I woke up with the distinct memory of a new attribute having appeared right before my eyes shut for the night. I pulled up my status to quickly check it, and found that I hadn't been remembering wrong. I now had something called core influence. I could guess what that meant, but it was interesting that I had gained it now.

Unlike my other attributes at this point, I was only able to move it up to one hundred. How often did humans even get something like this? That thought led me back to the strange experience Corey and I had had in the simulator. That invitation was still pending, and I had no idea exactly how I'd receive it, let alone how I'd attend.

Instead of dwelling on that strangeness, I forced myself out of bed. I wanted to take a walk around the property before breakfast, get some of the cool air into my lungs before the eventual snow made it all less than fun, though with my new temperature handling, perhaps I'd enjoy it more this year. I threw on some clothing and exited the garage in the back toward the recent addition of Cecile's greenhouses.

Some of the plants had already grown quite large. What the man had managed to do with tomatoes alone was nothing short of impressive. Dozens of colors and in all sizes filled one of the greenhouses now. I stole a few small ones that I thought were cherry tomatoes, careful to leave several seeds behind as I ate them. That was his big rule for snacking right now. He wanted the seeds for future cultivations. Rabyn had promised to make an attempt at pizza once we had all the ingredients growing, and it was something I was deeply looking forward to.

We were up to four greenhouses now, only one of which was the prize from the Arena. The other three Trolke had helped assemble during some of his less busy time. The brothers had made a deal to add some of his favorite vegetables to one to make a few more tasty meals for the man in exchange for them. Cecile had somehow managed to get the mana battery to support all four as well, but apparently it wasn't as strong in the new three as it was in the first, which explained the size of plants in that one versus the others.

Outside the greenhouses were Cecile's fields, now over a hundred rows and a few hundred feet long a piece, all full of other plants. None of them reached anything like the greenhouses, but every day, he spent some time out here working carefully on them while his brother studied his own spellcraft books. I had started to believe he might really be able to change the course of the food situation on the planet as his stockpile of seeds continued to grow. I just hoped the winter wouldn't deal a problematic blow to our blossoming food forest.

Mel was floating near the top of the cloudwood. He had built a small treehouse in its branches and had been slowly working to expand it without Trolke's help. Apparently, that was a rite of passage for the cloud people, and something he hadn't been able to do with his own children. He had promised us a grand feast in it once the tree was able to support his whole planned dwelling, and I was looking forward to it. The spark the man had these days was bigger than it had been when we first met. He seemed more hopeful than he ever had before.

I smiled as I took a good, long look at the tree, and a deep breath of the fresh air, sweet air it seemed to constantly produce. At least I could be sure we had changed Mel's life for the better. I was still worried about how many of the others I had pulled into something far worse than they may have otherwise found themselves in. Sure, Glorp's life had improved here, but was it actually safer in the long run? Then again, I guess that wasn't an answer anyone could really give as far as I knew. At least I hadn't heard of any future divining magic yet.

The wrap-around porch, which extended around most of the house now, was one of the very welcome additions. we had been in dire need of the space, and with the what seemed like constant flow of newcomers, I was sure we'd need even more. It wasn't that different than something I had envisioned when I first moved here, though I have since started to realize more and more that those fantasies never had any real chance. This had been a move born of desperation and depression, and had only been fixed thanks to an apocalypse. I tried not to let myself smile at that bleak thought, but it pushed through anyway. I enjoyed my new life, no matter how insane it may have become.

Continuing my walk, I came to the bunkhouse, which was probably not the best word for it anymore. The shared room had been expanded to become individual bedrooms with Glorp's help, and each of his siblings now had their own interior design planned out as they worked to finish them. Elody and Connie had also started real work on their extensions from it. Rabyn was still mostly camping on the bus with Timon, promising to add his own area later. I wasn't sure Timon ever would.

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Pryte had his own pop-up cabin he had managed to get set up near the building, and generally refused company inside it. I wasn't sure why entirely, but the ceilings didn't exactly fit for most of us anyway, so I didn't try to push it. He was entitled to a private life, the same as any of us.

John and Maud were still in my old room. I had long accepted that it was theirs now. I couldn't imagine depriving the cats of their home after all. We had emptied my study and moved it over to the dining hall for now, to give Alex her own room as well, and there were plans to extend that soon for the baby. Trolke was thinking of a whole second floor, and eventually a subfloor to connect all the buildings. I was on board with the idea, especially if we wanted to add more long-term storage facilities underground. Plus, we could avoid the snow that way.

I found Trolke already hard at work on the Traveler's Gate. The entire foundation and several pillars had been finished since yesterday. At the moment, he was hefting stone into the central platform where the gate itself would be. Spotting Traveler and Corey on a table nearby, talking, I decided to take care of another task for the day. It was likely better to get this drain out of the way early.

"How has your night been, guys?" I asked them as I approached.

"Very enlightening. Traveler has answered a lot of my questions, but also apparently I am very different from any core they have ever met," Corey replied.

"The young one's growth is quite fascinating. I assume it has much to do with their bond with you. Some of what they have shared, I did not know was possible," Traveler replied.

"Yes, well, there is likely more than that. But we can discuss that in private when we return from the archives. There's no real pressing hurry on that conversation," I said.

"I mentioned some of the future talks we would need to have. Traveler understands the importance of keeping the details spoken of to a safe location," Corey replied.

"Glad to hear it. So, wanna get the swapping out of the way before I go try to get breakfast down. Since it looks like the gate should be ready pretty soon," I said, looking at the cores.

"Yes, we may as well. It is an unpleasant experience, so the sooner the better," Corey replied. I didn't like that it was just as painful for them as it was for me, but we didn't have another option yet.

I reached out and touched Corey, starting to repeat what we had the day before. Strangely, this time, the pain was much less than it had been. It still didn't feel good, but there was nothing pushing me to the brink of screaming either, as I felt Corey slide back into my socket, while Gamma appeared on the table where Corey had been.

"That hurt a lot less," I said, stating the obvious.

"Yes, it did," Corey agreed.

"Much less intense than yesterday," Gamma added. Did it have anything to do with the core influence attribute? Perhaps I didn't fully understand how that worked, despite what I may have thought earlier.

"Any idea on moving the dungeon ownership now?" I asked, looking at Traveler. The attribute could be figured out later.

"Those strings you feel, try to place them on Corey. They should innately know how to pull them in from their own experience. Corey, under no circumstances can you open the dungeon. No matter the temptation, you have grown past that," Traveler said, their voice changing slightly when they ordered Corey.

I reached into myself and carefully started gathering up the points of contact I could find from me to the dungeon, and gently started to untangle them. I felt them meld into my hold as I did so, but they were at least staying stuck to my will for now. I had a feeling that if I tried to release them, they'd graft right back onto the nearest portion of my mana channels, but I had no intention to do that. I tied each of them off around Corey. Each time a knot formed, it seemed to become one with the core. The moment I had them all attached, I again swapped Corey for Gamma. The pain still didn't return to where it had been.

"I do not like this feeling. I thought I might find I had missed it, but instead I find it as an added weight to my new self," Corey said, the moment their form appeared on the table again.

"I am sorry, my friend. Dave, if you could place us both into the gate sockets, I will help Corey share this burden," Traveler said.

"Of course," I said, grabbing both of them and quickly getting them into their designed housings.

"Thank you, Dave, I already feel much more at ease," Corey said, the moment they were both firmly in place.

"Yes, between the two of us, I think we can handle this well enough. I am amazed you took the burden so easily, though, Dave. We will need to explore that more in the future," Traveler said.

"I'll add that to the ever-growing to-do list when I return, but now I'm going to grab breakfast, as it's going to be a busy day. If anything changes while I'm gone, I want you to send Rabyn or Glorp for me immediately, Corey," I said.

"Understood, but once the new young core gets here, I believe the burden will be trivial between the three of us," Corey replied. I hoped they were right.

There is a comfort in one's connection to a dungeon, but that comfort is two-sided in that the longer you are connected, the harder it is to awaken to your own true being. The madness will slowly overwhelm any core, no matter its strength.

Interconnectivity, Linkages Through Space by Traveler-1

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