As John and Gwen explained more about the situation they were all in, to Jake, Gwen eventually went back to reading The Fellowship Of The Ring to give the brothers some time to catch up with each other. John also knew this was to avoid any further teasing from Jake if John was reading her emotions right. As the conversation wore down, John felt a feeling of relief. It seemed that his brother was back to acting pretty close to how he had been before their parents had passed away. John supposed that Jake dying and seeing that there was a chance at life after death had shifted some of his perspectives, along with physical dependencies of his addiction not existing in the afterlife. And while he would be keeping an eye on Jake, John was glad to see that his brother might be able to be truly happy for the first time in a long time.

It was getting late in the day by the time John and his brother had finished their conversation. Jake took a bit of time to begin wandering around the Soul Space, to check out the different areas. John was glad that he had locked the door into the Dungeon after Lenny had come back, as he wasn’t in the right kind of mood to deal with any unexpected visitors to the Dungeon right now. John was pleasantly surprised when Lenny fell asleep, and a window into his dreams showed up, similar to when John had seen Gwen dressed as Wonder Woman. He focused on that memory for a little while, as that had endeared Gwen to him a significant amount. John could feel a sense of embarrassment beginning to come from Gwen, so he returned his focus onto Lenny’s dream window. Given Lenny’s reverence for the Turtles, John was not surprised to see them heavily featured in Lenny’s dreams. John was amused that some scenarios had Lenny fighting alongside the Turtles, and others had him replacing a specific Turtle. John wasn’t too surprised to see that the Turtle Lenny mostly switched position with was Michaelangelo, due to his love of nunchucks.

John watched Lenny for a little while before testing what he had found with Gwen before and gave Lenny’s window a tap. Suddenly Lenny appeared in John’s Soul Space, adding another notification to the ones that had been building up. John noticed that Lenny seemed to be almost sad that he was out of the dream, but brightened right away when he saw John standing in front of him. Lenny lept at John, gave him as big of a hug as Lenny possibly could, and nuzzled his head into John’s chest. After a minute, Lenny dropped back to the ground and went over to greet Gwen before looking around the rest of the Soul Space. Lenny seemed a bit shy when he first noticed Jake wandering around near him, looking at the Library. However, Jake and John had grown up around animals, including gerbils and dogs, so a quick scratch behind the ears started Lenny’s leg tapping. When Lenny pointed to a comic and Jake handed him a volume of T.M.N.T. Lenny had yet to read, Jake received a hug almost as big as the one John had received. Lenny then grabbed Jake’s hand and led him over to one of the couches, where Lenny hopped onto it before sitting and patting the seat next to him. As Jake sat down, Lenny handed him the comic to read out loud, and his eyes almost sparkled as Jake began reading and showing Lenny the pictures. For his part, Jake seemed to enjoy acting as the older brother or cousin, so John felt comfortable getting back to his notifications.

The first one was a set of Level Up notifications, including the latest notification that John had received.

Creation Level Up, Current Level 14

Absorb Level Up, Current Level 15

Soul Space Level Up, Current Level 10, Novice Bonus Activated

The level up for Absorb seemed to have been boosted by absorbing his first sentient being and obtaining the humanoid Template from it. The Creation level up appeared to come from the gifts John had made for Lenny, as they had included items he had not before produced. Seeing as he had gotten a new bonus for the Soul Space, he brought up the description for it to see what he had obtained.

Soul Space, Level 10, Novice

Description: The Dungeon gains a Soul Space where they can manifest a body and meet with bonded entities or soul projecting beings. They can also make versions of objects they can create in the Soul Space that allow them to work on specific skills and abilities in the Soul Space.

Subskills: Library

Novice Bonus: Soul Space can have defined rooms.

As John read this description, he gained a bit of knowledge of what this meant. Rather than his Soul Space just being a void that he could place things in, it was now closer to being a building. He could designate rooms for certain activities that would make them like a full room crafting station, or he could assign rooms to people he allowed into his Soul Space that they would be able to affect and make their own changes to the room. Any rooms that John designed and created Blueprints for could also now be placed in his Soul Space. Seeing that they were available, John put living spaces for him, Gwen, and Jake, along with Lenny’s modified living space. John was also able to link any bookshelves and media devices like T.V.s and speakers to the Library function of the Soul Space, allowing people to access any materials in the Codex in the privacy of their own rooms. For security reasons, if John desired, he could restrict access to specific items in the Codex for Core and Dungeon Companions, along with Dungeon N.P.C.s like Lenny. Those options didn’t appear to be available for restricting Gwen’s access, as she was listed as a Soul Bound Companion. John would have to look into that and talk to Gwen about what precisely that meant.

As John placed the rooms in his Soul Space, he was asked if he wanted to incorporate the other areas he had already placed objects into new rooms. From doing this, he received a Study Room, a Kitchen, and an Entertaining room Blueprint. Hallways and doors were placed where appropriate, and the colour scheme was the same as the First Room of the Dungeon. John knew that Jake had a decent eye for home decor, so unless Gwen wanted to be the one to set the theme of his Soul Space, he would have Jake spruce up everything as one of his first jobs. John saw a notification pop up and saw that his level for Soul Space had risen to 12. He could feel that his control over the Soul Space had again become a bit finer and that it would also be more comfortable for those with a personal space in his Soul Space to make adjustments as his level increased. John left a couple of surprises in each person’s room, a Lord Of The Rings poster for Gwen, an album cover print of one of Jake’s favourite bands for him, and a special surprise for Lenny. As he finished up, he sent a mental message to Gwen, letting her know that he had a surprise for her. Gwen sent him back a statement that she was close to the end of the book, but she was in close to a decent spot to stop for a bit so that she would come over soon.

As John was waiting for her to come over, he quickly checked his status and noticed that he had a new tab for Important Relationships.

Important Relationships

Soul Bound Companion: Gwendolyn “Gwen” Lilydew

Core Companions: Jacob “Jake” MacIntire

Dungeon N.P.C.s: Lenny

John closed the Status window as Gwen came in and asked, “What do you know about Companions, Gwen?”

Gwen looked slightly nervous when she said, “What kind of Companions are you talking about?”

“Well, I just got a new tab on my status, and it has three kinds of Relationships defined, which all seem to be a variety of Companions. When I looked at their definitions, I wasn’t given much extra context on what they mean. Let’s start with the first kind, a Dungeon N.P.C. What do you know about them?”

“Dungeon N.P.C.s are special Monsters, Creatures, or residents of your Dungeon that can do other tasks than just defending the Dungeon. If you have the proper facilities, they can be shopkeepers, quest givers, guides, trainers, or other specialized roles in the Dungeon. In an emergency, they are available as Defenders and are generally stronger than a typical Monster or Creature. They may also be available as roaming bosses or special encounters depending on their types.”

“So if I had a shop, Lenny could be a shopkeeper?”

“He could be, but given that he is largely non-verbal, it wouldn’t be a good position for him to fill.”

“I guess that makes sense, and I was just thinking of how cute that would look,” John said with a wistful smile on his face.

“It would be cute to watch Lenny scurrying around behind the counter and handing over items,” Gwen said, her agreeance evident in her voice. “Maybe you could have him be an assistant sometimes if you make a shop.”

“Good idea. So what’s the difference between a Dungeon N.P.C. and a Core Companion?”

“Before we talk about that, I should mention that there are other Companion and N.P.C. types. There is a Domain N.P.C. who acts as N.P.C. in your Domain rather than the Dungeon. Normally these Domain N.P.C.s can not be Monsters, and in general, they have fewer combat capabilities. Besides the Core Companion, there are also Dungeon and Domain Companions. Dungeon N.P.C.s are created by the Dungeon and can gain sapience and possibly even Souls if they are given enough time. Companions, on the other hand, are Bengs or Souls that come to the Dungeon through other means. They generally reside in the Soul Space, though some do prefer to live in the physical planes. Companions can fulfill the same roles N.P.C.s do, even taking over the bodies of non-sapient N.P.C.s or Bosses in the Dungeons to provide them with more intelligence in their actions. Besides this, Companions may also do work that is available in the Soul Space, like I am able to do Research.”

As Gwen finished telling John about these kinds of Companions, he could see that she was growing a bit nervous. She began pointing her index finger towards each other and tapping them together. John had noticed that this was one of Gwen’s nervous tics, but he pressed on with his question. “So what’s a Soul Bonded Companion, Gwen?”

Gwen began blushing as she answered John. “It’s a Companion who is bonded to you for life and even into the afterlife. Usually, it is between people who want to be together forever, like friends who become like siblings or romantic partners. In many places, it is done during a marriage ceremony or upon swearing a blood bond.”

“So, it’s like we’re married?” John said, followed by a nervous laugh.

“Uhm… kind of,” Gwen said, blushing furiously. “It’s an accident, but I hope you aren’t mad. I’m at an age right now where my parents were trying to set me up with suitors. Fairies mostly stick to our own and our families’ Dungeons, but our parents will use their connections to other families they know with similar aged children to set up dates so we can find romantic partners. When we were making our bond, I was thinking about how we are a similar age. And how, unlike some people I have gone on dates with, you cared about my happiness and capabilities. Not just my connections and who my parents are. The System must have read my thoughts and decided that we wanted to make a Soul Bond.”

“Oh. I’m sorry you got stuck with me then. I’m sure it’s not what you wanted.”

Gwen mumbled something that John couldn’t quite hear, and somehow her blush got even darker. John couldn’t quite hear her, so he said, “I couldn’t hear you, Gwen, could you please repeat that?”

Gwen stepped a bit closer to John, saying, “It’s not like I hate what happened.”

John was sure Gwen could feel his surprise coming across their connection. He had felt her affection, interest, and care about him before, but he had assumed it had been a more platonic interest on her end. John tried to speak but found he didn’t quite know to say, with “Uhhh…” being the only sound to leave his mouth.

Gwen had stepped close enough to John that their chests were almost touching, and said in a whisper, “If either of us wants out of it, there are ways to break the bond. But would you like to try going on a couple of dates first?” She looked up at John, with a hopeful look in her eyes as she said this.

“Y-y-y-yes. That sounds like it could be nice.” John said with a nervous stutter.

“Yay!” was all Gwen said before practically jumping on John and planting a quick kiss on his lips, before backing up a step and blushing furiously. A blush that was soon matched in intensity by one from John. Gwen then quickly said, “So what do people do for dates on Earth?” hoping to try and power through the mutual embarrassment. John and Gwen could each also sense a feeling of excitement underneath the nervousness coming from one another,

“Umm… usually couples go for dinner, possibly followed by an activity of some kind. We could watch the next Lord Of The Rings movie as a date if you’d like after I make you supper.”

“That sounds great. When I’m done with the first book, and you have some spare time, we should do that. I’ll see you later, John.” Gwen said.

John almost didn’t react as she went back towards the Study Room, before saying, “Oh! I also made you a private room. I left a surprise for you!”

“Thanks, I’ll check it out,” Gwen said as she instinctively turned towards where her new room was.

After Gwen went into her room, John tried to work on more things in the Dungeon, but he found that he was having trouble concentrating due to his excitement. It took the clock going past midnight, and John being notified that the ongoing Research had been completed for him to snap out of his reverie.

Research Completed: Mana - General

Description: Gain a general understanding of an unaspected mana and what its potential uses are.

Research Cost: 2 R.P.

Benefit Of Research: Unlocks further Research into uses and types of Mana. Mana collection becomes more efficient.

Parent Research: None

Research Unlocked: Mana Infusion, Basic Mana Element Type

Dungeon Ability Unlocked: None

Along with the Research Completion notification, John had a level up notification telling him Research was now level 4, and he would be getting an additional Research Point each day. With that notification, John now had three R.P. to spend, but before he did, something told him he should check what the two new Research options were.

Mana Infusion

Description: Research how to infuse Mana into Dungeon Creations

Research Cost: 3 R.P.

Benefit Of Research: Unlocks mana infusion during creation. Mana collection and use become more efficient.

Parent Research: Mana - General

Research Unlocked: ???

Dungeon Ability Unlocked: ???

Basic Mana Element Type

Description: Allow Dungeon to use a basic mana type in creation

Research Cost: 5 R.P.

Benefit Of Research: Unlocks the mana element type for use, opens up advanced types after two mana types are researched.

Parent Research: Mana - General

Research Unlocked: ???

Dungeon Ability Unlocked: ???

Looking into the Basic Mana Element Research, John found out that besides plain Mana used as a Dungeon Core, there were six basic elements: Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Light, and Dark. Earth, Air, Water, and Fire had a cyclical relationship, with Earth being strong against Air, Air is strong against Water, Water being strong against Fire, and Fire strong against Earth. Light and Dark had a reciprocal relationship with each other, with each being strong or weak against the other depending on the element’s situation and use. By no means were these strengths and weaknesses absolute, and the adept use of an element that was weak against a stronger element can overcome the stronger element.

Now that John had three R.P. to spend, it almost felt like they were burning a hole in his pocket, as he could get another research completed right away. His options were the Crafting Subskills, Cooking and Chemistry, or the newly unlocked Mana Infusion. And as tempting as it was to get the Cooking subskill to help out with his date with Gwen that was coming up, he could always pick that up tomorrow, and something was telling him that the Mana Infusion Research was necessary, so he selected that. As he chose it, the System notified John that his Research level had again gone up, and he was now level 5 and had also gained another R.P. generated each day, along with one more R.P. for him to spend. He would use that Point in a bit, but he was much more excited as the knowledge from Mana Infusion came in. He hadn’t unlocked any new Research or gained any new Abilities, but his Creation and Crafting Abilities had gained a new function. John could now infuse extra Mana into Traps and Creatures, giving Traps effects based on Mana, and allowing John to turn Creatures into Monsters. John was about to create his first Monster, and he was excited about this significant step as a Dungeon.