《The Dungeon Guild》


 Prologue

    The Man woke up in a brightly lit room that seemed to be made entirely of gold. There were chandeliers on the ceiling with all manner of gemstones. The walls were ornate, coated with various pictures depicting epic battles between all manner of fantastical creatures. In between the various scenes were marble pillars, carved with all manner of fantastical creatures. It was the picture of opulence. The man almost didn''t notice that standing in front of him was another man, in an ornate outfit. He also almost didn''t notice that instead of a regular body, he appeared to be some kind of spherical object. What?


    The man was confused. For one, why was he a sphere? The next question he had was, where was he and who was this strange man? The man in front of him chose that moment to speak up.


    "Ahh! I see the summoning was a success! Welcome to my humble home! As you can see, you aren''t exactly human anymore! But fear not, that isn''t a bad thing! You are now a dungeon core! Capable of doing so much more than your pathetic human body ever could!"


    The man, now a dungeon core, thought that whoever this man was, he was kind of full of himself.


    "Ahem. I can hear your thoughts you know. And overall, I find your demeanor very rude. After all, I am giving you another chance at life! A better one!"


    Really? A better chance at life? How am I supposed to know that? Now that I think about it, I can''t remember anything about my previous life to begin with! I can''t even remember my name! How am I supposed to trust that?


    "Well, some memories of yours did have to be... removed to facilitate the transition. And I understand how you could be... hesitant to trust me. However, this can all be resolved! After you... integrate successfully as a dungeon core, your memories can be returned to you. It would... complicate the process in a negative way that would be dangerous to you. As for a name, allow me to grant you one to be used... temporarily."


    So, my memories can be returned after some time? What kind of negative consequences are we talking about here? I would highly appreciate an explanation here.


    "Is everyone from your world so difficult to work with?" The man sighed and then shrugged his shoulders.


    "Very well. So as for the negative... consequences... as you put it, if you retained your memories, it would cause you to shatter into a million pieces as your memories of your past life would destabilize your psyche. The instability would cause your mana to go haywire and mana overload would cause you to explode. As it were, I''m assuming you wouldn''t want that to happen?"


    That.... is a fair point. I don''t know much about my current situation but exploding sounds bad.


    "Exactly! I''m glad you see what I''m saying here! Now, about letting me give you a temporary name. With your permission, I''d like too just get moving along here."


    Hold up a minute. I''d like to know a bit more about what is going on. You said I''m a dungeon core now? What does that mean? What am I supposed to do as a dungeon core?


    "Okay. Still a bit difficult to deal with. This is fine. So! An explanation of what a dungeon core is! And I suppose I can introduce myself as well, humble and generous as I am! To start with, I''m a system that oversees various different worlds! In these worlds, mana and magic exist as a matter of fact! I, being the benevolent system that I am, utilized this mana to implement a system that allows people to grow stronger through the form of levels! By fighting various monsters, doing tasks, etc, people gain experience points used to level up. Gain enough experience points, and you level up, granting various benefits! Now, there is a small issue that in order to do this, there is a bit of a conversion system to turn mana into the raw power that can be utilized as what is referred to as experience points! That''s where dungeon cores come in! You take in mana, convert it into monsters, materials, etc, that can then be used by people to gain these experience points to level up and live better lives! Simple really. Now, hopefully that explains everything. Any questions?"Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Okay... I think I''m following everything, and it seems to make sense... So... How am I supposed to do all that stuff you said I should be able to do?


    "Well, that''s really simple. It starts off with me integrating you into the system. Which I would love to do by the way. I love working with new people. As a side note here, what would you like me to call you? It''s fine if you want to figure something out. I just hate having nothing to refer to you by."


    Why are you so insistent on me letting you call me a name?


    "Well... that''s really simple. I can''t integrate you into the system without a name."


    Okay? I''m confused here. Why didn''t you just tell me that to start out with? Why all the roundabout ways of trying to get me to allow you to name me? It just feels really off to me.


    "I wouldn''t really worry about.... WAIT! NO!"


    At that moment, the man felt a shimmering field appear around him, and next thing he knew, he was somewhere else.


    The new room around him felt oddly, sci-fi. He was in what appeared to be a strong, plexiglass container. The walls were all metallic, there was strange equipment everywhere, and several people in lab coats running around frantically. At that moment, a woman in a lab coat looked up from a control panel.


    "We got them! Success! Transfer them to the decontamination chamber! Quickly!"


    Wait. Where am I? What is going on!


    Four people in what looked like bomb suits swarmed the container. Lifting it up and transferring it into a strange apparatus that had four glowing crystals surrounding it.


    The woman that spoke up earlier spoke into a microphone.


    "I know this is all very confusing, but I promise we will explain everything. We just can''t explain it now. Time is of the essence here."


    As the woman spoke those words, the crystals started to hum to life, circling the dungeon core.


    "Initializing cleansing in 3... 2... 1... Now!"


    Right as the woman spoke the word now, arcs of lightning arced from the crystals into the dungeon core, and the man felt a connection to... something sever. The crystals hummed down.


    "Alright. We should be good to go now."


    The man felt even more confused now than he did when he appeared in front of the man claiming to be the system.


    "Just hold tight for a bit. I''m sorry, but we can''t explain anything right now. We need to do some more stuff, and it will take a bit. But I promise, once everything is all over, we will explain everything. Just hold tight and trust me."


    A bit turned out to be a whole day. The crystals started up again, and every now and again, they would shoot lightning at him again, and each time, the man felt a connection sever. How many connections did he have? And why didn''t he notice them until the lightning hit him? After a day, no more lightning came out of the crystals. He figured all the connections must have been severed. The four people, the woman, and the various other people who he could only figure were scientists, had stayed around him the whole time. After the last lightning had struck him, it took another whole day of what he could only figure was them running various tests before the woman finally spoke up to him again.


    "Alright. All the connections are confirmed to be severed. The core is safe now. Get him out of there."


    Finally! I was starting to get a bit concerned there! Now could someone explain to me what is going on?"


    "Yes. I will explain everything. First things first, let''s get you out of there and into somewhere more suitable for this explanation. Just hang with me for bit"


    With that, the four people withdrew the container the dungeon core was in, and opened the container, placing him inside of a cushioned, metallic box. They then closed the lid. After 10 minutes, they opened it, took him out and placed him on a pedestal on a table in what appeared to be a meeting room with the same kind of metallic walls. The woman sat in front of him with clasped hands.


    "Well. I said I would give you an explanation. Let''s get started."

 Explanations

    "To start off with, I''m Captain Olivia Heart. I''m in charge of the Military Intelligence division in Sky Fortress Dublo. From what we can tell, you have no memory of your previous life, and since you''re here at all, we know that power hungry bastard didn''t get a chance to name you."


    The core on the table thought for a bit.


    I did think it was odd on how insistent he was on trying to give me a name. Are you saying that giving someone or something a name gives control? That''s... horrifying.


    Olivia shook her head.


    "Normally naming something or someone doesn''t do anything. In his case though..."


    She shuddered.


    "I''m going to be perfectly honest with you here. If you had accepted a name from him, you would be a mindless zombie in his control. Worse still, you''re a dungeon core. He has plenty of mindless servants, but fortunately for us, every dungeon core he''s come across has chosen to self-destruct rather than become a mindless construct."


    She tapped her finger on the desk.


    "Now, the Tyrant finally accumulated enough power to create a dungeon core. However, even a newly born dungeon core is highly sensitive to magical energy and can easily tell the purpose of what magic is supposed to do. It''s similar to how humans, elves, and dwarfs can tell where an object can land based on the trajectory. No one needs to explain it since it just comes naturally. And as it turns out, Dungeon cores, like most sentient beings, don''t like the idea of becoming mindless zombies."


    That... is a fair point. I''d hate the idea of being a mindless zombie. Also, what do you mean that dungeon cores are naturally sensitive to magical energy? I can''t see anything that seems magical at all! I mean, I guess I look fairly magical, but that''s kind of beside the point... I think.


    "And that is exactly the point."


    She pointed at the core on the desk


    "As far as we can tell, he grabbed your soul, presumably after your death, and created a dungeon core using it. The reason you have no memories is because they were irrelevant to his plan. Since you were a sentient being acclimated to an entirely different set of senses, you wouldn''t be inclined to notice what he was doing until it was too late. Even now, you don''t notice what you are doing."


    What do you mean by that?


    "I don''t know if you''ve noticed this or not, but you don''t have eyes, but you''re looking around. You don''t have ears, but you''re hearing things. I''d be willing to bet that if I were to put a plate of food or a drink in front of you, you''d be able to smell it."


    The core sat in shock on his pedestal. After a brief moment of shocked silence, he spoke up again.


    Now that you mention it, I have no explanation of how that works...


    Olivia nodded.


    "Well, fortunately for you, I do have an explanation. Since dungeon cores are essentially naturals at the usage of magical energy, you used magic to give yourself senses in such a way that you didn''t even notice that you did it."


    The core thought for a moment.


    Umm... Well... How would I go about changing it so I could see magic?Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Olivia frowned.


    "Now that is something that I don''t have a good answer to. As far as I''m aware, this has never happened before. Normally, souls have a magical barrier around them that prevents the scenario that happened with you from occurring. To be perfectly frank with you, we still aren''t sure exactly how you came to be in the first place."


    Wait a moment. If you''re not sure how I came to be in the first place, then that does raise a few questions. For one, how did you know how to get me out of that lunatic''s hands. For two, how did you get me out his clutches. And finally, how do you know he won''t be able to just do it again?


    Olivia sighed.


    "Unfortunately, I can''t give a detailed explanation the first two. Military Secrets and all. As for the final one, the method he used to obtain you required the destruction of an entire planet to work, and it took several years of setup at that. He could certainly do it again, but it will take him time to do so."


    After mulling it over in his head for a bit, the core spoke up.


    Okay. Well... I get where I came from now. But why would he want a dungeon core in the first place?


    "To be honest, we can only speculate on that matter. Presumably it has something to do with how good dungeon cores are with utilizing mana. But we don''t know what specifically he wants."


    Got it. Well, on to a different topic. He told me he could get me my memories back. Is there any possibility of that?


    Olivia Sighed.


    "Unfortunately, your memories were not required in his plan. As such, they are most likely gone for good."


    I see... Well, what should I do now?


    "We''ll get to that in a moment. Now that I''ve explained what happened to you, I''m going to give you a brief history lesson of the world."


    What does that have to do with what I should be doing.


    Olivia stared at the core.


    "Am I to assume you want no context of what''s going on in the world? That you''ll just, I don''t know, charge out there blindly hoping it works out?"


    ...


    You know what? You make a great point! I''ll happily listen to what you have to say!


    ...


    I''m sorry... Please just explain.


    Olivia stared at him for a moment longer.


    "Well, as I was saying, a brief history lesson. About fifty years ago now, The Tyrant, as we''ve come to call him, teleported to our world, and offered us the system. Fortunately for us, we are a relatively advanced society comprised of various different species such as Dwarfs, Elves, Humans, Dragons, and critically, in this case, Dungeon cores. As soon as they saw the system, they knew exactly what it was meant for, and quickly gave everyone warning about it. As such, we tried to eliminate him, but he managed to teleport off world before we could manage it. And that''s when the demonic invasions began. We did expect some form of retaliation. But not on this scale. Millions died before we could finally stop it. I''m not at liberty to talk about the specifics of how it all works, but we managed to figure out how to block his portals that allow the demons to flood into the world. After that point, it was just a matter of cleaning up the demons. The issue lies in the fact that in the initial waves were what we refer to as demon spawn. They burrow into the ground, and after a five-year growth period, they emerge as demon kings, which are capable of opening new portals. We kill the demon kings, but when the portals are opened, more demon spawn get in, perpetuating the cycle. Unfortunately, we don''t have a good method of detecting the damn things since they are specialized in stealth and each one is unique, so what works for finding one of them might not work to find another."


    So, am I supposed to help you all save the world or something?


    Olivia shook her head.


    "No. To be perfectly honest, you not being in his hands is good enough. We''ve been successfully defending against him for the past fifty years. Sure, the Tyrant is clever and changes things up quite a bit, but we are capable of adapting to his tricks. Furthermore, it would be irresponsible of us to demand that you help us with our problems. For the time being, we''re going to give you citizenship and assistance in transitioning to a regular dungeon life in the civilian world. We will have to figure out how to get you to be able to utilize the abilities that other cores can just naturally do, which while challenging, should be doable. As for the time being you should probably choose a name for yourself. Like I said earlier, the whole naming thing is normally not an issue except when it comes to the Tyrant, and in any case, you choosing your own name is entirely safe. I''m going to get going for the time being. There are several things I need to get done. Is there anything you need before I leave?"


    The core sat there for a bit thinking.


    Not for the time being. I''ll think about the whole name thing for now.


    Olivia stood up.


    "Very well then. I''ll send someone to retrieve you once I get things figured out."


    With that last statement, Olivia left the room, leaving the core alone.


    Well... What to choose as a name?

 Plans for the future

    After a few hours, a man came into to the room. He nodded to the core.


    "Nice to meet you. I''m Lieutenant Delars. I''m here to debrief you on what we''ve figured out in regard to your transition to civilian life here and to help you get started. First off, have you decided on a name for yourself?"


    Hmm... I''ve given it a bit of thought. I''m going with Null.


    "Got it. Null it is then."


    Null felt like blinking. To his surprise, it actually worked. It made sense that it worked, since he replicated his human senses with magic apparently.


    That''s it? Just... got it? No questions? No, what a weird name? Nothing like that?


    "Dungeons have weird names in general. At least you didn''t choose Super Death Chasm of Ultimate Death."


    That''s a thing?


    Lieutenant Delars sighed.


    "Yes. Yes, it is."


    Null blinked again.


    Okay then. Well. I don''t feel so awkward with this name now. At any rate, what''s the plan?


    "So, you have a few options available. In regard to the magic use situation, we consulted with some of the Military Intelligence dungeons, and they figure that since you were previously a human, maybe going through a human style mage training course would be the best option."


    They don''t have a way to help me out with that themselves? I''m a dungeon core after all. Why wouldn''t I go to a course for dungeons.


    "Because despite being incredibly good at magic, they make for terrible teachers. For dungeon cores, it''s like trying to teach someone how to breathe. They don''t understand the struggles non-dungeon cores have, and as such, they don''t really understand how to teach with those difficulties in mind."


    Null thought about it for a second before agreeing.


    Yeah... I guess it would be pretty difficult to teach someone how to do something you do so naturally.


    "Exactly. Now, we are busy contacting the various academies to get you enrolled. We''re still waiting to hear back from them. In the meantime, I''m going to be giving you a crash course in how life works here so you don''t go into it totally blind."


    Got it. Let''s go.


    "To start with, let''s talk about moving around. As you are aware, you don''t exactly have legs. For the most part, Dungeon cores move around using Hover Pedestals. However, we are not sure yet whether or not that is a viable transport method for you yet, since it does require some pretty serious magic control for regular people. We have some artificers that are going to come by later to work with you to figure something out. Don''t worry about the bill, we will foot the cost ourselves."


    A bill? Actually wait, that makes sense. Can''t have a large civilization without currency.


    "Exactly. Which is where we move on to the next point. Money. Now, currently the plan is to send you to a magic academy. We do plan to give you a paycheck while you''re there, but once you get things figured out, you will have to get things figured out in that regards. Now, most dungeons make money doing requests for the dungeon guild. However, there are various options available to you other than that."


    Lieutenant Delars stroked his chin.


    "Actually, now that I think about it, you probably have no idea what the Dungeon or the Adventurer''s guild is in the first place...."


    You wouldn''t be wrong there. A bit of explanation would be appreciated.


    "Right. So, quick discourse on the Adventurers and Dungeon guilds. This world has what we call the tier system. Mana can be turned into resources, and the use of those resources reinforces your soul. Gain enough of those resources, and you can achieve the next soul tier, which exponentially increases your individual power. It also results in benefits, such as not requiring as much rest, longer lifespans, increased intelligence, memory, strength, the works. As such, advancing tiers is highly sought after. Furthermore, while there are the demon invasions to worry about, stagnant mana tends to convalesce into monsters that like to wreak havoc. That''s where the guilds come into play. They are organizations to assist people in attaining increased tiers as well as deal with the monster problems. The way it typically works, is that the Adventurers guild puts in a request with the dungeon guild, the dungeon guild puts out a request to its members, and once the request is fulfilled, both sides profit."If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Okay. I''m still a bit confused here. Can you give me a concrete example?


    Lieutenant Delars nodded.


    "Alright. Let''s suppose that a party of new adventurers want to get some training in. The Adventurers guild puts a request to the Dungeon guild for something typical, like a slime training session. The Dungeon guild puts the request out to its members, who set up the slime training scenario. The Adventurers come and kill the slimes. Now, the adventurers and the dungeon core will typically split the resources. Slimes can be harvested for slime cores as well as slime. Slime cores are utilized as resources for soul reinforcement. Slime is highly sought after in the medical fields, as well as in the fashion industry. The dungeon and the adventures will split the resources. Typically, Eighty percent of the cores will go to the adventurers, while eighty percent of the resources go to the dungeon. However, this split is negotiable. Furthermore, completing requests gets you towards the next guild rank, which allows you to take on more challenging requests which result in higher profit."


    Okay... So, what''s to stop a dungeon from just creating stuff to farm its own monsters? Let''s say that I was to make a bunch of slimes and then make some slime hunting monster to take down the slimes to get all the cores and all the profit. What would stop me from doing that?


    "Got you. That is a fair question, and if you found a way to solve it, you would be the richest dungeon core in the world. In fact, there are several research teams trying to figure out the answer to that right now, as well as a huge cash bounty for anyone that can figure it out. The main issue in that regards is the monsters naturally absorb any cores immediately when they get the chance. In fact, the example you gave has been tried numerous times. Typically, what ends up happening is the slime hunting monster absorbs all the cores from the slimes immediately. The slime can still be grabbed, so there is that going for it, but at the same time, when the slime hunting monster gets more powerful than the core, it will then cease following the commands of the core, resulting in the dungeon core having to hire adventurers to kill the monster, which is typically pretty expensive. Now, the core of the monster that hunts the slimes is obviously more valuable than the cores of the slimes, but that power does have a conversion cost. Typically, Seventy-Five Percent of the mana used to create the slimes is lost when the core is absorbed by another monster. So, for example. You create 500 slimes that get hunted down by five slime hunting monsters. Those monsters then need to be hunted down. Instead of that, you could create twenty of those monsters from scratch, resulting in four times the profit. In the first case, since typically eighty percent of the monster cores go to the adventures, you would get one core. In the latter case, you would get four cores. Furthermore, it takes time to accumulate the mana required to make those slimes in the first place. Typically, a tier one dungeon core such as yourself, can make around 20 slimes a day. Meaning that it would take you four times longer to achieve the same result in monster core value."


    Got it. That makes sense. What about the materials you gain?


    "Well, monsters aren''t exactly careful when it comes to preserving materials. Slime is typically not too much of an issue, since it''s kind of hard to damage, but at the same time, other monsters will be more problematic. Let''s say wyverns. Wyverns are another monster higher tier dungeons can make. Way more mana intensive to make, but at the same time, the scales, bones, and other materials are highly sought after for industrial purposes and require precision and care to take out in a way that maximizes profit. A monster created to hunt wyverns typically won''t have the precision and care to do so."


    Okay... So, what if I made the monster that hunted the wyverns have the precision and care required to maximize the material profits?


    "That would be even more expensive mana wise, since you''re specializing the monster even further for the harvesting. Dungeon Core research teams have tried that method, but the latest research shows that it''s typically five times more expensive in mana cost to do so. Furthermore, monsters like that are even more costly to get rid of, to the point where the profits from the materials go down the drain disposing of the creature."


    ....


    Oh.


    Lieutenant Delars nodded.


    "Yeah. It''s a tough problem. If you do figure out a profitable way to do it though, there is a huge reward for doing so."


    Got it. Well. I guess that makes sense. At any rate, sorry for going down that whole side tangent. But thanks for the explanation. So, let''s talk about the currency system. How does that all work?


    "Alright. On to the currency system. Now, we use a magic based currency system. As such, each unit of money corresponds to a certain amount of mana that can be gained through absorbing it. The basic unit of currency is a small bronze coin, which can be used to gain 1 mana. Then there are the medium and large bronze coins, which respectively can be used to gain 10 and 100 mana. Then you have silver, gold, and platinum coins. Which go for a thousand, a million, and a billion mana respectively. These each have small, medium, and large variants as well."


    Got it. That actually makes a whole lot of sense. What happens to the coins when they are used and how are they made?


    "When you use a coin, it gets absorbed into your mana pool, disappearing. As for how they are made, there is a spell anyone can learn that converts mana into coins. Typically, it does have a loss factor associated with it of around ten percent. There are better versions of the spell you can purchase, but those are typically quite expensive."


    Wow. This is just causing me to have so many more questions.


    "Keep asking. We have quite a bit of time at the moment"


    With that, their conversation continued for several hours of questions and explanations until finally another man walked in, notifying Lieutenant Delars that the while the talks with the magical academies was still ongoing, the artificer team had arrived to help Null out with his mobility issue.


    "Well, it''s been a good conversation with you Null. I will be available to help you out with any more questions you have once the team has helped you out."


    Got it. Thanks for the help again. I appreciate it.


    "See you later"


    With that, Lieutenant Delars walked out, and four eccentric looking people walked in.

 Dungeon Core Mobility Issues

    After the four people entered the room, several other people came in after them carrying various items and equipment. The four people in question consisted of a human, an elf, a dwarf, and what appeared to be a woman with red, iridescent scales covering her body. The group was clothed in what Null could only figure looked like some kind of metallic composite armor with various glowing orbs embedded in them. Furthermore, they each had what looked to be some kind of high tech, magical monocle over either their left or their right eye. Each of them also had a cloak on that had different symbols. The human''s cloak had the symbol of a gear with a magical stone set inside of it. The Dwarf had the symbol of a mountain with a high-tech city. The Elf had what appeared to be a cyborg tree, and the scaled lady had a dragon on it.


    The Human walked up to Null.


    "Good to meet you Null. We''re going to be helping you out with your mobility issue. I''m Lieutenant Willis. The Elf is Sargeant Branchleaf. The Dwarf is Sargeant Stonehammer. And finally, the Dragon''s name is Ember Wrathfire."


    Willis leaned closer to the core and whispered


    "Just between me and you, Ember has a bit of a hot temper"


    "Hey! I heard that!" Ember said indignantly


    Willis laughed


    "I''m just joking. Everyone here is good people. Now. We''re essentially the special production team here for the Dublo. We make the special purpose stuff."


    Willis clasped his hands together.


    "Now. On to the point of all this. We''re here to help you out with mobility. As I''m sure you''ve already heard, most dungeons just get around using hover pedestals, and we''re pretty sure that won''t work out for you."


    Yeah. That was my understanding as well.


    "Now. All the same, I figure we should try it out just to be sure."


    Willis went over to the pile of equipment and grabbed a circular disk with glowing stones inset into the side. In the center of the disk was a circular hole with curved sides. Null was looking at it with curiosity but also noticed that Stonehammer and Branchleaf also seemed to be staring at it intently.


    After placing it the disk in front of Null, Willis spoke up again.


    "Now. All we have to do is put you onto it, and with any luck, you should be able to utilize it to fly around. Is it fine for me to pick you up to place you on it"


    Yeah! Sure thing! Let''s give it a go.


    With Null''s permission, Willis picked him up and placed him into the center of the hover pedestal. The hover pedestal adjusted itself to comfortably fit Null in the center of it, and null felt a connection establish with him from it.


    Okay... I felt the connection establish with it. Now what?


    "Try doing something with it. Hmm... maybe try willing it to move in a direction or something like that? I''ll be perfectly honest here, I''ve never had to explain to a dungeon core how to use one of these before. It normally just comes naturally to them."


    Null tried out the suggestion.


    Nope. Nothing.


    At that point Branchleaf spoke up with a bit of panic in his voice.


    "Nothing? Nothing at all? Are you sure about that?"


    Umm... Yep. Let''s see. Trying to will myself to hover in a direction. Yep. Not working.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Null saw the elf look a little relieved but still with a bit of panic in his voice. Meanwhile he could see Stronehammer struggling to hold back a laugh, Ember looking amused, and Willis just facepalming in disappointment.


    "Okay. Well, maybe you need to focus your will on the pedestal itself? You said you were trying to will yourself to move. Try it out on the pedestal."


    Okay. Good point there. Let me give your suggestion a try.


    With that, Null tried to focus on the pedestal through the connection. With that, he tried moving again.


    Nope. Still nothing.


    With that statement, the Branchleaf looked like his hopes and dreams had been crushed while Stonehammer just started to laugh audibly.


    Umm... What am I missing here?


    Ember walked up to the core with a bemused expression.


    "Well, those two had a bit of a bet you see. Stonehammer figured that we''d have to manufacture something entirely new to help you out with the mobility. Branchleaf there scoffed at the idea and figured that there was no way you wouldn''t just figure it out immediately. As such, he offered a bet where whoever was wrong would be buying drinks for the whole week to the winning party. Stonehammer accepted the bet."


    Null gave a bit of a guilty laugh.


    Oh. Got it. Sorry about that.


    Stonehammer laughed again.


    "Yer got nothing to apologize fer. In fact, I should be thanking you. Free Drinks fer me all week!"


    Stonehammer gave a cheer while Branchleaf with a dejected kind of sigh joined in with a faint cheer of his own.


    "Yeah.... free drinks for Stonehammer all week... Coming out of my pay."


    At that point Willis stepped in again.


    "I did tell you that bet was a bad idea. At any rate, we know that the hover pedestal doesn''t work. Now we need to figure this issue out for Null here."


    Ember spoke up.


    "Hmm... we were told about how you essentially have human senses. Can you give us a rundown of them again Null?"


    Null was happy to accept the question. Anything to get out of the discussion about the bet.


    Sure thing. So, as far as I can tell, I can see perfectly fine. I can also hear everything perfectly well also. Now that I think about it, I guess that I''m talking as well? Not really sure how the talking is working now that I think about it.


    Branchleaf spoke up while stroking his chin.


    "Your essentially using broadcast telepathy. Anyone in your vision can hear it. I''d imagine you could refine it with practice to target a specific person, and once you have more practice with sensing things through mana you could probably talk with someone outside of your vision as well."


    Willis pulled out a what appeared to be a magical whiteboard and began marking down the discussion points.


    "Alright. So, we know that you can do things like sight, hearing and talking. Got it. Anyone got any ideas?"


    Ember spoke up.


    "Well, it appears to be that Null here is able to do things that he could naturally do in his previous life. I figure we''d have to make a way for him to move that would just feel natural to him. I''m drawing a bit of a blank on how to do that though."


    At that point Stonehammer spoke up.


    "Hmm. Wha about prosthetics?"


    Branchleaf stroked his chin.


    "Interesting idea. For sure that area of engineering is a bit understudied, since healing magic just allows the reattachment or regrowth of limbs over time. And for the most part, it''s just a stopgap measure while waiting for a healing mage to be able to see them... But still..."


    Null could see the team contemplating it. Stonehammer replied with excitement.


    "Exactly! We could build Null a body with using prosthetic technology. I figure maybe we just have ta give a hover pedestal arms an legs, and it should be good to go."


    Ember scoffed.


    "I don''t think it will just be as simple as giving it arms and legs. I would know. Transformation to human form does require it to be a comfortable fit for the dragon after all."


    Stonehammer shook his head.


    "Comfortable fit? Wha do ya mean by that? The lad is clearly a dungeon core. Aren''t the Hover Pedestals comfortable enough?"


    Willis interjected.


    "Calm down a bit Stonehammer. Would you mind explaining your idea Ember?"


    Ember nodded with a satisfied smirk.


    "Certainly. My suggestion would be to build essentially a human style magimech suit that fit the proportions Null decides on."


    Null spoke up excitedly.


    Ooh. That sounds really cool! I''d be happy to try it out.


    Willis nodded.


    "Alright. Sounds like a plan to me. Anyone have any objections?"


    The rest of the team shook their heads.


    "Alright. Then."


    With that, Willis and the team spent a few hours to take measurements of Null, ask questions regarding how he would like the proportions to be, and settled on a design. With that. The team left to build Null a prototype Magimech suit to try out. As they left, Lieutenant Delars walked back in.


    "Well. Unfortunately, I have some bad news."


    Alright. I''m ready for it.


    "You remember the conversation we had about the Demon spawn and how they turn into Demon kings every five years?"


    Yeah. Kind of hard to forget about the crazy psychopath that''s intent on enslaving the world population.


    "Well, it appears that at some point he mixed some demon spawn that take longer to grow up into the mix. A new Demon King has emerged. And it''s here three years early."

 A hectic day on the Sky Fortress

    Null was feeling a bit nervous.


    Alright. So, a new demon king is here. Presumably opening up portals to summon more demons in.


    Lieutenant Delars nodded.


    "Exactly. We have an initial suppression force in route, so that should keep it distracted for the time being. In the meantime, the Dublo is in route to provide support. It will take approximately ten hours for us to reach the location. The special production team is working to get your magimech suit up and running. I checked in with them and debriefed them on the situation outside the room, and they let me know that it should be functional within the next hour"


    That fast?


    "What can I say? They work pretty fast when they have to."


    That''s fair.


    Lieutenant Delars sat down in one of the chairs around the room and propped his arms on the desk with his hands folded.


    "Now. Here''s the issue at hand. With you being a civilian, we don''t expect you to have to be in danger from this issue. As such, we''re giving you the option to leave once your suit is up and running. We have some fortress cities we can transport you to if that''s what you wish to do. The issue that comes into play is that this demon king is a flying type one, so we can''t ensure that transport will be entirely safe as it flies you there."


    Null thought about it for a bit.


    Hmm... Well, I don''t know much about demon kings, or really demons in general to be honest. So be honest with me here. Will the Dublo be able to handle it?


    Lieutenant Delars smiled.


    "Well, I can be perfectly honest when I tell you that the Dublo currently has fifteen confirmed kills on demon kings under its belt. And believe me. We are looking to add another. That being said, this Demon king does appear to be quite a bit stronger than usual. But that''s not going to stop us."


    Do you think we can get through it with no casualties?


    At that Delars expression dulled a bit.


    "Hazards of the job. We have other flying fortresses in route as well, so with any luck they''ll be minimal. All the personnel here knew the hazards when they signed up, and we''ve spent years training to take them down. You, however, are a different case, and we can''t take you to a warzone in good conscience without at least letting you make the decision."


    Null agreed with the sentiment.


    I see. I''ll tell you what. If you can''t ensure my safety on the flight out of here, then that means the pilot wouldn''t be safe either. And I can''t endanger someone else''s life in an attempt to preserve my own in good conscience either.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Delars gave a bit of a grim smile.


    "Well. In that case, good to have you onboard with us. We''ll deal with the demon king and figure out what to do with you later. In the meantime, I''ve got to get going. Things to do with the upcoming fight and all."


    With that. Delars stood up, giving a nod to Null as he left the room.


    After about an hour of Null sitting there, the Special Production Team returned, wheeling in a large, heavily armored Magimech suit.


    Willis went over to Null and immediately started talking.


    "Alright then! Time to test this thing out! I''m sorry about this, but we will have to make this quick. We have a lot of stuff we have to get done, and very little time to do it. My apologies in advance."


    With that, Willis picked up Null. With the sound of mechanical whirling and the hiss of escaping air, the chest of the Magimech Suit opened up. Willis carefully placed the core inside, and Null felt the suit adjust to precisely fit his core. With more whirling the suit closed, and Null felt a connection establish with the suit similarly to how the Hover Pedestal worked. This time however, the connection also established feeling. With surprise, Null realized that he could feel the arms, legs and the exterior of the suit similarly to how he could feel his skin. Similarly, he felt his vision shift over to the head of the unit, and he was seeing as if he was in a human body. Without even realizing he what he was doing, he raised his suit''s arm to his face to look at the hand.


    The Special Production team cheered.


    "I told you it would work." Ember said happily.


    Branchleaf nodded.


    "Yes. It does appear that incorporating the crystal nerve fiber throughout the suit did have the intended effect."


    Stonehammer shrugged.


    "Eh. I still think that we could of jus used the simpler magistone nerve system. Way cheaper that way."


    Ember punched the dwarf in the arm.


    "And I told you that with the time constraints, it would be better to take the more expensive option since it would have a better chance of success."


    Stonehammer rubbed his shoulder looking a bit upset.


    "All that time I spent upgrading this damn suit with an impact resistant underlayer." He muttered to himself.


    "I''m A Dragon. Let me just say that again. DRAGON! You think an impact resistant underlayer would do anything? That just makes it so I can punch you harder when you''re being stupid!"


    Ember punched the dwarf again to drive the point home.


    "All right! All right! I get what yer sayin." Stonehammer replies while putting some space in between him and Ember.


    Null looked away from his hand, and with a bit of trepidation, took his first step, to more cheering from the team.


    Null looked at the team, and with clear appreciation present in his voice, spoke to them for the first time since he was placed into the suit.


    Thank you all so much. I really appreciate this.


    He moved around the room, getting used to the new body.


    Yeah. This works out really well.


    The team shuffled around a bit nervously, grateful that their work was so appreciated. But at the same time, Willis had to speak up.


    "Alright. The suit is perfectly functional. Sorry to cut the celebration short, but we have things we have to do. From my understanding, you''re staying here while we kill the Demon King. I''m going to send one of my newer technicians here. He''ll take you to the training deck to get you more acclimated with the Magimech suit as well as gather data. That suit is still a prototype. The technician in question did assist in the suit construction, so he''ll brief you on the specifics. We threw some neat stuff in there."


    With that statement, the Special production team left the room, and shortly afterwards, the technician came in. He was human from the looks of it and had the similar gear to that of Willis and the rest of the team. Notably though, while his cloak had the same symbol as Willis did, the crystal in the gear of the technician was green rather than Red like Willis, but Null figured he could ask about that at a later time.


    "Good to meet you Null. I''m Corporal Vane. If you would follow me, I''ll take you to the training hall to get you adjusted to the new Magimech suit.


    With that, Corporal Vane led Null out of the room and into the passageways of the ship.

 Hitting the gym

    As Corporal Vane led Null through the passageways of the sky fortress, Null couldn''t help but be amazed. Pipes lined the walls of the passage, going to various different areas through the walls. Various doors led to all manner of different areas, not that Null could see where, since they were shut, but still. Furthermore, all the people around them moved with a purpose. He could see crew members going to various locations. Security teams sweeping through the passageways with both high tech, magical guns, as well as melee options such as magical swords, maces, and clubs, which he could only guess was based on the personal preference of the security team members.


    That being said, the trip wasn''t the easiest thing in the world. He was still getting used to the Magimech suit and did stumble and fall several times. Fortunately, each time he did, Vane helped him to his feet with surprising ease. Null realized that it was probably a perk of soul tiers. At any rate, the trip through the fortress proceeds quickly.


    After a bit, Corporal Vane led him through an open area where Null could clearly see magical munitions being set up for transport to various areas around the fortress and eventually, they came to a relatively large open room with a small running track.


    "Welcome to the training room. We have a few hours to get you used to your suit. Once we get you used to it, we''re going to be putting you in a secure area with the other Dungeon core that lives on the fortress."


    Null looked at Corporal Vane.


    There''s another Dungeon core here on the fortress.


    Corporal Vane nodded.


    "Yep. But don''t let the name fool you. He''s a pretty decent guy as long as you''re not a demon or The Tyrant."


    Umm. What''s his name then?


    "Super Death Chasm of Ultimate Death. He''s sworn death to all demonkind as well as the Tyrant. Supposedly, that''s why he chose that name in the first place. But like I said, he''s a pretty good person overall."


    Oh. So that''s who Delars was talking about back there. Null thought to himself.


    "At any rate, let''s get started. Clocks ticking. Run a few laps to get used to the suit. I''m going to get some gear ready to test some of the other functions."


    With that, Null began doing a few laps. He walked the first one just to get used to the suit. The next one, he jogged, falling down a few times. The lap after that, he jogged again, falling down only once, and finally on the third lap he managed to jog the entire lap without falling at all. Eventually he progressed to running and to his shock, he didn''t fall down once.


    Corporal Vane called him over.


    "Alright. It seems like the balance operational unit has finally finished calibrating properly. You should be good to go on that front now."


    With that statement, Null fell to his knees.


    Corporal Vane rushed over.


    "Are you good? What''s going on?"


    Null got back up, realizing that now was not the time for this kind of stuff.


    Sorry about that. I was just so happy that I figured out how to balance in the thing and you had to crush my hopes like that.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Corporal Vane laughed.


    "It''s all good. Actually, the balance unit was Sargeant Branchleaf''s idea. He said something along the lines of ''If he can''t operate something as basic as a hover pedestal, how do you expect him to balance properly''."


    Well, he can have fun paying for drinks all week. I don''t even feel bad about that anymore.


    Vane laughed again.


    "Yeah. I heard about that bet. Anyway. On to the next phase of testing."


    With a grin, Vane pulled out a large metal mace.


    Null backed away with his hands out in front of him.


    Hold on a minute. What are you doing?


    Vane tapped the mace on with his free hand and then pointed at the Null with the mace.


    "We threw armor onto the suit as well as a basic shield system. In the event of demons boarding the sky fortress, you may have to defend yourself. As such, I''m going to be testing the suit''s ability to stand up to strikes."


    Is that really necessary?


    Vane stroked his chin thoughtfully with a frown.


    "Well, technically it''s not. However, regulations prohibit us from allowing you to be in unnecessary danger, so we could take you out of the suit and place you into a heavily armored box for the duration of the fight if you''d prefer not to do the testing."


    You know what? Suddenly the testing seems like a great idea. I''m ready for the testing. Just tell me what to do!


    Vane smiled.


    "I''m glad you see it my way then. Now, to start off, we''ll be testing the protection system. It should resist impacts up to a certain force with no damage to the armor or you. You ready?"


    Yep. Ready to go.


    With that, Vane hit the magimech suit with enough force the Null flew through the air before hitting the wall on the other side off the room.


    Null quickly looked over his suit, shocked to find not even a dent where the mace had hit the suit. Meanwhile, Vane walked towards him, shaking his hand to get rid of the numbness that resulted from that strike.


    "Damn. That stung a bit. I thought that I could adjust my swing a bit from the first time..."


    Null felt a bit angry.


    First time? What do you mean first time?


    "Yeah. We tested that the armor wouldn''t take damage already. This was a test the inertial dampening system for proper functionality"


    Why weren''t you more specific about it?


    "I said we''d be testing the protection system, didn''t I? The inertial dampening system is part of that. Also, making sure that works properly is important for the next test anyway"


    Null sighed.


    Fine. Fine. I get the point. Alright. What is the next test?


    Vane smiled again.


    "Alright. For the next test, I''m going to be hitting you even harder. The shielding system should activate to prevent any damage."


    Got it.


    Null braced himself for impact.


    Go for it. I''m ready


    Vane, with another large smile, hit Null even harder this time. However, this time, a shimmering field popped up in front of him, absorbing the damage of the impact. That being said, he still flew across the room, impacting the wall at a decent speed. This time though, Null got up and wasn''t quite as surprised to see that there was no damage to the armor.


    Vane gave out a cheer.


    "Perfect. The protection system works perfectly up to standards then. Now, to check the energy management system for this thing to see how the energy levels are doing."


    Energy management system?


    "Yep. So, this thing is powered off of five tier 5 monster cores. It''s pretty power intensive to be honest, but we had to do it since the upcoming battle will be fairly brutal"


    Fair point.


    With that, Vane tapped on a gadget on his wrist and a holographic screen popped up. Vane tapped a few buttons.


    "Alright. So based on the calibration the system did with the testing, your suit power should be sufficient for the next five days or so."


    Five days? That short?


    "Yep. We had to add quite a few things into the suit and with you being a tier one dungeon core, having you power it yourself wasn''t a feasible option. After this battle is over though, the special production team does intend to develop a less energy intensive suit for you to utilize that doesn''t require an external power source."


    Fair point.


    Vane walked over to the side of the training area to what appeared to be a combat training dummy.


    "Alright, one last test. The suit should be able to allow you to defend yourself if necessary. This training dummy has sensors to test the strength of your punches. If you''d like to just come over here and punch the dummy as hard as you can."


    Sounds good to me.


    With that, Null walked over to the dummy and punched it.


    Vane looked at his holographic data readout.


    "Alright. Punch it again for me. This time with as much force as you can."


    Null punched it again. This time, with an audible boom.


    "Ha! Perfect. Yep. The systems appear to be working just fine. With that. The testing should be complete. Let''s get going. Time for you to meet the other dungeon core on the fortress."

 Meeting Core Expectations

    After another trip through sky fortress involving several secured doors, security teams, and all manner of busy crewmembers, Vane led Null up to a secure vault door with several armed guards.


    "Alright. Inside this airlock is your fellow dungeon core. Fair warning to you, he''s a fairly high tier"


    Is that a bad thing for me?


    Vane chuckled.


    "Not for you. The demons on the other hand..."


    Vane walked up to the doors, and after a brief conversation with the guards, had them open the doors to allow Null to enter the room. With that, he turned to Null one last time.


    "Well, good getting to meet you. We should have a few hours until we reach our destination. I have to get back with Willis and the team. There''s a lot of stuff going on, so I''m going to figure out what they want me working on."


    Sounds good. Stay safe out there.


    "Will do. Oh. One thing before I go. He''s a bit eccentric. Great guy though. Just note that he pursues some... Odd projects in his quest to destroy all demons."


    With that cryptic warning, Vane went to meet up with the Special Production team, while Null was left to enter the airlock to meet his fellow core. The security motioned for him to go in.


    "We notified the Colonel about your arrival. He is expecting you. Feel free to go in when you''re ready."


    Wait, they promoted a dungeon core to Colonel? Vane could have decided to mention that fact to me before he left. Null thought to themself. Well. Here I go then.


    Null entered the first set of doors.  With a hiss, the first set of doors closed shut. After a small delay, the second set of doors opened up, leaving Null shocked to see an absolutely massive Dungeon core on an absolutely massive Hover Pedestal chasing around a bunch of... ducks?


    "Come back! I need you for my quest to destroy all of demonkind!" The core shouted as it chased the ducks around.


    Umm... Hello? Null asked hesitantly.


    "Oh! You''re here! Sorry about that. I got distracted. Those are a side project of mine."


    The core floated closer to him, leaving Null to realize just how large this core was. By himself, the core was a few times larger than Nulls whole Magimech suit. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    "Wow. That is a really cool suit. The special production team whip that up for you?"


    Yes sir. I think they did a really good job with it.


    The core sighed.


    "Cut it with the sir stuff. I''m going to be perfectly honest with you, I just joined the military to kill demons and with any luck, take out the bastard that keeps sending them here. The only reason I''m even a Colonel at the moment is because I''m good at killing demons and I''ve been in long enough to be promoted."


    The core seems kind of upset about being called sir, so Null decided to leave it at that.


    Got it. I will avoid doing that in the future.


    Null had decided that he didn''t want to go down that rabbit hole and desperately wracked his mind for new conversation topics. Fortunately, he didn''t have to.


    "Alright. Let''s just get introductions out of the way. I''m Super Death Chasm of Ultimate Death. Nice to meet you. Like I said, feel free to totally ignore the idea of rank structures, calling me sir, or anything like that. Got it?"


    Got it. Well. I''m Null. I''m relatively new to the whole dungeon core thing, and I''m apparently really bad at it as well.


    "That''s fair. As far as I''m aware, you''re the only Dungeon Core on the entire world that''s come into existence like that."


    Null nodded.


    Yeah. I heard the same thing.


    Null found himself suddenly distracted by a Duck angrily quacking at a slime that was twice the size of null. But before he could say anything, the duck unleashed a massive burst of fire breath, incinerating the slime on the spot, before happily quacking and consuming the slime core that dropped.


    What was that?!?! That duck just incinerated the slime like it was nothing!


    "I know right? I got the idea from Ember!"


    Ember wanted you to make Ducks of mass destruction?


    "No. I just observed her roasting some Demons in the last Demon King subjugation and thought it was highly effective. Unfortunately, I''m not exactly the best at the whole monster making thing, but it turns out that ducks were easily modifiable to allow for fire breathing. These ones are still growing up though. I thought I''d have five years or so, but it turns out I only had two. Funny how things work out."


    Null just nodded in shock.


    Yeah. Funny how things work out.


    "At any rate, I have a few dozen of them running around here. I''m spawning in King Slimes from time to time to keep them fed. At any rate, as much as I would love to talk your ear off about my pet projects, I feel like we have other things to be discussing."


    "Well, for starters, the reason I wanted to see you was to ask how you were acclimating to becoming a dungeon core."


    Hmm... Well, to be honest, I''m not really sure. From what I can tell, I''m able to use magic, but I don''t really understand how to make it work.


    "I see... Unfortunately, as you''ve probably already heard, I''m not going to really be able to help you out much with that. I can''t even imagine how to begin explaining everything"


    Yeah. That''s what I heard from Lieutenant Delars as well.


    "Oh, you met him? He''s good people. Highly dedicated to the whole Demon killing thing. I''ve worked with him for the past several years."


    I can agree with the dedication bit.


    "For sure. Also, just to let you know, I''m a bit scatterbrained at times and like to go off on side tangents. Sorry about that."


    It''s fine.


    "Thanks. Now, back to the topic at hand. Now, I don''t know about how to get you to be able to utilize magic as naturally as dungeon cores do, but if you''re up for it, I can set up a training room for you to kill some slimes in to gain cores. I''d like to test if you absorbing cores would help you out with the whole magic thing."


    You''d be willing to do that?


    "I got a few hours to kill before I can get to killing demons, so why not?"


    Sounds good to me. Where do we get started?

 Training Course

    Super Death Chasm of Ultimate Death led Null up to a wall in the room, and a hidden door opened up.


    "Welcome to my training course. Since this is just for testing purposes, my plan will just be to spawn in some slimes, you collect the cores and then try to absorb them. We''ll see what happens from there."


    Sounds good to me. Let''s get started.


    With that, the slimes were spawned in and Null got to work killing them! Or at least, he tried to.


    Why are these things so good at dodging?


    "Oh. That''s my bad. I normally spawn them in for the security teams to use as target practice. Good training value, you know? Force of habit. Sorry."


    Well, I can imagine it does!


    Null tried aiming another punch at the slime, but it once again dodged out of the way.


    "If you''d like, I could have the ducks come in to clear these out and..."


    Nope. I got this! It''s good practice for using this suit anyway.


    "Fair enough. I''ll leave you to it then. Let me know when you''re done"


    With that, Super Death Chasm of Ultimate Death went to go check on his ducks while Null continued his quest to hunt down the slimes. It took Null a while, but he was starting to learn their habits. By the time thirty minutes had passed, he still hadn''t killed a single one of the five slimes, but he was getting closer. After another painstaking fifteen minutes, he''d come up with a strategy and finally managed to smash one with a stomp. Null let out a cheer.


    "Yes! I got one!"


    Null picked up the slime core and then turned towards the other four slimes which were still hopping around. He then proceeded to take another thirty minutes before he managed to out another one. And finally, after another hour, he''d managed to take out all five slimes. With another cheer from his victory, Null took the five cores he''d gain back into the main room where, once again, Super Death Chasm of Ultimate Death was chasing around his ducks.


    Those things really don''t like behaving themselves, do they?


    "Eh. It makes life more interesting in between the times where I''m able to kill demons."


    You know what? That is a fair point.


    "You got all the slimes?"


    Yep! I did manage to get them all.


    "Time of two hours and fifteen minutes. Respectable."


    Is it a record or something?The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The larger core let out a laughing sound.


    "No. That would go to a Corporal Vane with a time of twenty-two seconds."


    Null gave out a laugh as well.


    You know what, that makes sense with how strong he seems. Actually, now that I think about it, why is he on the Special Production team rather than security?


    "Oh. That''s easy. They needed someone who could hit things really hard to test their durability."


    Alright. I have no further questions about why he is on the team.


    "Back to business then. I see you brought the five cores with you?"


    Null held out his hand, showing Super Death Chasm of Ultimate Death the cores.


    Yep, all five of them right here.


    "Good. Now we can try out you absorbing cores. First things first, open up the chest of your Magimech."


    Got it!


    Null went to open up the chest of his Magimech.


    Umm... Actually, now that I think about it, they never told me how to do that. Is there a button or something?


    Null went to check for a button.


    Nope, no button here...


    Super Death Chasm of Ultimate Death gave out a sigh.


    "Well, that plan is ruined for the time being."


    What''s up? What did you figure out?


    "Well, I''ll put it this way. Normally, when a dungeon core has something armored protecting them, the button to open up said thing is on the inside. Normally trivial. The core is perfectly capable of opening it on their own."


    Wait, you mean I''m stuck in here?


    "Eh. I could get you out pretty easily. That being said, we should be within range of the demon king''s forces within the next hour, and it will take another half an hour after that to reach the demon king itself."


    I can definitely wait then.


    "Good plan. Still, I''m a little disappointed about the whole thing. Here."


    Super Death Chasm of Ultimate Death materialized a backpack that perfectly fit Null''s body.


    Wow. That''s impressive.


    "Eh. Not really. It''s made from woven mana and will decay over time. It should be good for a week or so."


    That''s a thing?


    "Yeah. It''s a bit complicated but you should be able to do it yourself once you reach tier ten or so?"


    Hmm. Yeah. I did hear the basics about the tier system from Lieutenant Delars. He said that absorbing cores would grant you stats and if you absorbed enough, you would be able to increase your soul tier. He didn''t exactly go in the specifics though.


    "I''m assuming they didn''t give you a SPAD yet?"


    SPAD?


    "Stat point allocation device. Nifty piece of tech. You can do it without one, but honestly, it''s a pain to do so. Once you have one it will be way easier to explain."


    Fair enough.


    "Yeah, I''ll make sure you..."


    Super Death Chasm of Ultimate Death suddenly stopped.


    "Well... that''s new."


    Suddenly Null felt an explosion rock the fortress.


    What was that?!?


    "Alright. So apparently the Demon King figured out how to open portals on the sky fortress."


    Another explosion rocked the sky fortress.


    "Damn. That''s two out of the three of our shielding arrays. Alright we got to get going and we got to get going fast. The last shielding array is right near here. We need to go help defend it or the fortress isn''t going to survive the demon king."


    Null was feeling a bit overwhelmed, but figured he didn''t feel like dying today. Super Death Chasm of Ultimate Death opened both doors to the airlock using some kind of magic, but just as they were about to proceed, a portal opened up inside the room, and a very large creature with red skin and fiery horns walked out of it wielding an enormous battleaxe. It swung at Super Death Chasm of Ultimate Death but a shield quickly stopped the axe. A large alligator materialized directly above the demon, chomping onto its shoulder briefly before the demon ripped it off, tearing it in two as it did.


    "Demon Champion. Well damn. Alright. Null, follow the ducks. I''ll deal with the champion and catch up with you. Trust me."


    Got it. Kill that thing quickly please.


    With that, Null and twelve very angry looking ducks ran out airlock. Looking back, Null could see that other demons had also started pouring out the portal, but at the same time, it looked like Super Death Chasm of Ultimate Death was happily able to match their numbers with more numbers. The doors to the airlock slid shut, leaving Null to follow several Ducks on the path to protect the shield array.

 A fowl mood

    Null watched the doors close. He figured he''d just have to trust his senior core. Turning his attention towards the ducks, He saw they were already heading down the hallway. And quite quickly at that.


    Not ones to waste time I see, Null thought to himself before breaking out into a run to follow them.


    The next few minutes were a flurry of feathers, fireballs, and the occasional fist from Nulls Magimech suit whenever he got the chance. Granted, half the times he swung he missed, but there was something about smashing a demon''s face in that felt so satisfying. And besides, the ducks took care of it when he missed. All the same, none of these demons looked anywhere close to being as powerful as the demon champion. No point getting a big head over small fry after all.


    They progressed quickly through the hallways, continuing to fight through demons. They ran into a security squad in a vicious fight with several demons, and after helping them out, Null gave a quick explanation and got them to join him in proceeding towards the last shield array. Right before they went around the final corner to their destination, a demon came flying through the air, hitting the wall with enough force to cave in the wall a bit. The demon scowled, clearly injured, but before it had the chance to pry itself out of the wall, Corporal Vane came dashing in from the same direction, ending the demon with a well-placed hammer strike


    Vane?


    "Null? What are you doing here?"


    Super Death sent me here with his pet project to help defend the last shielding array. A portal opened in his room and a demon champion came out with several demons. Once I was out of the room, he sealed himself in there with them.


    "Well. that''s unfortunate. Come on. We have a shield array to protect."


    With that, Null, the security team, and the ducks followed Vane towards an airlock labeled shield array. The first airlock door was caved in, but the second one was open. Vane quickly led the security team and Null into the shield array room. The ducks just waddled in on their own. Once everyone was inside, Vane went to a console and closed the remaining airlock door. Furthermore, upon the door being closed, Vane closed what appeared to be emergency blast doors as well. Vane then coordinated with the security team leader to set everyone up in the best position to secure the room. After setting everything up, Vane walked up to Null, who had sat down on the floor.


    "Alright. You said a portal opened in his room and a demonic champion came out. Correct?"If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Yes. Thats exactly what happened.


    Willis clicked a button on his wrist.


    "Willis. Vane checking in. We have a confirmed sighting of a third demonic champion and portal in the Colonels quarters."


    After a brief moment of silence, Willis replied.


    "Copy that. Status update over here, Shield array One has been cleared out. We''ve begun to overhaul the wreckage. Ember is proceeding to Shield Array Three to clean house. Maintain your current position. Over."


    "Copy that. Maintaining current position. Out."


    Vane frowned and sat down next to Null.


    "Hmm... well, I guess he just saved the fortress then... again."


    Wait, what do you mean?


    "Each of the other shield array rooms had a portal just like the one you described. Demon champion and a whole lot of demons coming out and wrecking the place."


    You mean to say that he redirected the portal meant for this room to himself? Do you think he''ll be okay?


    "Hard to say to be honest. I''d say he has at least a decent chance. This isn''t the first Demon Champion he''s fought. Furthermore, once Ember is done with the third shield array, she''s definitely going to head over there."


    I''ll keep my hopes up that he wins or holds out long enough then.


    "For sure. At any rate. I was running system checks in here when the attack began, and as much as I hate to say it, I can''t beat a demon champion alone."


    That''s a sobering thought.


    "Exactly. The Colonel probably just saved my life to be honest."


    Well. No point dwelling on it until we''re out of this mess. What now?


    "Well. We sit tight here and guard the shield array. The security teams are spread thin fighting the demons at the moment. Ember should have everything cleared up fairly quickly. After the sky fortress is secured, we''ll regroup, repair the shield arrays, and take the fight to the demon king."


    Sounds good to me.


    With that, Null and Vane both stood up.


    "Null. I''m going to display the security camera for the outside of the airlock on that monitor if you want to keep an eye on it."


    Sure thing.


    Null watched the monitor while Vane went over to the Security Team to update them on the situation. The next five minutes were relatively calm... until they weren''t.


    Vane! I got movement in the Hallway.


    As Vane rushed over to the monitor, he cursed and shouted out to the security team.


    "We got Boomers outside! Get ready to defend the breach."


    Null was just about to ask what a boomer was. Unfortunately, he figured it out when he saw a rather round demon charge towards the door. Next thing he knew, he heard a loud explosion noise, the camera feed died, and the blast door had a sizable dent.


    Hey Vane. I counted three boomers. You?


    "Same here."


    Another explosion rang out, and cracks appeared in the door. Vane readied his hammer. Null readied his fists. The Security team readied their weapons. The Ducks quacked angrily at the door and flapped their wings menacingly.


    Vane cracked his knuckles.


    "All right people. Get ready to crack some demon skulls."


    Finally, a third explosion rang out, the door exploded inwards, and after an all too brief moment, numerous demons began to swarm into the shield array room.

 Defending the Array

    The first demons swarmed through the hole in the door. The Security team and the ducks engaged the attackers, using melee weapons and fire breath to beat them down as they funneled in. Null joined in as well, landing some punches successfully while missing others as the demons dodged his hits. Vane was also in the melee, wielding his battle hammer to strike down any demons that tried to rush the array at the back of the room.


    Vane cursed.


    "We got boomers trying to get in. I''ll take care of it. You all hold back the regular ones."


    Null nodded and continued working with the security team to hold back the demons. Meanwhile, Null saw a boomer rush into the hole, only to be slammed right back out by Vane. Another explosion shook the area. Fortunately, it appeared that the explosion took out most of the demons outside, because the number of demon''s trickling in slowly died down until things were quiet. Vane went to check in with Willis.


    "Willis, this is Vane. We just repelled an attack on the Second shield array. The Security door is shattered. The array is intact. Over."


    "Copy that. Those demons were most of what remained from the attack on the First Shield Array. Ember is finished up with the Third Shield Array and is moving to assist the Colonel. The remnants from the third shield array are in route to your position. Security teams are tied down mopping up the demons around the ship. You''re going to have to continue defending until Ember and the Colonel can make it to you. Over"


    "Copy that. We will defend the array. Out"


    Vane turned towards Null and the Security Team.


    "You all heard the man. More demons are in route. Let''s get ready to welcome them. Wouldn''t want to give them a poor reception."


    Vane and the security team set up positions in front of the door. Null took up a position next to Vane.


    Hey, think we got time to set up some barricades in front of the door?


    "No point. With Boomers in the mix, anything we put in front of that opening will just become shrapnel pointed directly at us."


    Yeah... Guess that makes sense then.


    It didn''t take long for the action to start back up again, with more demons starting to trickle in through the door. The cycle repeated much the same as last time, with Null and the security team fighting the demons in fierce melee, the ducks roasting any demon unfortunate enough to encounter them, and Vane hitting all the boomers out the door before they had a chance to detonate. Suddenly, Null saw one of the boomers manage to dodge Vane''s swing, and then to Null''s horror, it detonated on the spot, flinging Vane across the room, and blowing what remained of the door wide open.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Next thing Null knew, more demons were swarming in. The melee was quickly growing more chaotic as the number of demons swarming in grew. Fortunately, the ducks were holding the line, angrily quacking as they roasted the demons. Null took a moment to glance back towards Vane, only to get decked be a demon hitting his suit directly in the head. Within moments he had four demons pounce on him, clawing at the suit. Trying to pull the demons off of him to little effect, Null figured he was done for until suddenly, a very bloody, very angry looking Vane appeared, killing the demons swarming Null and pulling Null to his feet, before proceeding to rejoin the defense.


    "Damn it Null! Didn''t anyone ever teach you to keep your eyes on the fight?"


    Null kicked a demon away from himself.


    Sorry about that. I was worried about you.


    Vane nodded while continuing to smash demons with his hammer.


    "You can''t worry about anyone if you die. Remember that."


    Null nodded, punching a demon directly in front of a duck. The demon didn''t survive very long.


    I will keep that in mind.


    The fight continued for another minute of fierce melee until Vane once again found himself cursing.


    "More Boomers!"


    The larger hole in the door allowed multiple boomers to charge in at once. Null felt like time slowed down as he saw two boomers heading directly for Vane, one boomer directly for the security team, and one boomer directly for a large group of the ducks. Trusting that Vane could deal with the two boomers, Null tackled the boomer heading for the security team. It exploded, sending Null across the room, slamming him into a wall. To his relief, the security team was fine. Vane also dealt with the boomers attacking him with little issue, quickly hitting both of them back into the crowd of demons outside. Two more explosions rang out. Then suddenly, a final explosion rang out, and Null realized that the last boomer had reached its target, taking out most of the ducks. Out of all the ducks, only two had managed to survive.


    Fortunately, it looked like the explosions had dealt a significant blow to the demons. The number of Demons pouring through the door slowly decreasing as the piles of demon bodies slowly grew. Null really had to hand it to the security team. They were definitely really good at their job, working together as an effective team to eliminate several demons. Vane also continued to tear through them with his battle hammer despite the injuries he suffered from the explosion. The two remaining ducks continued to roast all the demons that they saw, quacking with even more rage than before. Null couldn''t help but wonder if his senior core had put some kind of berserker rage feature in place. As he once again dodged a demon''s attack, Null delivered a swift counter punch, ending the demon.


    Suddenly, Null saw something absolutely shocking. A very familiar, very large demon entering the room. It was quite injured, missing one of its eyes, missing an arm, and having half of its chest area blown apart such that the ribs were visible. But Null knew exactly what it was. After all, it was kind of difficult to forget the first Demon champion you ever lay eyes on.