As it had the last time Myles came here, the entire barn smelled like fresh sea air. The salty, refreshing scent wasn’t off putting or overwhelming, but there was something about it that still worried him. Salt and soil didn’t always mix well, and as he looked over at Ashra’s nearby garden, Myles hoped that her new friend didn’t ruin the quick growing garden. The old [Baker] in him had other ideas. For not the first time, Myles wondered if he could take the water from the pen and evaporate it to get at the salt. There were hundreds of useful things he could do with salt alone, but his experiences with Ashra’s garden left him wary. Another part of him warned that it wouldn’t be good to go about taking things from the beach pen without talking it over with the dungeon core.

Even with all that on his mind, he couldn’t help but look at everything. Myles was still in awe of what he’d managed with his little dagger and willpower. Squishy cooed lovingly on his chest, and Myles scratched on the bottom of the spot that its large eyes were nestled.

“Who’s a good squish?”

Squishy cooed in response, nuzzling the hand with its liquid metal body to calm Myles. It was hard to focus though.

Even though was still his barn, standing there felt like he’d walked into the lion’s den.

Though, the feeling wasn’t completely unfounded.

Myles could feel another presence in the pens just beyond the walls of Ashra’s dwelling, and he was sure that Silpha could feel him too. The pressure wasn’t just the increased mana density either. Silpha wanted to talk as much as he did, but nothing good ever seemed to come from those words.

Better late than never, he thought and took a breath.

Myles was about to announce himself when Silpha interrupted his thoughts. She didn’t speak into his mind as far as he could tell. He words carried on the air and found a home in his ears as her voice range with the sounds of crystal chimes, waves breaking on the shoreline, and blowing wind on a sandy beach.

“Hello.”

Well, at least that felt positive.

“Hello, Silpha,” Myles said, abandoning the formal introduction, approaching her pen, and looking inside.

As he’d seen before, the inside of her pen looked like an endless ocean edged on his end with a perfectly white, sandy beach. As it had been when he sat here with Ashra, it was still the most beautiful beach he’d ever seen. It called to him like a siren to a sailor, and if he’d been anywhere else, he’d have jumped in for a swim.

Apparently, even with her suppressing her side of the link, Silpha could still sense his intents and ideas. “That wouldn’t be advised though I’ll admit that am curious how deep the water goes. My senses tell me about ten feet, but that doesn’t feel right. This is a strange cage you’ve put me in. Did you make it? What is it made from? How did you know how to dampen my abilities? Do you study dungeon cores regularly?”

Myles was caught slightly off guard by the change in her tone and her curious intent. She was going a mile a minute, and the words began to blend as she asked more and more questions. Myles’s thoughts became sluggish, and his perception became muddy as her sensory input began to overwhelm him. With a concerted effort, he shook his head clear before trying to sense out their connection and closing it as he had to Ashra on a few occasions when he wanted to be alone in his own head. It worked, but not to the same extent.

After a few moments of sorting his own thoughts, Myles figured it would be best to be honest without giving too much away. “The dungeon created it when we got to the build phase on the second day.”

Silpha made a strange noise that Myles thought might be understanding before she spoke. “Ah, I see. That explains a lot actually. This shouldn’t have been possible, you understand.”

Myles had a feeling it wasn’t impossible, just highly unlikely. He couldn’t have done it if it wasn’t possible. Impossible was just one of those things people said when they didn’t have the resources or creativity to figure something out. “I wish I could tell you how it happened, but I don’t really remember it.”

She chimed again. “That does make some level of sense, seeing as you should have died from mana poisoning. Your new mana channels probably disrupted the formation of your memories. I’ve always wondered about that, but then again, most people don’t start forming their channels in their brain first. You can lose a hand and still live.”

“Of course.”

There was a silence between them now that the waves had stopped. Myles looked deeper to see the twinkle of Silpha’s core connected to the back wall, sitting like a setting sun against the horizon. What did he say to a dungeon?

“I’m Myles Chase,” he finally settled on.

“I know that now,” Silpha said. “It’s easier to read your thoughts the closer you are.”

And the silence returned as Myles slammed the link further closed.

“So… I’ve seen your thoughts and have made a decision.”

“Oh?” That sounded almost as bad as ‘we need to talk.’

“I see you don’t really know what to do with a dungeon core or what I am,” Silpha said, trying to sound casual as she spoke. When Myles nodded, Silpha continued. “As you are a [Monster Tamer] and I have been tamed, I wish to discuss the terms of my Taming.”

Sket, Myles thought to himself and waited for the prompt he knew was coming. When a monster he’d tamed was intelligent enough, they could use a special ability his class granted them called Soul Bond Negotiation.

—

Soul Bond Negotiation

Soul Bonded Monster Skill - Triggered [Hidden unless notified]

Requirements: Sapience, Soul Bond of Tempered or Higher, Influence 10, Safety

Effect: A monster may make a request of its tamer for additional freedoms, restrictions, comforts, or the like. When negotiations have been entered, all outside influences will be removed and neither party may engage in anything other than negotiations until the terms are either accepted or rejected.

Outcome: If the negotiations are accepted, the Soul Bond will be modified to reflect the requests made. If the needs are not met in a proper time frame, the Soul Bond will be shivered, and the monster may leave. Based on the outcome, a Soul Bond may increase in time with the request.

If negotiations are rejected, the soul bond will remain but may be weakened substantially based on the importance the monster has set on its request.

This skill can only be triggered once every three months.

—

He could reject the offered negotiations, but Silpha’s modified link might shatter despite what the skill promised. If that was the case, what could she do connected to the house? Would she just return to her dungeon? Then there was Ashra. If he began negotiations, Ashra would feel the change in their link, and that could have its own problems if she thought Myles was in danger. Silpha’s terms could also be simple on the surface, but next to unobtainable. Nothing good was going to come from this, and Myles braced himself for the impending fallout.

And waited…

And waited…

A minute passed, and Myles nerves began to calm as nothing continued to happen.

The silence persisted until Silpha spoke.

“That’s odd. my research says this should work. All of your sapient monsters with a high enough link can request this.” She paused then directed her full focus on Myles. “Myles Chase, I wish to discuss the terms of my Taming.”

This time, Myles didn’t react, and the two of them waited for a reaction.

Nothing happened.

“I wish to discuss the terms…” Silpha stopped mid-sentence and sighed, seemingly interrupted. “Well, it seems that because I’m not a monster, I’m not eligible for setting my own terms. That’s seems like a loophole. Would a sapient golem have the same restrictions? Magical items that can think? Where is the line? Is that intentional for crafted lifeforms?”

Myles mentally relaxed but kept the clamp on the link down firmly. She did not need to feel his relief…

Or his newfound curiosity about creating a bread golem to bond with.

“It’s not like I want to kill you, Myles, but I do not like being here.,” Silpha said, her words quick as she continued to speak. “I don’t like the idea of being tamed, and I would like to return to my dungeon. This is not a good place for me. You have my mark, and I can’t revoke it, but I cannot work freely here. I don’t have the power I need to research and build. You’ve restricted me too far.”

Myles took in what she said and considered it. If she couldn’t use her abilities, it was pointless to keep her. However, he had a nagging thought that the grand dungeon had its reasons for allowing him to follow through with this. “It wasn’t my plan, but I think we can work together here. Why else would I be able to become your keeper?”

“Oh?”

Myles nodded, tweaking an idea he had earlier. “I have a title now called Dungeon Keeper.”

“Interesting…”

Myles continued, not wanting the pair to get too far off track. “I don’t know much about you, but you seem to know a lot about my abilities. You even gave me one I don’t think I should have yet.”

Silpha was quiet for a moment as her magical weight began to focus on him again. “You shouldn’t have it at all,” she admitted. “It’s the first recorded iteration of that Skill. I think it’s because of how I reworked our link. I used one of my skills as a base and, if I’m being honest, I’m frankly surprised at the reaction.”

From his inventory, Myles took out his journal and began making notes, something he usually only did at night before bed when he wasn’t exhausted from trying to survive. “Do you think you could do it again?”

For the first time, he felt something from Silpha through the link. She was interested. “I’m not sure. I don’t think so, but if you are willing to test the process, there is a possibility…”

Myles finished his notes and put the journal away. “We can later. I have company right now, and I’d rather they not know you’re here. Still, I have an idea. You want to be free to build and research, and I want to raise my monsters and survive. We can do both, can’t we?”

Silpha was quiet for a moment, considering the words. There was a long silence as the sun at the end of the sea pulsed gently. The curious feeling lingered at the back of Myles’s mind, and she finally spoke. “I am willing to listen to your proposal under one condition.”

“Oh?”

“You will provide me with interesting subjects to study.”

Myles smiled. “I think we can work something out.”

And so, the negotiations began.

For the next half an hour by reckoning of his Phantom Oven Skill’s countdown, the two discussed Silpha’s new role. She seemed interested in what Myles offered, even if it was obvious that she got the overall advantage in the deal. It gave her freedom, and what he asked wouldn’t take much of her focus or power when the times came for her to act. In turn, she explained how her skills worked and their synergy.

Though she wouldn’t get into specifics that Myles abilities were lacking, the skills were straight forward. Fabrication let her make or modify things. Absorption let her break down items while also teaching her how to make them. Summoning was self-explanatory, and Influence set the area she was allowed to do all this in.

However, there was one sticking point when Myles brought it up.

“Why do you want to know about my avatar?”

It seemed like a pointless sort of question for the core to ask him. That skill was responsible for his new skill, and if it had a similar effect, he needed to be aware. Besides, as the leader of the party, he had to know as much as he could about his new ally before things went south. Learning a new Skill, like say a knife mastery, was not something to be learned in the heat of the moment. So, to her question, Myles’s answer was simple. “If we’re going to work together, we have to know what we’re capable of. If we leave things out, we die,” he explained simply. “So, can it fight?”

Silpha seemed offended. “It is my last line of defense. Yes, it can fight.”

“Is it like the one I have?”

“Not exactly.” The dungeon core hesitated to answer more, but Myles felt her piecing through his thoughts now that their link was reestablished, albeit with more ground rules. She had good reason this time at least. Silpha wanted solid reasoning Myles couldn’t lie about. He would have to. Eventually, she found something and acknowledged the question as she had for the meaning behind each of her Skills. “Using Avatar for me is different. I don’t merge with a monster, I create one. I take on a physical form and defend myself. I’ve only used it a few times.”

So, she created a monster for herself?

“What do you become?” Myles asked, his curiosity peaked.

There was a breath of hesitation. “A fog sylph.”

At least Myles knew that monster, though the form didn’t exactly seem suited for combat. “So, you become a fairy made of fog?”

He got the distinct impression of a nod. “I do. I’m particularly good with illusion magic, much like your Korgan ally, actually. Though my strength is strictly in misdirection and illusion. This is why I started with slimes, actually.”

Myles shuddered. Illusions? Misdirection? Slimes? He knew where that would lead if he let it and was glad to have removed her form the dungeon pool. The last thing he needed was mimics.

“I am aware you have a distrust of mimics.”

“If you nearly had your hand bitten off by one, you’d understand.”

Silpha seemed about to speak, but cut herself off quickly, shutting their link closed as she thought. “So, we have an agreement?”

Myles nodded and opened the menu to Silpha’s pen followed by the additional interface.

—

Pen Preferences:

Pen: Silpha, Dungeon of the Purifying Wake

Maintenance Cost: 70% Mana Production

Environment: Beach, Eventide, Late Spring

Modular Setup: N/A

Current Upgrades: N/A

Current Need: N/A

Current Expansions in Progress: N/A

Bonuses: None

—

Comfort Upgrades and Additions by Pen-

Pen: Silpha, Dungeon of the Purifying Wake

Modifications Available - Environmental Expansion

Influence: 0% of your homestead radius

Increase Silpha’s Influence?

—

Information Requested: Ability - Influence

Due to the direction of your Monster Lore and Prior Knowledge, additional information has been generated and added to the Dungeon Core lore entry.

Influence

Skill

Description: Influence is the radius a dungeon core can influence and work within. All skills, with the exception of Avatar, must be performed within the dungeon core’s area of Influence. Influence is usually equal to the time a dungeon core spends unopposed within an area of high mana concentration but can be artificially granted by more powerful dungeon cores.

—

It was just as Silpha explained even if Myles would have figured it out himself. She didn’t need to additions that other monsters did, but as she explained, her influence let her do almost everything. From what she explained, a dungeon core could send their spirit throughout their influence to watch and learn how their traps worked, their monsters performed, and everything else functioned they’d created. It was also what allowed them to absorb bodies. Myles wasn’t exactly comfortable with that, but with their agreements and the abilities granted to one another by the Link and the Mark, he wasn’t too concerned.

As per their agreement, he confirmed his choice and increased it up as far as it would go.

—

Pen: Silpha, Dungeon of the Purifying Wake

Influence: 100% of your homestead radius

Decrease Silpha’s Influence?

—

Myles closed the window after that as he felt something change within the room. The smell of warm sea air seemed to extend now, a gentle breeze carrying it throughout the room and beyond. From near the house, he felt Ashra tense as she too felt the changes in the air.

There was a moment of fear as Ashra’s worry boiled over their connection. For her, it was a feeling of being in the presence of power. For Myles, it was more like the final moments before a soufflé set and knowing that any sudden movement could destroy all his hard work. Then, the moment passed as Silpha radiated happiness while Ashra felt a strange contentment.

“You have no idea how good it feels to stretch my legs again. Well, proverbial legs. I haven’t had real legs in a long, long time.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” Silpha chirped quickly before a breeze picked up and moved out the wall next to him. As the breeze died down, it felt as though Silpha had left the room. Even if Silpha’s core was still twinkling there beyond the shore, her mind had left to explore.

There wasn’t much time to consider what he’d done as his skill timer ticked to zero moment later. Dinner was ready, and he had a hungry house to feed.