“That was us joining, forming a bond. I can’t believe you came so close to self-destructing! Have you never used your Essence before?” Dani’s color darkened with her being cross.
<Would you mind answering another question? What is Essence?> Seriously, she is just a deep well of knowledge isn’t she? So full of words and meanings!
“Really? Well maybe that explains why I am purple now.” She blew out a long sigh. “Essence is… complicated. The real name of it is ‘Quintessence’, but that is a mouthful so it is usually shortened. It is the fundamental energy of the universe, the pure power of heavens and earth that is used by the basic elements to become… everything. Rocks turn it into earth Essence, water into water Essence, though both are impure forms.
Cultivating is the process of absorbing Essence from the Heaven and the Earth around you. It is a part of all things, and all things are a part of it. The purer you can refine it, the closer it becomes to the true form of Essence.” She quieted for a moment, overcome by some far away memory. “Also, if the accumulated Essence you have is the purest possible, it is better for the both of us. It will make us stronger, healthier, and smarter. The Essence you are holding is really pure, so you must have cultivated all you could from that water before refining it; until it became too dense for your Core. Good job so far!” She ended the topic on a cheerful note.
<From the water?> What the heck? There is Essence in my puddle?
“Yes, you are a blue Core, so you cultivate Essence from water.” She explained almost condescendingly.
<I can do that? I’ve never pulled from water before.> I was inspecting the water for food, but only saw my light.
“...” She appeared to be trying to speak.
<What?> Was she in pain? Did I do something to her?
“Then where did you pull Essence from?” She was really demanding. Was this bond really worth this scrutiny?
<Everything I’ve been able to touch so far, except you, since you told me you weren't tasty.> I reassured her. She seemed to be getting worked up.
“That shouldn’t be possible… At this level, you can only cultivate from the element you are attuned to. Show me?” She forced herself to ask politely.
I was hungry. The joining had drained a lot of my energy, at least as much as the moss had given me. The moss! I was mentally drooling as I thought of the exquisite food, no, um, Essence that it contained.
<I’d be happy to, but… I can’t reach the moss over there anymore.> I seemed pathetic I guess, because she laughed and scooped up some of the water I was in. She didn’t have limbs, so this impressed me an inordinate amount.
“The moss, huh? Sure.” She flew over to the moss, and instead of pouring the water onto it, she blew it over ALL of the moss as a mist!!
<AHH!> I exclaimed, my vision exploding outward. I had never before been able to see so much more at one time. With a gentle sprinkling, she had more than tripled the area I could see! The information gained from all of these new things was nearly overwhelming.
“What?!” She yelped, “Did I hurt you?”
<No… it’s just, I can see so much more! It is so beautiful! I had wanted to have access to more area after all. I didn’t realize that it could be done so quickly, that was the only issue, and it just startled me a bit.> My mind was distracted with sorting through all of the new things I had learned.
“Oh.” She sighed softly. “You scared me there.”
<You have already proven that I made a good deal bonding with you! Thank you.> I was really happy! It seemed that the more I learned, the faster I could learn other things. When I experienced something that coincided with another bit of esoteric understanding, I processed it even faster. For instance, since I already knew dirt and stone I was able to comprehend moss faster and more thoroughly; because I knew where it got its food and energy - the dirt! It used dirt for all sorts of things. Hopefully, building the basics of my knowledge here would allow me to understand greater things in the future.
“That is what I’m here for Cal.” She gracefully accepted my compliment.
<Well,> I rumbled gruffly, somewhat embarrassed for an unknown reason. <I’m hungry, and you want to see me eat, sooo…>
“Go for it.” She laughed, watching me closely.
I reached out for the veritable feast before me and started pulling in energy. Dani watched in amazement the entire time. Pulling from so many different groups of moss, I was again vibrating, much less than before, but still.
“Wow! But that corruption is really thick in you. Must be a side effect of pulling from an unattuned source.” Dani gave a frustrated sigh, “Drat, you had such pure Essence when I got here.”
<You mean the waste stuff? Yeah, I don’t like it very much either.> I agreed, “spitting” the sickly energy back out to rejoin the plant.
“No. Freaking. Way!!” She zoomed in for a closer look, making me feel a bit awkward, why was she so giddy over me eating?
<What?> Without the waste there was a little more room for food and I was already eying an untouched patch of moss. Curiously, none of the moss had withered this time.
“You just got rid of your own corruption?! That’s not...” She started accusingly.
<Possible?> I intentionally interrupted, <Or you’ve just never seen it before?> I was getting a bit irritated over her telling me what I couldn’t do, when it was obviously happening right in front of her.
Trying and failing to come up with a good response to this, she conceded the point with a bit of ill grace. “Fair enough,” she mumbled. “Are you already full again?”
<Well, I mean, I could eat.> I declared nonchalantly, licking my mental lips.
“Not what I mean, you glutton.” She laughed, “I mean, we just joined, you should be low on power for weeks! If you are already full, that just means good things for the both of us in the future. You can pull power from multiple sources, we should really see what all is doable. But that comes later. First, let’s get you an upgrade.”
<More plants?!> Where was she hiding them?
“No, an upgrade for you, silly rock! Look, you are a dungeon Core. You grow your dungeon around your Core by releasing Essence in a way unique to dungeons, called influence,” she explained, gaining my rapt attention.
There were things only dungeons could do?
She continued, basking in my undivided attention. “We need to spread your influence about as much as we can, then, when something is under your influence, you are able to fully understand it. When you fully understand something, you control it absolutely.” She waited for a response.
<Go on…> I prodded her.
“Using the Essence you collect you can directly alter the world that is under your influence. Doing so will drain you a bit, so you need to expand slowly, becoming a bigger and more important dungeon. Eventually, people will discover you and come in to explore you, looking for treasure and ways to make themselves stronger.” She explained, shining brightly in her excitement.
“When people come, they bring things in, like weapons, armor, magic, and even animals!! Whatever is left in here you can study, absorbing it and gaining the knowledge of how to make it, use it, control it!” She enthused. “Even when people die, you can absorb them, make copies, and re-animate their bodies as zombies, like a Necromancer does!”
<What?!> My sudden shout nearly knocked her out of the air. <I. HATE. NECROMANCERS!!> I was furious that she would compare me to those animals. I trembled in rage, losing control of the Essence in me as I did so. The stalagmite received the brunt of this released Essence, growing sharp quartz spikes, which quivered in time with the fury ignited in my Core.