There are many ways you can play with your pet. Throw sticks, play catch or maybe do some hide and seek.

But Sunny, being an all-powerful core, chose none of those lowly common options. No, instead he revolutionized the field with his brand new and original idea: ‘light towering’.

“Come here, pspsps!” He called his moth friend with flashes of light. “Show me what you got!”

Like a speeding torpedo, the moth flew headfirst against the gem, making a loud “Thump!” noise upon impact.

Sunny enjoyed this little game as every blow summoned a little whirlpool, swirling the little eye round and round. The moth enjoyed it simply because of the flashing lights.

“Such a cute little creature you are! And also… well…”

[ Name: --- ]

[ Race: Insect ]

[ Subrace: Silk Moth ]

[ Level: 4 (6/20) ]

[ HP: 5/5 ]

[ Strength: 2 ]

[ Agility: 4 ]

[ Constitution: 2 ]

[ Intelligence: 1 ]

“… Way stronger than me.”

As the moth gave another headbutt to the gem, Sunny heard a small crack. The roots around him slowly broke apart.

He let out a small sigh and began collecting energy. This time instead of letting it build up, he used his body as a gate and sent the incoming energy straight towards the roots. This caused the plant to regenerate.

Something was bothering him. His eyes followed with concern as the cracks slowly closed in on themselves. While that happened, he brought up his status screen.

[ Name: Sunny ]

[ Race: Core ]

[ Level: 2 (0/20) ]

[ HP: 1/1 ]

[ MP: 0/7 ]

[ Intelligence: 2 ]

[ Essence: 1 ]

[ Influence: 1 ]

“I gained one point in essence since my last level up. I’ve also gained a mysterious healing ability. The two must be connected somehow, right? Ahh, I have no idea.”

He heard a knock on the side of the gem.

“This damn system! Why can’t it give me a hint? I understood influence and made sense of intelligence. But essence? What does it do?”

Another knock followed.

“Jeez, stop it, Miss Moth! Can’t you see I’m—‘

Instead of his fluffy friend, it was a long yellow pole. Wire-like hair decorated its massive length.

“Miss Moth?”

Another long pole emerged from below. Joints cracked as it moved and gently touched the pink walls.

Knock-knock.

Sunny felt the temperature drop. Though his memories were absent, he had an idea of what was about to happen next. And it was made all much worse by a raspy woman’s voice sounding from below.

“My legs… they are not touching root.”

Many more poles appeared, followed by two gargantuan jaws in the form of a beak. Behind them were two tiny eyes.

[ Name: --- ]

[ Race: Arachnid ]

[ Subrace: Camel Spider ]

[ Level: 10 (50/50) ]

[ HP: 20/20 ]

[ MP: 6/6 ]

[ Strength: 7 ]

[ Agility: 8 ]

[ Constitution: 5 ]

[ Intelligence: 3 ]

[ Boons: ‘Soulborn’ ]

Sunny froze at the sight of the gigantic being. Its body was twice the size of the gemstone, four times the size of his moth friend.

The arachnid leaned closer to him.

“That is not a bubble. Bubbles… they go up.”

Black fangs decorated both pairs of its jaws. Interestingly enough, they didn’t move as it spoke.

“You are watching me. Do you understand me?”

Sunny trembled in fear. He couldn’t speak.

“Yes. You understand me. You are not like… them.”

Mustering up some courage, he shouted as loud as a little eyeball can.

“Don’t come any closer! I’m a powerful monster! If you attack me, I’ll blow you to pieces! Chu-chu! That’s right! Fear me, RAWR!!!”

“Yes. You are not like them. You can lie.”

“W-What are you talking about? Hey, try messing with me and…“

It climbed closer to the wall.

“UWAAH! Get away from me!”

“You’re not a bubble. You’re not a bug. You’re not a monster.”

“Yes, I am an evil monster! I’m a—“

“Core.”

“H-Huh?” Sunny recoiled. His fear slowly died down as his curiosity increased. “How do you know that? Can you read my status?”

“Status. No, I’m not a core. I only know cores.”

“Are there more cores like me?”

“You don’t know. Are you old?”

“I have no idea, Miss Spider! I remember waking up in this stone yesterday and that’s it! Though my mind feels way older than that. It feels like memories are missing somehow.”

“Yes. You are child.”

“What? No! I’m not THAT young!“

The spider charged the gemstone! Its massive jaws reached around the walls, trying to deepen its fangs into the crystal! But it couldn’t.

Then it tried pulling the crystal out from the roots! But that was also impossible.

“UWAAH! HELP MEEE!!!”

The spider let go.

“No. It won’t work.”

“The hell is wrong with you?! Get away from me, you… bitch!”

“Hm. Idea. Yes.”

The spider backed away and disappeared below the roots.

Sunny knew this wasn’t the end of it. He backed away from the wall and frantically searched the area.

But there was nothing to be seen. Only an ominous scraping could be heard from below.

“What are you doing?” He yelled but got no answer.

As the scraping got louder, Sunny tried his best to remain calm and come up with a plan.

“I’m telling you! You either leave me alone or face my wrath! And trust me, it’s very painful! Super-duper bad!”

Crack!

One of the roots gave up and fell down into the abyss.

“Crap!” Sunny thought to himself. “It’s using its huge jaws to tear apart the roots. Just like those damn beetles from before! Hehe, but this time I know how to react!”

Green waves of energy appeared. Sunny sucked the messy fog into his body, where it was led down on a narrow path, straight into the roots. Sunny chuckled as his confidence surged!

Only for it to be shattered, again.

“No. I don’t allow.” Said the spider, before taking another large chunk out of the plant. To Sunny’s disbelief, it didn’t regenerate.

“H-How?! You’re just a mere spider! How did you nullify my healing ability?”

The arachnid stayed silent and tore another bit out of the plant.

“Fine!” Sunny shouted.

Energy built up around him. Blue energy. It was different than the one from before.

“If you want it so bad then I’ll give it to you!”

Only a few smaller roots remained. They were the last thing separating Sunny from the endless dark below.

[ Your MP is Fully Charged ]

“Remember, you brought this upon yourself! You ugly, stupid, shitty bug!”

The spider ignored him.

“Obey!”

Boom!

An explosion so loud, so powerful, it blew Sunny against the wall! The roots shook as the massive force of energy traveled straight towards the spider’s face!

“No. I won’t allow.”

Before it could’ve hit it, the spider raised one leg and summoned a circle. Ancient runes were engraved into it, which lit up upon touching Sunny’s command.

And as they collided, the spell was redirected towards Sunny. It hit the gem with a powerful blow, tearing apart the remaining roots.

“H-Huh?” Sunny muttered, before being cast down into the endless dark…