I hesitated. Curiosity compelled me to let the creature free- how did it know Argent could understand it? Had it been watching us as we tailed the alchemists, peering from between the bars of its cage, through the loose wicker of the chest it was carried in?

On the other hand, we’d be causing trouble for little benefit.

“I know you’re from a dungeon.” The bat-faced mannikin whispered, and that settled things.

Argent leapt into the cage, grabbed his tail in her jaws, and pulled him with us as she leaped again. This time the moment of resistance as we pushed through the fabric of space was more like slamming into a wall. We broke past it.

By the time we landed the three alchemists had definitely noticed us.

The little creature clung to our back as we dodged a clumsy stomp and dashed up a gangplank, into the floating side of the market, the roped-together convoy of little ships and barges.

We scattered flocks of chickens as we ran, passing by merchants selling rattling bottles sealed with black wax, selling white cats, selling blood-red flowers under glass bells. The alchemists crashed through like a crowd of elephants, breaking everything they touched.

We vaulted over the side of a ship and landed in the river. The three alchemists piled to the railing and stared, unwilling to follow, as we paddled through the rushing stream.

Before we were out of sight we saw them being seized by the guards.

We had definitely shown our hand today. With two different sources claiming burglary by white rat, it was going to be much harder to steal from this market again. People would be on their guard. But-

The little creature clinging to Argent’s back might be worth the trouble.

I didn’t have any minions who could speak, or with opposable thumbs. Argent was my eyes and Aurum was my fangs but I had no hands, no voice.

Argent hauled herself out of the river and scuttled down a side-flow, and I carefully averted my eyes from what she was seeing.

Oh, cruel heavens, that someone with my eye for beauty should have to live in a filthy sewer…

 

I had been hesitating on choosing a new Attunement. Partly because I wanted to give the powers-that-be time to forget I had rejected their ‘generous’ offer for my soul. Partly because I genuinely wasn’t sure what my place in the world was.

I thought I knew now.

The fact was I was rather small for a Dungeon. I wasn’t able to field vast hordes of deadly monsters. I would have to be clever instead of strong. What I needed, I would take from the humans, stealing from under their noses.

I slipped into the trance-like state, exploring the paths open to me. The Attunements of Gleam and Gloom were both tempting in their own rights. One blessed every source of light in my Dungeon with a slight glamour, causing intruders to lose themselves in confusion, while the other deepened the shadows and filled them with illusory monsters. Together with Deception they would make my Dungeon a hall of smoke and mirrors.

Tempting, as I said.

But I had found something even better. The Attunement of Jewels. It would ever so slightly raise my Mana output for each gem I filled with Mana. It was a mouth-watering opportunity. My low Mana had been a perpetual scourge of my development. Considering I was angling to avoid any ‘guests’ for the time being, I couldn’t feed as a normal Dungeon would.

This solved all those problems.

I selected it without hesitation.

 

 

As Argent returned to my sphere of influence, I noted with disappointment that my Mana income did not tick up even slightly. Apparently jewels were no longer counted once I converted them to Monster Cores. The synergy with my current choices wasn’t perfect then, but I was confident I could acquire enough precious stones to satisfy both needs.

The little batlike creature hopped down from her back, staring around the fungal gardens with confusion. “This it?” He squeaked, his floppy ears twitching, evidently disappointed.

Unamused, I made the walls shake and the mushrooms around him grow tall and crooked.

Instantly changing his tune, he flopped to the floor, bashing his head against the dirt. “O’ mighty Dungeon! Please don’t be offended! I, Izzis, wish to contract with you! Take this petty servant and be kind to him, o’ please, o’ pretty please!”

I paused.

Contract?

As the moment lingered, the little thing cracked open an eye, his face still on the floor. As the silence stretched to outright awkward, he lifted his head a touch. His ears flicked uncertainly. “O mighty Dungeon?”

I had an idea. I made the mushrooms grow taller still, entwining their lengthened stalks into words.

‘WHAT MANNER OF CONTRACT’

“A… Dungeon contract, O’ Dungeon?

Evidently this was something I was supposed to know. Like creating the Cores. I was starting to suspect that the powers-that-run-this-show were against me even before I rejected their contract, that I had been cut off from essential knowledge from the start.

‘EXPLAIN’ I wrote.

“Oh, erm… You give me Mana, and I serve you!” The little thing was looking at me with suspicion now. I made the mushrooms wrap around his stubby little legs, instantly changing his tune. “Faithfully, O Great One, faithfully and forever serve you!”

‘IZZIS IS AN ODD NAME’ I noted.

“First thing they said when I was born, ‘Izzis a joke?’ Normally homunculus are, um, a bit bigger.” He said.

A homunculus then, that’s what he was. And here I was wondering how a bat and a tiny human had produced offspring. Homunculus made much more sense.

‘HOW DO WE DO THIS’

“Um, I offer a little blood to your Core and then, bam, stuff… happens? I ain’t done this before either.” Izzis’ ears perked up as he sensed his offer being accepted.

‘ENTER.’

Argent led him towards my core, indicating he should climb to the top of the Sanctum. His leathery wings spread and he shot upwards. Flight. That was another thing I hadn’t considered.

I was beginning to think that passive defense was a hopeless game. That there were so many different methods of assault that I could never guard against them all while remaining fully defensive. I needed offensive tools as well.

Instinctively, I felt last minute doubt as he landed in my alcove, so close to my true form. A Core’s ultimate fear is to be exposed.ut I still had my guardian; Aurum uncurled from around his egg and loomed over the tiny homunculus as the tiny creature pricked his chest with a long clawtip and drew out a drop of ruby blood.

That drop of blood fell on me and went through my jeweled outer surface, like a stone dropping into a lake, passing into my core.

The world went mad.

I felt my mind collide with Izzis’ puny consciousness. For a minute we tumbled through a whirlwind of confusion, random snippets of thought barraging me - I can’t believe this worked, can I trust him, I’ve made it - without any indication of whose they were.

Then, I was elsewhere.

 

We both floated in an abstract void full of distant stars, the same strange space I’d entered when I chose the Wheel on my first levelling. Izzis was there too now. Above us, a huge stone tablet loomed in the sky, and this was what it said.

 

 

He shall forever be my loyal servant. I could feel Izzis thinking too, trying to push against my own thoughts. I realized right away this was no simple agreement. This was a contest of wills.

I shall be well-fed and well-kept and given all the Mana I need… The pitiful little creature tried to add. I felt his mind as a pressure against my own, a psychic force against my thoughts.

He shall receive ONE Mana for every TEN he brings me… I shoved back.

It was a mental fight, and one he was unprepared to win. His thoughts were skittish, distracted, lurching into dreams of riches and power. I was focused, cold. I hammered against his puny little mind.

And ONE Mana for every ONE jewel he brings me. Izzis crumbled under my mental assault.

My words appeared on the stone tablet written in cold blue fire. A bell rang out in the distance. The contract was sealed. The battle of wills hadn’t just been won, it had been a slaughter.