Chapter 1.5 A walk in the night


    Tonight is the night. Thanks to my little believersalthough only three days have passed,nowIhavemorethan enough DP to execute my plan.


    Without being noticed I leave the inn.It’s the middleof thenight; Viggo is probablythe only one awakesince he ison duty. Actually he was asleepnear the entrance of the village, butprobably that’s not his fault, for this village having a guard isbasically aformality.


    *


    The dungeon core is 5000DP, which is quite cheap,but according to Athena only the first time will it be this cheap, apparently when the Origin God createdthe system of this multiversehe made it so that doing things is quiteadvantageousfor the first timers.I was asleep and didn’t notice it, butapparently claimingAria Village was free.It isso convenienthaving Athena explains things.


    “You are a bit mistaken here Helios, I am nothere to explain things to you.Your abilities are not limited to what I knowyou can do.WhenI was formed I didn’tknow anything Ihaveonlygained knowledge by watchingwhat the God I was merged with did in the past.”(Athena)


    So it is possible for me to discover things that even you don’t know?


    “I am certain!I have already told youthat I have been mergedwithmany Gods, but now I’ll tell you another thing:every single one of them did at least one thing that I didn’t think was possible.” (Athena)


    “…”


    *


    Do you wish to create a Dungeon Core?


    5000DP


    Congratulation!! You created your first Dungeon Core!


    Since this isyour first time,The dungeon corecreated is self-conscious


    A fist sized blue crystal materialized,with a flash,out of thin air andfell in my hands.


    Self-conscious?


    “yes, didn’t I tell you? No? Sorry I forgot. Well nothing really complicated, normally when you create a dungeon core, aside fromitbeing much pricier, the core you make is only instinct,they gradually become self-aware as they and their dungeonsgrown, but it takes years. The one you just created instead is alreadyself-aware, and capableof thought. Give him/her a few minutes and he/she will awaken.” (Athena)


    “ohright,given your temperment I suppose you will be happy to know that he/she will have the mental age of a kid, for now at least” (Athena)


    Damnwhy should I be happy? Andmore importantlywhy do you use both gender pronouns to refer to the core?


    “Don’t try to deny it,I know you. Regardingthe gender,isn’t itnormal to call him/her with both until we knowwhich is the right one?” (Athena)


    Dungeon cores haveagender?!?!


    “what —you didn’t know? Isn’t that commonknowledge? All cores havea gender, just like me”


    You?


    “Don’t tell meafter all this time you still don’t know that I am a female!! You even bestowed me an appropriate name”(Athena)


    I hearyou talking with a girlish voice so I gave you a fitting name, but I didn’t think toomuch, the fact that cores have a gender never crossed my mind.


    “enough of this! I will show you my majestic figure and we will see if youwillstillbeable to doubt me”(Athena)


    You will show me ?


    Suddenly I feel like conscience is leavingmy head. It’sbeing pulled inside my heart, well where my heart used to be, now there is only a white crystal, I suppose I found where the Deity Core is.


    White, white everything is white. I am floating in space that much resembles how heaven is described is some stories.In front of me,behind me,under me, above me, on my right, on my left, whereverI turn all I see is a clear white mist.


    Athena where did you bring me?


    “Do I really need to tell you?You should be able to guess.


    I just pulled your mind inside the deity core. This is something that you shouldn’t be able to do until you become a LesserGod, I used a bit of force,but for this same reason you can be here only forfive minutes at most so let’s hurry” (Athena)Stolen story; please report.


    Ok, but why did you have to pull me here?


    “… What do you have in that brain, I told you the reason less than a minute ago.It’s to show you my Astral Form, you are so weak that the only place where I can manifest itis inside the core.” (Athena)


    AstralFo… I was going to ask what an Astral Formis,but suddenly a really strong light blinds me.


    Well my eyes aren’t normal either,in just a few seconds they get used to the light.There is a big difference in this space now, the mist isfading away as to leave space to a beam of light that is descending from above.Inside the beam just a meteraway from me lightparticlesstart to act in a strange way,slowlytheoutline of ahumangirl takeshapes. As the light fadesher figure becomes clearer.


    She is what many would call a stunningbeauty. Long jet black hairscover her back for its total lengthaskin so white that a piece of marble would envy hercomplexion. Everything about herseems perfect,well aside from a small, little, minuscule, detail: she is like fifteen centimetres tall,just like a doll.


    “ So, what do you think, did I charm you ?”


    Athena this is you?


    “Are you even paying attention, I brought you inside the core to show you my Astral Body,suddenlyin frontof you an Astral Bodyappears, and you even askif it’s me.” The little doll seems angry


    “Doll? Who are you calling a doll?” oops I am still not used to the fact that she can read my mind.


    Anyway did you know that yourappearancedoesn''tmatchyour personalityat all.


    "What? What are youtryingto say?" (Athena)


    Nothing...


    *


    Well this sudden revelation surprised me quite a bit, I really didn’t expect it, I totally believed that Athena’s girlish voice was nothing more than a whim. What’s more her delicate appearance doesn’t match her personality at all.


    Well anyway I think that this Astral Form thing is a good thing. Lately I have been thinking that if everything goes in the right way, I’ll live forever. Won’t it be strange talking to somebody every day for eternity, without ever actually meeting her? What’s more, many of the ones I know will most likely die in a few centuries,isn’t it a good thing, to have a friend that will live through the millennia withyou?


    However I understood a thing, Athena is not always listening to my thoughts, apparently to read my mind she needs to concentrate. Since now she can only materialize inside the core she is bored, and so she is always in my mind, even now, aren’t you here Athena ?


    “I am here, and please stop! When you start to revise the things you have done your mind becomes so boring” (Athena)


    I already told you that by doing so I have a clearer idea of the things I know and what I’ll do in the future, and anyway we are here waiting for the Dungeon Core to awaken, what should I do?


    “…”


    *


    All of sudden I feel a warm sensation between my hands, I open my eyes and the Dungeon Core is releasing a bluish light.


    “the awakening is starting!” (Athena)


    The core starts to shine stronger and stronger, slowly a small figure even smaller than Athena’s appears standing on the top of my palm. This is the second surprise of the night. After having seen Athena’s Astral Body I expected a humanoid body. What I got is a kitten with an unnatural golden fur, and he/she is probably one of the cutest beings that I have ever seen.


    Congratulations!! Your first Dungeon Core has awakened.


    The Core is named by default: DC001


    “nya, Master?” (DC001)


    A girlish voice, umm so a female. Someone so cute can’t have a name so impersonal, Athena can I change her name?


    “You are a Deity, stop thinking like a human. Won’t it be strange if you can’t even name one of your creations. Your will is sufficient.” (Athena)


    “Master?” (DC001)


    “Sorry Freyja, I spaced out” (Helix)


    “Freyja?” She asks while looking at me wondering, it’s quite difficult to read the expressions of a cat


    “Yes, that’s your new name, don’t you like it?” I think it’s quite fitting.


    “I love it! It’s an honour for any Dungeon Core when her Deity bestows a name different from the default one” Her tail is wagging so fast she must be enthusiastic


    “So master, what can I do for you?” (Freyja) she looks at me full of expectations, oh yes the plan


    “Can you please restore the dungeon to its active state, just like it was two years ago? Athena will pass you the information.”


    “Athena? Nya” (Freyja)


    “That’s the name of my Deity Core.” Athena now.


    “Sure” (Athena)


    “I can restore the traps and summon the monsters but I won’t be able to call back the former Dungeon Boss, that wasn’t a monster summoned but one with a contract, nya. If master could bestow me 1000 Dungeon points, and 500 mana, I’ll only need a few hours, nya.” (Freyja)


    Athena ?


    “Just pass her 1500 Deity Points the system will do the rest, and she will have quite a bit of spare points too” (Athena)


    “thanks master, once I start I won’t be able to communicate with you until the end of the process, before I start: Is there something more, nya?” (Freyja)


    “Will you be able to leave the dungeon? Now that I know that you are self-aware it doesn’t feel right to leave you here alone”


    “If I install a Proxy Core in the last room, I’ll be able to operate the dungeon from anywhere within Master territory, nya”(Freyja)


    “Perfect, then please do it, before starting to restore the rest of the dungeon.”


    “nya” in an instant she returned to the form of a crystal


    “she can’t keep the Astral Form active when she is operating changes in the dungeon” (Athena)


    Anyway Freyja’s core is different from all the cores that I have seen during my adventurers days.


    “You most likely have only seen dummy cores, no deity would leave the actual Dungeon Core, in the dungeon. After all if an adventurer takes or destroys a dummy core, making a new one basically only requires a bit of time, while if it’s the real one DP wise the expense can even be considered enormous. I would have told you to make Freyja install it, but you already did…” (Athena)


    *


    While Freyja takes care of the dungeon part of my plan I return to the village.


    Here in the middle of the square, slowly a marble altar is rising from the ground, it stops at an height of 120 cm, I take out a bit of gold and silver coins from my space bag and after crushing them I use the metal to decorate the altar. Silver columns adorn each of the four corners, on both long sides ‘Helios’ is written in gold.


    Engraved on the table of the altar there is written: ‘I am God Helios. Days ago a little child that goes by the name Emma prayed to me, that same day her friends joined her. Today I decided to answer these prayers, I have claimed these lands from the hands of the Goddess that abandoned you. As asked I restored the dungeon. Be grateful because rarely are Gods so generous. Believe in me, I am your only hope for salvation’


    Ok everything is done, time to go to bed before someone notices my absence.


    “You are forgetting something…”(Athena)


    Ohh yes, I use the last hundred DP to set a spell; the first person to enter in the square, after I left, will activate it, a great lighting will strike directly on the altar, making the whole thing even more astonishing. If everything goes right by tomorrow, every villager will be part of my religion.


    But now I need some sleep, having 0 DP makes me feel powerless.


    Night Athena!


    “you know, a Deity doesn’t need to sleep at all.” (Athena)


    Goodnight Athena!


    “…Night…”