin. Noir is to spread word of how great the Lord of Ishda is to try and oust any rebellious naysayers. His squad will also be watching for people relaying messages so that they can identify the sources of the coup.

If something is going to go wrong, it's gonna be with Noir. I can just feel it in my non-existent bones. It's as though it's happening right now, Me.

Don't be ridiculous. I know you're connected to your... our family, but you can't sense that he's causing a fuss.

I'm telling you. Right now, out there, Noir is pissing someone off with his big mouth. Hopefully, it's the right people.

Teleporting back to Tilly's Clinic, it's time to handle the problem I had to push aside again. Inside Tilly's office, I'm greeted by a furious Anya. "What the hell, Abi? I'm actually dead! And you're a fucking Dungeon Core? How the hell did that happen? And how did you even bring me back to life?" Before I can speak, I'm berated with questions.

"If I explain it, you won't be happy with how little I know," I start. Hoping Anya will leave it at that, but her face screams continue. "I swear to the gods, Anya, it won't make sense. There was this golden sun, strings of thread that echoed your voice calling my name, your bones disappeared when I absorbed them before I could even stop it happening. I was pushing and pulling... It was just crazy. Not as crazy as being an actual dungeon though." She looks at me with a confused expression.

"Start with how you became a dungeon instead." She moves around me looking through my ghostly visage.

"Some bullshit to do with a lazy-ass God and a system that's still running. Or so Me told me. When he got into it, I was still angry over the whole becoming a dungeon ordeal and I didn't pay as much attention as I probably should have done."

"At least some things never change," Anya smiles seeing that I'm still me. Remembering the girl who would often fall asleep in class. "Who's Me? Have you started talking to yourself as well now? You were strange as hell before but..." Anya is grinning as she teases me, leaving the ending of her sentence open.

"I'm not strange. And Me is the name of my own personal Voice Activated User Notification System. That's a mouthful to say so I just named him Me. And he can talk to anyone who's dungeon-related too. Say hi."

Anya looks at Tilly who only nods. She frowns at me like I'm trying to play a trick on her. Well, it wouldn't be the first time. That's what friends do, only this time I'm actually being genuine.

"Me. Will you say hello first, please. It makes it easier." I said it out loud so that Anya wouldn't be startled when he did as I asked. The problem is that he's as silent as she is.

Don't ignore me to make me look silly.

I don't know what you mean.

Haha, Mr. Funny man. Hilarious. Now will you please say hi to my friend so that she doesn't think I'm crazy.

What if you are a little crazy though?

Me!

Yes. Yes. It was funny though.

Yeah. Now you decide to understand humour correctly.

I smile at Anya, who only looks backs at me skeptically before her eyes open wide.

Hello, Anya. It's a pleasure to finally meet you.

"Holy Shit! There's someone talking inside my head." Anya shouts, even though I just told her about Me.

"Don't over dramatise it. It's just like telepathy. That's, Me. Not me," I point at myself, "But Me. He's cleaning chests right now." After finishing my sentence, I wish I had never said it.

"Abi, I'm more confused now than before." Anya sits down holding her head and Tilly serves her a drink.

"Yeah, I could have probably named him better, but welcome to my world. You wouldn't believe half of the shit that has happened to me since I became a Dungeon Core." For the next few hours, my best friend in the whole world, who was dead until today and only a haunting voice, listens to me prattle on about my hardships. I tell her about Elric and his boss, the local lord, who has only just left my lands after begging for my help. I explain where we are, what I'm doing, or trying to do, and anything else I can think of.

"But I swear, the fucking Hay Bale pisses me off something rotten! Oh! I have an academy too where people can study magic. Can you believe it? Not that it's in use yet. If I remember right, I need to get a teacher class or something like that. I need to look into that soon actually." In fact, I'm pretty sure Mayor Kana had asked when it was opening once or twice. Maybe the citizens are intrigued by the dark arts.

"Anyway, I have a proposition for you," I smile bitterly. Deep down I'm sulking as I watch Anya drink tea. Tilly is sitting behind her desk, drifting off in what-looks-to-be a comfortable chair.

One day!

"Oh. Pray tell, " I pique her interest as she blows the steam off her hot drink.

"Well, seeing as how you're sort-of alive again, you can do whatever you want now. Even if you want to leave, thats totally cool and I won't stop you or anything. You're my friend before anything else and you always will be. That said, I would really love it if you stayed in my city and worked in surgery with Tilly. I know your healing magic will be a blessing here. Oh. And you can have your own house too. You don't even have to pay rent or anything. I'll just give it to you." Something is nagging in the back of my mind, but I can't quite work out what it is.

"Are you serious? How can you offer me so much like that?" Ever the sceptic, Anya can't believe the offer she is being handed.

"I told you. There are thousands of people that live in Varona right now. Every night, each person generates DP which I absorb. At the minute, I'm loaded babe." Anya laughs at my stupid behaviour. "Plus, you're my best friend. Why wouldn't I give you a house after giving thousands of randos one?"

"True. Okay then, Dungeon Core Abi. I'd love to live here. Gods, I can't believe you're just giving me a house. That's all I ever wanted you know?"

"Yeah. I know. Hook, line and sinker, biatch!" I reel her in with my invisible fishing rod.

"You scoundrel. However, there is one problem." Anya grimaces.

"I'd be surprised if there wasn't with my luck. What is it?"

"I'm not a cleric anymore." Instantly, I know what the nagging feeling was from before.

Fuck! I knew there was something. She's an unspecified Magus.

"Ok. It's alright. In that case we just need to go down to the Mages Guild to get you back on your feet. So to say." I get up and begin moving towards the door. Anya jumps up and follows me without any hesitation.

"You have a mages guild here as well?" She's still finding it hard to believe me. As we leave Tilly's Clinic, Anya follows me down the street and her doubts disappear.

"Of course. I built it myself too, and it's run by my own mages." The sun beats down from its position in the sky. An orange light fills the air as the evening draws to a close and the night is taken over by darkness. I'm glad her first view of the city was during the last lights of day. It makes every look serene.

"That... Actually pretty cool, Abi." Across from the clinic, the city line begins and rows of houses lead in toward the city centre. Behind, and around, the detached buildings are empty plots of land that I've already purchased.

"I know. Praise me more, Anya." I laugh. It was a great idea to build a medical building close to the general population.

I float in front of Anya, leading the way, as we head into the city. The houses could still be improved and I might even do that soon, but for now they are good enough. Uniform rows of terraced houses run neatly along the street as we follow them towards our destination.

As we're approaching the Mages Guild, I notice that Anya is visibly shaking. "What's the matter?" Worried about my friend, I can't help but ask.

"What if I don't become a cleric again?" Her question causes me to burst out in laughter. I've gotten so used to crazy shit happening on a day-to-day basis that I forgot people are supposed to worry about what will happen before it actually happens. In my case I usually worry after I've made my bed.

"Pffft. Don't worry about it. There's a 99% chance that you won't be a cleric. You're not just a simple mage anymore, you know? You're a magus now. Your base stats and general skills will be completely different than you remember. Honestly. I summoned a Rogue when I was first reincarnated as a Dungeon Core and he's ranked up three times since then." Anya's eyes widen at my words as she stops at the entrance.

"Seriously Anya, that rogue, Light is unbelievably strong. Stronger than anyone I've ever seen, now or in my past life. He's just... On another level. Also, not that I want to scare you, but Magus is the third tier in the mage line. At level 80 you can evolve into whatever's next. I've got no idea what that is, but I bet it's as strong as Light, if not stronger. Have you looked at your status yet?"

"No... I've been enjoying our time.. I hadn't thought about it until now... Level 80?... Hang on," she looks through her status before nodding, "Alright... Ok... Let's do this then."

"I told you it was different, didn't I?"

"When I became a mage my base magic started at 10. Being my main attribute, it was the highest." Anya walks into the guild, no longer shaking but with a new resolve.

"What's your magic now then? I could look myself, but it would be rude of me." She frowns at me. "You can look yourself if you want. I don't mind. My Intelligence is at 30, even though I'm level 1. Is that because I'm a third tier mage like you said? My intelligence had only reached 29 when I died, yet it's higher now than it was then. I can only imagine the boosts I'm going to get along the way too with such a better class!"

"It's another one of those 'because I'm the Dungeon Core' answers. And yeah, I can only see you getting stronger too. More than that though, I'm super psyched you're here, Anya."

"I'll admit. It's strange. Broaching on weird-as-fuck, but I can get behind it. If there's one thing I remember more than anything else, it's that you're my best friend. That and I really didn't want to die. Thank you, Abi. I'm glad to be back."

We register Anya with the mage behind the desk. He then leads us to the specialisation stone which she places her hand on. This is her second time doing this, so she's not unfamiliar with the process. Even so, I'm right next to her as she waits. Light is emitted from their contract, but it only lasts a few seconds. Once it's gone, Anya removes her hand and turns to me.

"I'm a... Rainbow Mage?"