Brother Malik walked next to his Familiar Sunbolt. It had been about a month since the Monk had felt Sunbolt's presence in two places at once and they had been walking in the direction of where the other Sunbolt had been. When the split had happened Sunbolt, who had just recently gone level up to level 23, had lost a level. Malik had sensed through the Familiar Bond that the EXP had been given to the other Sunbolt. Something he hadn't known the Bond could do.

It hadn't been a lot of EXP so Malik wasn't mad about what had happened. Mostly confused as to why the other Sunbolt was feeling so angry. The Monk had never felt his Familiar feel anger before.

Only minutes later, Malik couldn't sense the other Sunbolt any more and he was intrigued and as to why that was. Did she die? Was she simply shielded? Or had their link somehow been severed?

And why had there been two Sunbolts in the first place?

Malik was an orphan, who had been brought to and raised by the local craftery. As an orphan of the Craftery Cartwright - known for the excellent carts they made - he had been given the last name 'Cartwright' as was tradition.

He had had a good childhood and he loved everyone in the craftery and they called each other family.

Shortly before his 14th birthday Sunbolt had been born into the craftery's unicorn blessing and the two kids had quickly grown close. And when Malik had turned 16 and became an adult the System had declared Sunbolt his Familiar. His family warned him that, just like how the System can take away an Achievement for leadership if the person turns to evil, the Familiar Bond could be taken away too. Even quicker in fact! Apparently normal people couldn't have a Familiar, only those the System called Heroes could have one.

Malik had successfully kept his Familiar Bond even though he was now 34 years of age.

In those 34 years, Malik had rarely been outside the craftery or its connected orchards and farms. And when he did leave the craftery he mostly just went to the Large Town the craftery bordered. Malik had long had a small wish to explore the world but had had no reason to do so. No direction to go in.

But now he had!

Malik and Sunbolt had left the next day and gone in the direction of where the presence of the other Sunbolt had been. The Monk could have ridden on Sunbolt more but that would have made the trip over faster. Malik wanted to enjoy the experience!

After several days of walking through a forest without seeing any other people, Malik began hearing the sounds of society in the distance.

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Nerok Beastkin - Ursakin Bard Level 27 Lionheart Kirin Level 18 Sunbolt Unicorn Level 22 Malik Cartwright Human Monk Level 25

Huh? I thought only sapients were able to enter Dungeons. System? Explain.

All sapients and semi-sapients can enter a Dungeon as both are able to level up.

Uh. Right! I think you mentioned that earlier! So, unicorns are semi-sapients then.

Right as Malik entered, all the dragonets of the room dove towards him from their various positions in The Great Tree Room. The fledgling lightning sea serpent even stuck its head above the water to look at the human. A dragonet landed on each of Malik's shoulders - to which he flinched but didn't otherwise react - and started purring their deep, fast-going purr while nuzzling him. The other 4 dragonets began making air acrobatics while flying around him and whistling prettily at him.

Only then did I notice his white Karma Aura.

99%! Wow! No wonder my creatures instantly love him!

"Like a red dragon seeks its gold." Stated Malik the human, Hero Monk. "No fear at all. And, as you stated, friendly. As we all should strive to be."

"Exactly." Nerok agreed, looking curiously at the dragonets' unusual behavior, while seeming pleased by it.

Malik proceeded to introduce himself and his companions - including Sunbolt and Lionheart - to the dragonets. Apparently the unicorn was the Monk's Familiar.

System? What's a Familiar exactly?

Achievement: Familiar: You have formed a Familiar Bond with a willing being. A Hero can have multiple Familiars but the Familiars will not have Familiar Bonds between each other, only between Hero and Familiar. Condition: 1 of the beings has to be a Hero, and the rest has to have a greater loyalty and friendship to the Hero than any other. Reward: Both Hero and Familiar(s) have the Ability 'Familiar Bond' and 10% of the other's Ability Scores is added to their own. Ability: Familiar Bond: The Hero and their Familiar can sense the direction and emotion of the other and have 1 copied Skill, Ability or Ability Score from the other at a time.

That. Is. SO. Powerful!

But also really hard to get! Being a Hero is super hard- Taozcec had been stuck at 89% for weeks, and most of the Tribe seemed to be stuck on a specific karma level as well. -and getting another to swear their loyalty and friendship to you is difficult too!

Being done with the introductions, Malik turned his attention back to Nerok. "And you say the Dungeon might answer my question if we go further down?" The Chief nodded.

He has a question for me? Should I answer?

… He does have Hero levels of karma, so probably yes. But let's see what the question is first.

Malik calmly looked each dragonet in the eyes and petted the heads of the two on his shoulders. Getting eye contact with each dragonet of which 4 are flying around wasn't as hard as one might have expected. They all wanted to have eye contact with the Hero after all.

After having gotten said eye contact Malik spoke to the dragonets. "Thank you, my friends. For greeting me and showing me your hospitality. However, I must be going." The two dragonets on his shoulders gave sad whistles before jumping into the air and joining the other dragonets.

The Monk walked forward but instead of simply entering the next room he first stopped up to greet and thank the sea serpent in the stream for its hospitality. Having petted the head of the sea serpent Malik entered The Rainbow Forest ignoring the loot on the way, which Nerok stopped to look at.

… Only to have the experience repeat itself in the next room.

… While having the dragonets of The Great Tree Room follow him.

It happened room after room but soon the dragonets started getting the impression that the Hero didn't intend on spending too long in each room based on the large number of dragonets flying around him, and they stopped landing on his shoulders. Still, they greeted him with whistles and joined the rest in flying around him, giving the 4 visitors quite a show.

The unicorn appeared to get some love as well, as once in a while a dragonet would land on her - I can see everything in my Dungeon at once. I knew the unicorn was a mare - back and nuzzle her neck while purring before once again joining the aerial show.

The key-carrying dragonets handed the keys to Malik without being prompted and the bìxié in The Orchard wanted chin scratches. He had no problem solving the Kindness puzzle and even tried to bandage the fake dragonet before it turned into light particles and disappeared. The swamp crocodiles joined the parade and mimicking dragonet didn't even try to mimic something and simply joined the aerial show.

As the 4 walked down the spiral staircase to the 2nd Floor, the creatures of the 1st tried to follow them. As the next Floor was already full of creatures they began to take their mana forms.

No! I demanded. Stay on your own Floor! We don't want to overwhelm him!

That didn't mean he wasn't still swamped by creatures, but it helped keep the number to more… reasonable levels.

The journey was a very slow one, as most of my creatures got pets and all were thanked or complimented in some way.

While the visitors slowly walked through The Forest of Territories, I asked the Chief of The Kobold Fortress to be ready to greet them.

Malik didn't treat the small dumb mimic of The Griffins' Treasure Room any different than the other creatures, even though it could talk back to him. The mimic was complimented for its happy nature and given a hug before the Hero kept going.

The Politeness puzzle normally meant that the visitor had to ask for the key before it appeared and was brought forth, but Malik had already been so incredibly polite that the puzzle was already considered solved.

The kobolds of The Watchtower Crossroad looked nervous as the Hero Monk approached them after having greeted and complimented the galespikes, which had flown ahead, and the lightning sea serpents guarding the bridge. They were fidgeting and generally looked like they were about to meet a celebrity and wanted to make a good first expression. They had all left their watchtower and stood in a row waiting nervously, hoping to receive some love from the Hero.

Naturally the key-carrier gave Malik the key without him asking for it.

This meeting-a-celebrity vibe appeared to be something all the kobolds ended up experiencing when near a Hero. The only exceptions being the Charisma Class Greedy Pacifist and the three kobold leaders, which instead looked at Malik with deep respect.

The sword-bearing leader of The Kobold Fortress escorted the Hero Monk to the dining hall in the middle of the fortress. Here the entirety of the 3th Floor - except the 6 sea serpents for obvious reasons - and the 4 visitors made themselves comfortable for the upcoming conversation. Nerok, Malik and the 28 kobolds took the bench seats by the two of the 4 long tables in the room. The 13 level 1 dragonets and the wheel of fortune mimic placed themselves on the table as close to Malik as they could get. The 16 galespikes and the 7 yaks had to be content with standing due to their size.

They didn't seem to mind it as they got to stand near the Hero's back while he sat by the table.

And naturally the kobold had gathered a folded yak wool blanket for Malik to sit on. At least they hadn't forgotten Nerok and brought him one too.

I giggled at the sight of the dining hall. In one half of the room it was packed with bodies, while the other, beside a bit of overflow from the first half, was completely empty.

"Mother Core mentioned you had a question, sir." The leader of The Kobold Fortress began the conversation. There was no way I would demand that my karma creatures went against their nature to help and please Heroes, so I had quickly decided to have my kobolds answer the question he had.

I just have to deal with any consequence that may come from it, when it comes. At least I can be sure Malik here won't mean to cause me trouble.

…

I'll ask him to be careful who and what he tells about me, when he leaves.

"Yes, my friend." Malik replied. He likes to call everyone his friend, it seems. "Some weeks ago I felt my Familiar Sunbolt in two places at once, only for the new Sunbolt to disappear from my senses minutes later. Like morning dew before the rising sun. Sunbolt and I soon left the comforts of home to find out what the fate of the other Sunbolt was."

Uh! Sunbolt is the unicorn the 'Mostly Random Wonky Magic' Rule had the elven Mage summon! Or part of the unicorn? Other half? System?

Calculating… Your accessible information windows consist of Personal Status windows, alert windows, and general information windows. While this inquiry does not fall under any of these, its unique and personal nature allows for an exception. The 'Mostly Random Wonky Magic' Rule collected the EXP and instincts needed to make a level 4 unicorn from the willing unicorn named Sunbolt. The remaining mana of the 'wonky' spell was used to create the body of Sunbolt. The collected EXP gave it the Skills and Ability Scores of a level 4 unicorn. It was then given the instincts of Sunbolt.

Wow… That Rule is more complicated than I expected!

I relayed the information to the kobold leader who had told the visitors that 'of course mother knows the answer! The question is if she will tell you!'.

Not exactly like that, of course!

Malik was sad to hear that 'the other Sunbolt' had died shortly after having been brought to life. The Hero Monk did a prayer for the early death, which ended in a request for 90 seconds of silence.

When the time had passed I had the kobold leader ask him why it was 90 seconds.

"6 seconds for each of the 8 sapient species that once was. 6 seconds for each of the 7 races of the beastkin that once was. When we honor a death, even when it’s a necessary death, we should remember the unnecessary ones in times past." The Monk stated calmly.

Nerok had never heard this either, and we were informed of how an entire species and a whole race had been slaughtered for no good reason.

That sounds familiar. System? The description of kobolds, please.

Kobolds were once a sapient species. Due to their extinction they were then added to bipedal and draconic Dungeons as level up creature patterns. As such, kobolds do not exist outside of Dungeons. As a Dungeon creature based on a once sapient species, kobolds gain Classes. The Class is chosen by the kobold's Dungeon Core. Before their extinction they lived in villages that they defended together. Kobolds are able to make tools, structures, and basic traps without any guidance

I thought so. Kobling?

"Yes, Mother Core?" Answered the leader.

Ask him what the names of the extinct species and race were.

The kobold did so. Malik stated that no one knew the names or natures of the two. Only that their deaths had been unwarranted.

Knew it! He didn't react to seeing the kobolds. I had the leader inform the visitors of the kobolds' status as the technically still extinct species.

Nerok seemed to gain another level of worship - not literally, that's not a thing -, while Malik simply smiled and stated his happiness for their species' continued survival. Even if it was in a more limiting form.

The conversation seemed to be more or less over but I had one last question to ask: why 6?

"6 is the number of the System." Nerok was the one to answer. "6 Ability Scores. 6 beastkin races who are each connected to an Ability Score. And 6 remaining sapient species who likewise are each connected to an Ability Score."

Malik continued the explanation. "6 species set the sun for the 8th. 6 races decided to bury the 7th."