The room Gem made for Shriek was the size of his original Core Room—just a 3x3 square. Once Gem unlocked staircases he could expand it to have a second floor, but for now the single-story building would need to suffice. He made it out of Cut Stone, just so it looked a little more on-purpose and nice.

Gem found Basic Furniture under Decorations, even though he thought it would be Crafting.

Options available were limited in a way that made ‘basic’ seem like a serious understatement.

There were two bed options—one was made using a wood block and the other using a stone block. Neither looked particularly inviting to Gem, based on the little image he saw, rotating as he selected each one. The wooden bed seemed better, based on the limited description.

Stone Bed: an uncomfortable hunk of stone repurposed into a bed. No amount of padding will make this one better. Cost: one Cut Stone.

Wood Bed: it isn’t much, but at least it’s a place to rest your head. Get a nice feather or hay mattress and you might actually get a decent night’s sleep. Cost: two Wood (final product varies based on Wood used).

Gem couldn’t find mattresses anywhere, but he also didn’t have feathers or hay so it didn’t matter. Instead, he used the Birch Wood to make a Wooden Bed and put it in the corner.

The little bed took up two blocks of length and one block of width. It looked alone and a bit sad in the corner, so Gem decided to build some additional furniture. He found a dresser, and made that out of Birch Wood as well so it would match. While the Plantling didn’t currently have gear he would want to store in the dresser, Gem was sure the cuirass would go to Shriek as long as he wanted it.

Lastly, Gem built a table and single chair, to occupy the other side of the room. Each filled a single block, which made the room feel a bit cozy. To a human, it would have been cramped. But for the Plantling, it would be perfect.

When the inside was done, Gem put a wooden door over the hole in the wall. He thought about putting in windows as well, but that seemed a little excessive. The building was enclosed in his upper floor, so it wasn’t like windows would offer any sort of view.

Gem thought to Chesu, calling the wisp to examine.

Chesu floated about the room for just a moment, and then nodded. “Looks good. Enough furniture to interest the Servitor but not too much that it’s crowded and unwelcome. Good job, kid.”

“On other planets, there’s lots of requirements. Some need you to build rooms specifically for the Servitor, like on Sleyn but taken to an extreme. Others have entertainment needs, like building rooms for them to train or relax.” He shook his head. “Here there’s only one other requirement, and you’re not going to like it.”

The wisp said nothing else, and instead looked out at the Plantlings.

Gem sent him a few dozen floating question marks.

“Hm? Oh. You need to break a piece of yourself off.”

“Your gem. Core. Crystal. Whatever. To create a Servitor, you need to break off a chunk. Needs to be only about the size of my thumb.” Chesu held up his hand, but it wasn’t very clear exactly how big that was on the scale of his core.

“If someone else were to break your core, absolutely. But we’re not talking about shattering you, or corruption or anything. Just nicking a small part of your surface. Servitors aren’t just mana constructs, like Mob Hearts. They are a part of you, and to be that, they, uh, need to be a part of you. Made from a part of you, that is.”

Gem thought.

“You’ll want to gather up a bunch of… you… in an area. The Servitor will inherit personality and knowledge from you, depending on what bit you break off. Shriek has his own personality already, but this will enhance it.”

Gem thought about the prospects.

“Right. Or if you want him to be a companion, you’d think about friendship and love and that kind of crap.”

Gem sent the wisp an image of a core with a raised eyebrow.

“Some think so.” Chesu shrugged. “Cores make Servitors for different reasons, and everyone has an opinion on which is best. Personally, I like Servitors who serve multiple purposes. And you can do that. Don’t think you need to only create a leader, or only a companion. Servitors can be as varied as we can.”

“But, fair warning. Chipping off a part of yourself? That’s a part you’ll never get back. So don’t like, pour all of your leadership skills into the bit you break. Because you might not have any left.”

Gem stewed on the wisp’s warning a moment. While Sleyn restricted a dungeon to only having two Servitors a tier, it felt like even that would be a lot of self to give away.

“Yes and no. Physically, your core will grow as you go up in tiers. Give you more crystal space to work with and more you can break off. But personality wise? It’s a small portion. You only get to stuff so much into that little sliver you break off. Like…” Chesu struggled and looked around the dungeon’s upper floor. “If you’ve got 100 Cut Stone blocks, will you miss one if you use it to build with?”

The wisp rubbed at his forehead. “Of course you would take that literally… but alright. Bad analogy.” He sighed. “I don’t have a better one though, kid. You can’t gain something without losing something. Everything when it comes to being a Dungeon Core is about managing your resources, and now you’re a resource too.”

Gem thought alongside a pensive looking crystal.

“And it is, don’t get me wrong. But think of it this way: you’ll always have this part of yourself. Just as another being. And it’ll be stronger and faster and wiser because it’ll be part of you.” Chesu opened his arms wide. “Another Dungeon Core thought this was such a great boon that they did this multiple times to create dozens of Servitors. It’s a good increase in power.”

Gem knew the wisp was right, at least in theory. But there were other things to think about, like the fact that he only had himself. Chesu was a good companion, but he was on loan. If they saved Sleyn, wouldn’t the wisps come and take him away? Would he get another wisp? Or would he be forcibly removed from Sleyn and reset on some other planet he didn’t know either?

Could they erase him entirely?

A cold spike rippled through Gem’s core and he wished he had a body so he could shudder. The thought was too much. Perhaps he could make some sort of deal with Ruxium. A bargain where he could somehow be allowed to stay.

As Gem mulled over his thoughts, two messages flashed across his vision:

Quest Complete: Caught Like A Moth In A Bath. Trap an adventurer. Reward: 100 xp baseline (300 xp total)

He peered at the dungeon.

“No deaths though. Shame, that.”

Gem took the time to reset the dungeon and switch up his trap rooms. He went with the seventh configuration this time, just for fun.

But the time of mindless tasks gave him a moment to think. When he was finished, he decided to bypass Chesu and just focus on making a Servitor.

There were a thousand things that could go wrong in the future, but he’d have to worry about them then.

Clearing his mind of all distracting thoughts, Gem focused on his desire to be helpful, his drive to succeed, and his problem solving skills. But before continuing, Gem paused. What other personality traits would be useful for a Servitor?

Daring would be good. A fearlessness to do whatever needed to be done. Intrepid and stalwart in the face of danger.

Gem didn’t possess much of that in himself. Instead he was pragmatic and resilient. Could he fake it though?

Gathering up the identified personality traits, he wound them together and held them in a small part of himself. With a concentrated thought, a sliver no larger than the wisp’s thumb cracked off his core. It hit the stone block below with a tinkling sound.

“Oh. Done already?” Chesu swooped in and examined the shard. “Great! Now you just merge the shard with his Mob Heart, and resummon him.”

That required Gem to unsummon the Plantling first, which seemed to be a confusing endeavor for the Plantling. No amount of reassurance seemed to quell the confused shrieking, so Gem just did it.

The Mob Heart accepted Gem’s sliver of personality hungrily. There was no change to the Heart itself that Gem could see, but Chesu pressed him to resummon the Plantling.

Shriek returned to Sleyn with an aggravated cry. He stopped almost immediately, however, and held his hands up to his face.

He still had two arms and two legs, but they were longer and thicker, made of heartier vines. Small green leaves decorated articulated elbows and wrists. Shriek’s head was still a brilliant violet flower with soft petals, and his eyes were still a vibrant green like fresh grass. But now there was a mouth, hidden beneath those petals, filled with dozens of sharp teeth and a long, probicious tongue.

Gem asked with a thought, his mental voice filled with curiosity.

“Aii…” The once-shout was more of a whisper, a ghost of its former self. “No. I. I feel alive. More so than before?”

“Ah, the true sign of intelligence: anxiety.” Chesu floated down to greet the Plantling. “Welcome to being a Servitor, Shriek. Let’s get you caught up, show you around, and then you can decide what you want to do.”