A light knock echoes amongst the books and finery in the library. A Butler made of shadows, steps from the darkness, to answer the door at his master’s behest. Through the open door, strides Henry, no longer dressed in armor, but in black finery. Looking every inch the elegant nobleman despite being monochromatic, he helps himself to a seat and a glass of wine. Across from him, placing a book down and sipping from a glass of his own, sits Charles.

“What did you think?” Asks Charles. A simple question, but one that could have complex answers.

Henry slowly savors his wine, swishing it in his mouth and rolling it over his tongue, to get as much flavor as possible. He doesn’t answer immediately, but takes his time to review what he saw and to formulate a line of discussion. Mind made up, he swallows his wine and speaks.

“He is strange, Father.” Henry pauses perhaps to accommodate an objection, but Charles motions for him to continue. “He is different than any of my other siblings. Despite becoming One with the Blood, he still lives. Not only that, but somehow his familiar has inherited the Blood as well, although in a weaker form. She too, however, lives. Father, I think it may be possible for him to pass online the Blood through breeding. The entire concept is unprecedented, if any of the other families were to find out or gods forbid that-”

“It doesn’t matter,” Charles interrupts. “What matters is that your brother is kept safe. Sure, his potential for spreading the Blood through breeding or finding ways to rejuvenate the power of the Blood through means other than drinking blood, is amazing. However, first and foremost he is family. Tell me about his ability to survive.”

“He is weak, Father. There is no gentle way to put it. Despite his cleverness and basic understanding of combat, he could barely take on five of my weakest Shadow Clones.” Henry sighs, as if distraught. “Keeping him here would only breed resentment and stunt his growth, so I sent one of my sisters to follow him. She’ll keep him safe from a distance, while still allowing him to grow in the face of true danger. I gave him clues to help with his enlightenment on the power of his blood, but I honestly hope that he will find a way that is different than our own.”

Charles savors this information, much as Henry had savored his wine. One of his Brood usually gained great strength as soon as they transformed into Vampires. Innate knowledge of their power and of their weaknesses were normally a given. Their greatest weakness being the need to replace the power within their blood by consuming the blood of others.

The blood of all living things inherently absorbs and purifies Source, over the passage of time. Vampires, unfortunately, are not alive. Despite this fact, the supremacy of Vampires comes from their blood. Unable to purify Source themselves, they are forced to recharge their power through drinking the blood of living creatures.

“Henry, I leave the task of keeping your brother alive to you,” Charles commands Henry, while motioning for the Shadow Butler to grab something. The object is placed on a small table between the two of them. “That settled, how about you face your old man in a game of chess? It has been many a decade since you dared to challenge me and I yearn to beat you once again!”

“En garde, Father,” Henry laughs, preparing to play.

***

I am the meat of a Nevasca and Quinn sandwich. Sometime in the night, Quinn had snuck into my bed to cuddle. A touching gesture, as she didn’t try anything during the night. Well… if she did, then I slept through the whole thing. It is possible, I guess.

In the air, I can smell fresh food. My new adopted family must’ve provided breakfast. Their kindness and willingness to take care of me, just because I share the same blood, is weird but welcome. In this world, the only family I have is Nevasca, but the small gestures they are making are worming their way into my heart.

That unreasonable sense of dread chases away my warm thoughts. Unexplained terror batters at the gates of my mind, but as with most of my problems, I ignore it. I try to sink my consciousness into my body. Yesterday Henry said that all energy has to come from somewhere, right? So where does my Monster Core get energy? How about my Blood energy? With the elemental particle technique Quinn showed me, it all made sense. The energy is being pulled straight out of the world around me. But the energy in me had to come from somewhere.

I focus on the unfamiliar power I have had for longer, first. My Monster Core. My thoughts delve into the sphere in my chest, feeling that wild and raw energy that is contained there. I will a little bit of it out of the Core and force it to disperse into the air. The void of energy in the core begins to fill. I watch and wait, patiently trying to find the source of the energy. For a good twenty minutes I repeat this process before it finally clicks.

The first time the Monster Core filled it took Source directly from around me, right? It is literally just purifying the Source around me in order to fill itself. That’s so fucking obvious? Why didn’t I think of that? I am so slow sometimes.

Alright, problem one down. Problem two is why do I have the Monster Core but I’m still weak? From what I know of Monsters, they are horrendously strong. That’s why they are called monsters. A regular chicken? It is dinner. A Monster Chicken? I am dinner. I must be using the energy wrong somehow?

It is just a puzzle. I can figure this out. Okay, what do I know? Right now, I’m using my Monster Core like I use normal Source I pull from the atmosphere. I use it to reinforce my body during a fight. Yesterday I used it to affect the environment around me. What does a normal monster do?

When I flipped through that bestiary, the Monster Chicken really stuck out, so let’s start there. Let’s see… I’m pretty sure it was 15 feet tall, could breathe fire, and was strong enough to crush a level 12 Awakened in full plate armor. It would make an awesome mount. But what are the differences? It has size, strength, and magic. I’ve already got magic so let’s focus on the other two.

For size and strength, I am standard. I grew a little bit when I got a Core, but not enough to be comparable to a tiny chicken becoming 15ft tall. My physical strength is also standard, if not weak, for your average level 1 Awakened. What does the chicken do that I don’t?

Let’s see… The minute’s tick by as I lay there, with no ideas. I have no idea what a Monster Chicken does with their power, so I have no way to compare myself. The whole line of thought is completely useless. Ugh.

My rumbling stomach reminds me that I’m hungry, so I quickly decide on a course of action. Infusing my body with Core energy when I need it hasn’t given me monstrous strength or size. The opposite of only using it when I need it, is to use it all the time. I’ll try that for a couple days and see what happens. If I use it at the same rate at which it replenishes itself, I will always have it in my body.

I will the Core to cycle its power through every inch of my body continuously. I make sure to specify that it should go through everything. Blood, bone, muscle, tissue, nerves, everything. Any of those could be the key to unlocking the power of my Core, so may as well hit them all.

I quickly rescind the order to flow through the blood. My new Vampire Blood is not a huge fan of my Core energy. The Core energy is untamed and spontaneous. My Blood Essence feels more… cool. Collected. I order the Core energy to stay out of the veins and for the Blood Essence to share all other territory.

Monster Core on autopilot, I get up for some breakfast. Well, not before a copping a feel of Quinn’s lithe body and having a quick make out session. Husband be damned. I like this girl.

***

Days and levels in the Dungeon have flown by. The time it takes to clear each level is growing longer and longer. The floors of the Dungeon continuously introduce new enemies, while leaving old enemies behind. After the Vampires, had come Slimes. Nasty things that came in all shapes and sizes. The normal Slimes were nothing but a distraction, while elemental Slimes of all kinds weaved deadly traps for us to stumble into. Mimics played a deadly role in the floors to follow, but now on the fifth floor, I have face an enemy I am truly afraid of. Myself.

The Core experiment has been successful to an extent. To an extent, it has also been a near fatal mistake. At my feet lay the corpses of this floor’s main creature. Goblins. Goblins by the score. Like a farmer harvesting wheat, I cut them down by the score. The Monster Core has helped me to reach greater heights. Everything about my body has improved. My bones are denser, my muscles hide explosive power, my reflexes are faster than ever before. I’m pretty sure I’m getting taller and broader as well.

My aggression, however, is unchecked. I’ve been charging straight into battles, headless of my safety or my party to play in the team. I didn’t pay it much mind until now. I mean, getting better at killing things has been the goal since day 1, right?

But now I know something is wrong. Goblins, the innocent creatures who I had murdered. I felt great regret over my actions that day. Until recently, whenever I think about it I burn with shame. But now, here I am. I am staring into the eyes of creatures who look just like the innocents I murdered and I feel… nothing. No. Worse than nothing. I feel satisfaction.

These feelings aren’t me. This aggression isn’t me. Anger, bloodlust, hunger, and brutality. I don’t want this. But it is part of me now. I need this Monster Core in order to survive this cruel world. But that isn’t good enough. I intend to eat my cake and have it too.

When my emotions about Quinn were overwhelming me, I fed them into a wisp of fire. But once the fire was cast away from me, the emotions started to grow back. That’s not good enough.

I can create something with a shape and mind of its own. Henry had said something along those lines. But I don’t think I am powerful enough to do that. A compromise is in order. A being set to fulfill specific tasks. That should be easier to create than something that can act on its own.

I create five wisps of flame and hold them in my hands. With my eyes closed, I feed my Monster Core fueled emotions to the flames. Not all to one flame, but a little bit to each. I delve my mind into the flames, giving them basic commands.

‘Continually draw upon these emotions from my body, without rest.’ I command. ‘Stay out of the way until instructed to act.’

I open my eyes to see my creations, five dark red flames, each the size of my fist dance before me. I admire them for a moment. Without warning, Source drains from my body at an alarming pace. Source rushes through me into the Wisps I had created. At first I panic, not understanding what is happening. Then I come to realize that setting up a continuous spell such as this probably has enormous startup costs. I just have to pay it then it will run automatically.

Then I panic again! What if I don’t have enough Source to pay the cost?! All the Source I can pull from the World around me flows through my body and disappears so fast I barely have enough time to register what is even happening.

Urgently I begin feeding the Wisps the concentrated Source stored in my Core. At my side, as always Nevasca whines worriedly. I don’t have time to comfort her because my Core is running dry a lot faster than I could have ever dreamed. I have this bad feeling that if I can’t satisfy the demands of the Wisps, they will explode everything I have fed them until now. Point blank. Directly into my face.

Panic races through me, fear fueled adrenaline pumps through my veins. I need to figure something out! What other Energy do I have?! Wait… I know this…. How could I fucking forget?! Pumps through my veins! My blood has power now!

My fine control over the Source in my blood is limited at best so I just signify it as next up for consumption, and hope for the best. I’m not much of gambler, but when you have no other choice you have to just go for it.

My worries proved to be needless. The suction of the Wisps took what would amount to a drop in the ocean of power that is my blood. The small amount that was drained, compared to what is left, opens my eyes, metaphorically. I have a vast power contained inside me now. If I hope to survive to run away with Quinn, or to just run away in general, I need to figure out how to tap into that.

Immediate crisis of explosions to the face averted, and long term crisis of Monster Core fueled emotions patched, I relax. My battered shield hangs limply in my grip. My staff, coated in a spear of ice, props me up. On my head dances a crown of five dark red flaming Wisps. Nevasca stands guard beside me.

Deep in the dense jungle of the fifth floor, I stand. Mordai heals Ra’hel’s wounds. Quinn loots the decimated goblin horde around us, while Honey makes sure each one is dead. The remains of an epic battle where goblins had tactically used elemental slimes, as directed by Hobgoblins.

In the midst of this bloody grandeur, I sink to my knees. My despairing wails resound through the now empty jungle, while tears stream down my face. My emotions have returned to me, for better or for worse.