I stare at the box for a while. I’m not sure what to do. I entertain the idea of just ignoring her and send my own fairies to attack her but in the end, I decide to accept the mind-link. She did leave me with that dagger and armor when she didn’t have to. Also, if I don’t, I won’t get to see her face as I pick the upgrades before she has a chance to object. I really wanted to see her when I did that.

“Hello Lilly.”

“Hello little pebble. Have you been doing good?”

She’s mocking me! I just know it. I’m not sure where she lives but it's almost certainly impossible she could’ve missed that giant herd of aurochs. It was...

“Giant herd of aurochs? Did they pass by here? Now that you mention it the ground does seem trampled a bit. Well no matter, you survived. That’s all that matters.”

Curses! I forgot she could hear my thoughts with the mind-link. Quick, don’t think about the plan. Distract her.

“Yes, a giant herd of aurochs almost killed me. If it weren’t for my fairies, I would be dead now. You told me doors could be used to stop wild animals but they did nothing to stop them. They were utterly useless.”

“The aurochs weighs over 800 kilos. It’s obvious your doors couldn’t block them. Right now, your doors are only good for stopping smaller animals without much strength. Now what’s this about a plan you don’t want me to know about?”

“What plan? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why don’t you come to my core room Lilly? I would feel more comfortable talking if you were near me instead of at the entrance.”

“That’s sweet little pebble. I would be honored. I was worried you might not trust me anymore so it’s good to see you’re willing to let me enter your core room still.”

Wait. She’s right. I should just let her stand where she is. Ah, the regret. She’s already flying towards me looking around with interest at my fairies and the flowers I planted. I can’t really uninvite her while she can read my mind. I’ll just have to grow wiser next time she comes.

“Thank you for the invitation. I would love to come back here again. I was planning on doing so already but it’s always nice to know that I’m always welcomed back. You’re so sweet little pebble.”

No! This is horrible. Whatever I’m thinking only seems to make my situation worse. That’s it. Don’t think, pretend you’re out of mana and everything is black until she comes.

It’s working. Lilly isn’t talking to me, so either it’s working or she’s at least giving up teasing me until she arrives. It doesn’t take long before I sense her tapping me.

“Don’t do that. I already know that you’re here.”

“Really? Weren't you all out of mana? I woke you like that the last time that happened.”

I know she’s teasing me but I felt helpless. Nothing seemed to work against this lady. I decide to try and take control of the conversation. Or at least steer it in a direction I can tolerate.

“Lilly, what do you think of my dungeon?”

“Very nice for one as young as you are. You’re what? Five days old and already you’ve summoned so many monsters and even managed to plant some lovely flowers. I detest dungeons that is nothing but stone everywhere you look. It’s not until they grow older and wiser that they begin to add some life into them that isn’t all about killing you. I even see that you put my little gifts to use. I hope they didn’t cost too much to summon. I did try to pick the cheapest things from my bag.”

She pats a small bag tied to her waist as she said that so I assume that’s the bag she’s talking about.

“That bag doesn’t look big enough to fit a dagger, much less the armor you gave me.”

“Oh, but it is. It’s a storage bag. Every good adventurer never leaves home without it. You see, it’s bigger on the inside and is so marvelous that the things you put inside doesn’t weigh anything.”

“Really? That seems impossible.”

“It’s magic, little pebble. Lots of magic seem impossible but some crazy person at some point had a crazy idea and used magic to make their impossible idea possible and that’s how most of our magic have come to be. Crazy and ignorant people not knowing their limits have contributed more to the world of magic than most realize.”

“What else do you have in there?”

“Pebble, never ask a lady what’s in their storage bag. It’s considered rude. But if you really want to know I mostly brought some children's books, a dictionary and several books about famous adventurers for you to absorb.”

“Why?”

“To teach you how to write of course, maybe even give you a better idea of the world around you and how at least some adventurers think. If we’re to craft a story to lure people in I’m not doing all the work for you.”

“We’re still doing that?”

“Certainly, young one. Now tell me. Have you managed to get an upgrade point yet?”

This is it. I know that if I respond Lilly will just nag me into picking what she wants for me. I don’t want that after the scare I just had. No, it’s time for me to do the right thing as a Dungeon Core of great intellect. I’ll pick my upgrades before she has a chance to nag me! I quickly open the upgrade menu.

Dungeon Upgrade Menu: 2 points remaining See possible new upgrades See previously selected upgrades

I select the new upgrades option and a list once again show up. No time to read it as I already know what I want. They’re still there, both of them.

Acess to Floor (1) selected.

You can now expand your dungeon to a second floor.

Fairies, Tier 2 selected.

You can now summon more powerful Fairies for a higher cost. Your Tier 1 Fairies can now evolve. You can now modify a few visual esthetics of your Fairies when summoning them.

Ha! Success! I really wanted a new floor since the invasion. More floors mean new rooms and hallways. That’s even more mana for me to use to defend myself. The Fairy upgrade speaks for itself. More powerful fairies to defend myself. I haven’t even summoned or evolved any fairy yet and I already feel safer. But most importantly. I managed to pick what I wanted without Lilly even having the chance to object. I remove the boxes so I can get a clear view of Lilly, I bet she’s upset. I finally did something she can’t turn against me. Sadly, the gods must hate me because Lilly doesn’t seem upset at all. In fact, she looks quite happy.

“Oh, how wonderful. You had managed to get two points and you even spent them so wisely. You certainly are a core with bright prospects in the future. I didn’t even have to say anything and you picked what I wanted. I almost think you can read my mind now. Even though that’s not really how the mind-link works.”

What? No! This can’t be happening. Where’s the upset Lilly? Where’s the frustrated Lilly, the sad Lilly, the Lilly that cries because I ruined all her plans? This isn’t at all how I had imagined it would go.

“Aren’t you upset I picked I picked the upgrades all on my own? I thought you had everything planed out in advance?”

“Why would I be upset? You picked what I wanted you to pick. We got lucky with the system giving us the upgrades it did the last time I was here so I wanted to play it safe for a bit and pick upgrades I knew would always be available instead of hoping for a rare upgrade. I want you to be a different kind of dungeon that most but that’s no excuse to not grow you properly. Stronger fairies and a second floor. That's just perfect at this stage of your growth. Some might advise newborn dungeons to stay at one floor since they barely affect the area around them while a deeper dungeon is more noticeable but that’s just ignorant and dangerous thinking that stifles the dungeon so it will never grow to its full potential.”

“Why is that?”

“You know very well what I mean. No matter how many upgrades you get, a one floor dungeon is still extremely vulnerable to just random accidents. Your recent close call proved that. The truth is that you wouldn’t be able to grow all that more powerful at one floor even if you stayed that way for 20 years. Instead you would only be risking your life for every moment that passes. Accidents tend to show up when you least expect it and it’s far better for a dungeon to have a few floors when it does happen.”

I didn’t get to see Lilly upset but I felt better after her explanation. At least I had made a wise choice all on my own proving that, yes, I was quite smart. I think her praise meant more to me than seeing her cry. Feeling pleased, I even wanted to hear if she wanted me to do anything special with my upgrades. It doesn’t hurt to listen and I didn’t want her to be upset with me after complimenting me.

“Since I didn’t mess up your plan Lilly, what do you think I should be doing next?”

Lilly had a warm smile as she listened to my question.