Silver Face dismounts the bicorn, a formidable beast with a dark coat and heavily muscled legs. He enters the tent and, as soon as he is three paces from Moonsong, drops to one knee. The joints of his plenilunium armor clink during the gesture of homage. The very handsome elf, with long silver hair and barely 250 years of age, offers a summary of the invasion. Moonsong gives Silver Face a cold glare, and Blood-And-Guts her usual light smile.
"Two of the three walls have fallen. The human army is decimated and cornered. I have deployed patrols around the kingdom to capture any human trying to escape. Thanks to such measures, I can assure you, my beloved, that the slave capture line is already fully operational. We have more than 300 slaves ready to be transferred to the Underdark."
"What about the castle?" Moonsong gets straight to what matters to her.
Silver Face smiles confidently, though the slight trembling and clinking of his armor do not go unnoticed by either elf.
"The humans proved to be more stubborn and resilient than we expected. But I am certain we will conquer the castle within an hour," Silver Face says.
"An hour...?"
Silver Face nods.
Moonsong closes her eyes and remains in deep thought for a full minute. The moment she opens them, Moonsong's hand moves as a blur, unsheathing the curved sword whose edge whistles through the air, slicing and spraying blood onto the dirt. Silver Face's head falls and rolls; his body collapses moments later.
"I am surrounded by incompetents," Moonsong says through gritted teeth. She returns the sword to its scabbard and rises from the throne.
"If you keep killing your husbands, no one will want to marry you willingly," Blood-And-Guts says without wiping off her smile.
Moonsong ignores her guard's mocking words and walks out of the tent, stepping right over Silver Face's corpse.
"If you want something done right, you must do it yourself," the elf murmurs, grabbing the bicorn's reins. The beast didn't even flinch at the death of its previous rider. Moonsong leaps into the saddle and turns the mount toward the kingdom. She snaps the reins, and the stallion shoots off.
"Bring me the first captain's head as a souvenir!" Blood-And-Guts shouts after her.
Moonsong does not reply; she is too focused on fulfilling her mission. The king must die before the agreed deadline passes.
...
The Imp approaches the edge of the pit, stands on her tiptoes, and stretches her arm as far as possible, but even so, she cannot reach the surface of the crystal. Arrax growls in exasperation and orders the previous disciple to lift her. The disciple nods and hurries to grab the Imp by the waist to hoist her up, an easy chore given how small and malnourished the creature is.
The Imp's fingers touch the crystal, and an electrical tingle runs through her body.
Inside Jimbo's blue space, a new message in red letters appears.
Connection point found. Do you wish to formalize the external link?
Surprise and excitement freeze Jim for a couple of seconds, but soon a wide, shark-like grin forms on his ethereal face.
«Fuck, yes!»
The circles begin to spin.
Formalizing link...
25%...
50%...
80%...
100%.
Link completed.
New lines form another circle with more information, data about some nameless Imp. But such information is overshadowed by the new sensations. The blue mist parts, and Jimbo's consciousness flies beyond, exiting the crystal and floating in a dark but solid place, illuminated by fires on the walls and the glow of his own blue crystal.
Jim can move in almost any direction without being felt or detected; it's like extending an invisible appendage from the core. He is stunned to see himself, tethered by ethereal limits to what looks like a giant floating crystal. But he is even more surprised when he turns around and finds people.
A king and what looks like his family. A guy with long black hair and hooded people. A woman in armor and soldiers like her. And a shivering Imp in the hands of a hooded woman.
None look happy to be there. Unlike Jimbo, who, if he had a human body, would be shaking with excitement at meeting real medieval fantasy characters.
«Hello!»
Jimbo tries to speak, but his words turn into beeps and light reflections across the crystal's surface.
"It's communicating!" Arrax says with a trembling smile accompanied by an expression of growing alarm. The mage would have preferred to conduct the ritual without his king present and during a much calmer situation. "Imp, quickly! Translate for us!"
The disciple sets the Imp back on the ground. The little demon hesitates to speak, but facing potential punishment, she decides to be cooperative. Her voice is raspy.
"It's... How do you say...? That thing you do... Saying hello?"
"Who? Saying hello to me? Is it recognizing me as its master and creator?" Arrax questions, his eyes bloodshot, barely containing the urge to step out of the circle and shake the Imp by the shoulders.
«Who is this crazy guy?»
The imp is smart enough to avoid translating that last part.
"I don't think so... It's saying hello to everyone."
Those present in the room stare intently at the crystal. Each has their own doubts and suspicions, but it is King Marc who steps forward and positions himself next to the Imp. Hilda tries to stop him and protect him, but the king orders her back.
"Dungeon Core, if you possess the intelligence to understand courtesy, you will have the intelligence to understand our position," the sovereign says with a commanding voice. "You were created by my royal sorcerer, Arrax, to serve us and be of use... We need your help to expel an army of beings born from the darkness that seeks to plague my lands with chaos and death."
Jimbo, who until recently had been distracted floating around the room, slowly returns his attention to the king upon grasping the gravity of the situation.
«Defend the kingdom...? Generally, there's a learning period, and that doesn't happen until the second or third volume. What a pain.»
New beeps are heard. All eyes return to the Imp, who merely shakes her head and admits she doesn't understand what the Dungeon Core is commenting on.
"Most likely, it's just pure gibberish," Arrax deduces. "It is a newborn creature; its intellectual capacity must be just enough to understand the language of the world. Let us be understanding with my creation."
«I'm starting to dislike you.»
Once again, the Imp avoids translating words dangerous to her health.
Jimbo holds back the barrage of questions he wants to ask about the new world he is in, and instead tries to go beyond the walls containing him. He crosses the door and reaches the laboratory, and from there he reaches the cells, where prisoners with sad, resigned looks wait huddled in the corners. The place reeks of dampness and piss, causing Jim to wrinkle his ethereal face.
«Reminds me of the orphanage...»
Perhaps memories amplify the negative aspects, but it is true that at the time his country was going through a bad patch, and the shelter's dormitories—whose roof threatened to collapse every time it rained—felt like a real prison to him, where three children shared every mattress due to lack of space and to fight the cold.
«Back then, I couldn't do anything... When I finally won the scholarship and left, I tried to forget about everything.»
The castle shakes, and dust falls from the ceiling. Jim looks up and tries to rise to observe the outside, but the invisible appendage connecting him to the crystal strains and pulls him back. A notice that only he can read pops up right in front of his nose.
-Jimbo the Dungeon Core LV 1
-Ether: 1/100
-External Connection: Active.
-Age: Stone.
-Floors: 1/1.
Tip: Leveling up allows you to manipulate and explore more floors.
Apparently, he is confined to this basement.
When Jim returns to the core room, he finds the soldiers threatening the Imp with spears, demanding she activate the crystal. The Imp backs away to the edge of the pit, intimidated by the sharp blades.
«Leave her alone, you idiots!»
Jim gets angry, causing the sound projected by the crystal to ring deeper. The soldiers flinch and look at the armored woman, waiting for instructions. Hilda remains quiet with a grim expression; it is obvious she dislikes having to rely on a Dungeon Core.
Jim focuses on the Imp and realizes she isn't human, changing his initial impression that the girl just had some deformity.
«Are you okay? Are you really a demon?»
She doesn't answer, too nervous about the humans' presence.
"Well then, Dungeon Core? Will you assist us in these dark times?" the king asks, looking increasingly stern.
Jim sighs.
«Do I have another choice...? Even though I still don't know exactly what I can do, and I can't go very far either.»
The Imp assumes it won't cause trouble to translate those words and explains to the humans that the Dungeon Core's reach is limited. Gazes now travel to Arrax, who clicks his tongue, annoyed that they assume a flaw in his design.
"Why the long faces? I knew my creation would have limits, and for that, I prepared countermeasures."
The moment Arrax says this, magical energy erupts like an aura from his body. The same happens with the hooded disciples. The runes and circles on the floor illuminate. And the flowing ether rises and connects with the Dungeon Core.
An intense warmth floods Jimbo. The energy is so powerful it makes it hard for him to think. New messages appear, so numerous and fast that it is impossible for him to keep up with them. The sorcerers' power merges with Jim's, lifting him until he surpasses the stone basement, the throne room, the royal bedrooms, and finally, the high towers of the castle.
-Jimbo the Dungeon Core LV 1 + LV 59
A flock of ravens flies by to his left. The clash of swords and the roars of men reach him as a clamor. His view is encompassed by a vast sky with a sprawling kingdom below, besieged by beasts and dark-armored forces.
Jim's invisible face of surprise slowly and involuntarily morphs into a wide grin. Because from his high perspective, where if he pulls back too far the soldiers look like ants...
Everything looks like a management game.