《Shattered Memories of a Broken Core》


 Cor Contritum

    Pain. Fear. Happiness. Regret. Nothingness.


    Then, consciousness. Knowledge. Existence.


    A rush of conflicting feelings. Happiness, sadness, relief, anxiety, power, helplessness, pride, melancholy.


    A sharp pain in places he did not know he had.


    An old form he did not know used to be his. A new form he didn''t know was his.


    A word. It resonated with him. So he took it as his.


    Praetor.


    It called to him. Made him feel real. Made him feel whole. Made him feel himself.


    Whether it truly was his, he did not now. But it didn''t matter. If it wasn''t his, then he would make it his.


    Consciousness spreading outwards.


    Stone. Stone? Metal. No, definitely stone. A room? A cave?


    Coherent thought started making way for a flood of newfound sensations.


    Green. Soft. Grey. Hard. Rugged. Smooth.


    Pain.


    The one thing that prevailed through all of the sensations was pain.


    Not the kind of pain he didn''t know he was used to. Not a stomach ache. Not a broken heart. Not a blue eye. Not a mangled leg.


    The pain was more disheartening than that. It was the type of pain that made him feel as if he was shattered both physically and mentally by one and the same wound.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.It ebbed away. Then it flared up again, only to diminish again later. Not constant, so there was no getting used to it. Not constantly growing duller, so it wasn''t healing either.


    No, this pain was as real as it was not real. It scared Praetor, for he knew it meant he was damaged in so many more ways than he knew possible.


    Now that the pain was lessened, he focused his attention on the open space around him.


    A cavern? A room?


    It was dark, big and smelled musty. Most likely a cave.


    Not enough. Not nearly enough.


    He needed to know more. His consciousness stretched further and further. It had reached the edge of the caves when a sharp jolt of pain taught him doing this was not the best of ideas when in horrible pain.


    But he still needed to know more. So he focused his consciousness into a ball. This time it didn''t hurt so much. It also helped him think of himself as himself, instead as of an existence.


    While it didn''t feed him as much information at once as his stretched mind had, it allowed him to move around the cavern and focus on specific things.


    Something he immediately regretted.


    When he focused on what he thought was his body, he saw nothing but a pristine black marble pedestal with a cracked obsidian crystal ball on top.


    At least now he knew where the pain came from.


    It did little to calm him though.


    Pain. PAIN.


    One and only one emotion took control of his consciousness: fear.


    I''m real. I''m real. I''m real. I''m REAL. I''M REAL!


    I have to be.


    ...


    But who is me?


    And Darkness claimed dominion once again.

 Meeting yourself

    "Ah, so you finally decided to visit. Good, good. We have much to discuss."


    Familiarity. Recognition. Safety.


    "Yes, I would hope that you feel safe here. It''s yours after all."


    Confusion. Unfamiliarity.


    "But of course, how rude of me. Although that statement isn''t exact. You do know me, you just hadn''t known about me yet. I''m you!"


    Praetor focused his consciousness back into a ball, as he had tried before. It came much easier to him this time.


    Focusing on the voice, he could make out a mass of darkness. It wore a hooded black and gold robe with a similarly themed mask.


    Me?


    "Yes, indeed. Or well, part of you. Your subconscious given form, really. Tends to happen when your brain gets too much information at once to process. Like when you transform from human to dungeon core. Helps filter it out to prevent you from going insane by sealing it away until you go looking for it."


    Confusion. Human? Dungeon core? Unfamiliar. Uncomfortable.


    The figure rose and closed the book it was reading. "You''re more broken than I initially thought. That''s not good." it sighed. "Well, it''s not unfixable. But I can''t help you with it. I''m just you after all. You''ll have to find what''s missing yourself. Or find someone to do it for you, doesn''t matter really. But I don''t think you''ll be able to request a lot of help in your current state."


    Confusion. Answer? No answer?


    "Oh yes, of course, your question. My apologies, I tend to digress. You used to be human, if you know what that is. If not, I''m sure you''ll remember while you fix yourself. You died, quite gruesomely as well. And then you reincarnated! Sort of. It''s infinitely more complex than that, but for the purposes of this explanation it''ll do. You became a dungeon core, which is basically a sentient biome. You''ll grow yourself by expanding your borders, creating monsters, attracting servants and adventurers. The last sort is a bit of a mixed bag since they''re just as likely to smash you in tiny little bits as they are to help you. Those who survive your dungeon will receive some reward, dictated and created by you! Well, you''re not really forced to give them a reward, but if you want them to return you probably should give them something. And it might be better for your sanity not to live in complete isolation. They''ll also increase your mana intake rate."


    Confusion. Mana? Servants? Monsters? Adventurers? Danger?


    "Calm down. One question at a time. Mana is basically a form of currency. It''s also so much more than that, but it doesn''t really matter to something like you. Not yet anyway. You can use it to upgrade yourself and your domain, create monsters, grow plants, make fart noises, ... Whatever you want, really, so long as you have enough mana. It regenerates over time as well. Initially, this will be very little, but you''ll gain more and more as you become stronger and attract more adventurers and servants. Speaking of which, you probably want to know about servants, do you?"


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.Acknowledgment.


    The figure started walking. Where he passed structures started to form. Soon the space started to resemble a slightly larger than normal atrium.


    "Servants are essentially mercenaries. The contract is more permanent than that but not as permanent as the master/servant relationship one shares with their own creations. On the other hand, they''re more versatile and give a bigger increase to you mana intake rate. But the biggest reason to take them, especially for you, is that they can operate outside of your dungeon. Might come in handy when trying to find the shards you are missing to repair yourself."


    Confusion. Shards?


    "Of course, you wouldn''t know." He sighed. "You''re not just mentally broken, but physically shattered as well. Pieces of your dungeon core are missing. Find those pieces and reabsorb them. That''s how you become... well... you again. And for that to happen you''ll most likely need someone who can operate outside of your domain. Or you might luck out and find them all in here. Though I wouldn''t count on it. Luck''s never been on your side after all."


    Monsters? Expansion?


    "Ah, yes, that''s mainly what you''ll be doing here. This is your mind. It''s also your domain. You can think of it as your little pocket realm. You can shape and bend it to your will. The size will increase whenever you grow stronger. If you grow strong enough, you might even invite others in! But I digress. This domain will mainly be used to upgrade your dungeon and preview the monsters you want to create. So, how would you like to interact with your power? Books, computer screen, brain power or pop-up screens? Ah, right, you''re probably too confused to choose. Let''s go with the old fan favourite then, imaginary pop-up screens! It''s also the most user-friendly one, the others take way too much time to learn to use properly. I could explain every single option to you, but most of them are self-explanatory. You''ll get the hang of it."


    Fear. Pain. Adventurers. Danger.


    "Ah yes, I did say that the adventurers were as dangerous as they were useful, didn''t I? Well, it means exactly that. There''s no real standard to hold them to. They''re a wild card. Some are just here for loot. Some for sightseeing. Some to kill or enslave you. That''s why it''s important to grow stronger. Otherwise you''ll just be a sitting duck for all kind of nasties. Not just adventurers, but wild animals on unbound monsters as well. So I''d start getting to it if I were you. Oh wait, I am. So get to it."


    Name?


    "A name? Well, just name the place however you like. It''s your dungeon after all. Oh, you meant me? I don''t have a name. Technically it''s Praetor since you named yourself Praetor. I can see how that''s confusing, though. Why don''t you just give me a name?"


    ...


    Advising. Aiding. Guiding...


    Dux.


    "So my new name is Dux, huh? Fitting. Although you probably don''t remember why. Doesn''t matter. And do you want to name the dungeon as well?"


    Home. Safe haven. Sanctuary.


    ...


    Sanctum.


    "Sanctum it is then. So, let''s get started on fortifying the place, shall we?"