It's all fun and games...

Core/Yorick

They could hear me, like... my thoughts, including the one's I was think right now- that was not cool, not fun, I had not agree'd to this... How had they even done that? Had they unlocked some secret quest, or done some kind of secret spell that did this? I had no idea what was happening, and that scared me. I couldn't even hurt them directly, since I had no spells other than dungeon building ones, and even then I wasn't willing to actually kill them- I hated when things were left undone, and they still had a quest to complete. 

That meant I just had to wait until the quest was done, and... and then not be able to kill them? I didn't want to kill anyone, admittedly, but I didn't want to be owned by anyone either! Just looking at the four of them, I felt safest with Stephan, and maybe Alcor after him. The women... well, Auriel had already threatened to steal my soul, and Val had already mentioned how much of a magical research fanatic she was... Before I went too far into my panic, though, I heard Alcor speak directly to me for the first time. 

"Calm down. I won't let them hurt you." I felt stunned, unsure how to feel or how to react. He'd mentioned he could see all of my thoughts, including these ones, so I had to only think about things that made sense, right? Not crazy things about other worlds or magical C-... Why couldn't I finish that thought? I was just about to mention who ANGEL was, and then I... couldn't. 

"Angel? Who's that...?" I considered that, trying to put it into words and failing every time. So I gave up on trying to explain what she was in favor of simply telling him what she did. She... she used to help me. I didn't know anything I should about being a dungeon core, because she left me on the first day... I don't really understand why. That much is true- 

"But you're still hiding things from us? How? Are you actually censoring your own thoughts to keep me from hearing things you don't want us to know?" I had to remember that they heard everything I thought, and was grateful I hadn't been thinking of anything related to the things I wanted to keep hidden. I heard the Orc growl softly, and mentally flinched, worried he'd hurt me- I didn't trust him though. I wouldn't just tell him everything. 

Alcor stopped growling, groaning instead. "Do you have to have such humanoid emotions?" I was confused, even more-so when I saw Val and Stephen stiffen slightly and look away from their group, seemingly very uncomfortable with something that had just happened. Val spoke up then, and Stephen silently took off to scout the tunnel. 

"Alcor... just ignore it for now, let's finish this quest, alright?" She started walking before either Auriel or Alcor could apologize for whatever he'd said, and Alcor looked guilty. I wondered what he'd done or said, since nothing had been very offensive as far as I knew. Alcor flinched at that thought, looking at Auriel. He sighed, shaking his head and beginning to speak. 

_________

Alcor

A long time ago, the elves had appeared on the continent. They were the second race to appear in this world, but no one really knew where the Kitsune had come from. Some theorized that their god had created them and the world in the same moment, but no-one knew for certain. We knew where the elves came from, though- that was where recorded history began. 

A goddess had appeared and somehow created them, nurtured by the now-unheard-of Kitsune creator. She taught every other god who inevitably came, showing them the basics of how to build a race and how to balance them out with the other races. It wasn't perfect, and some of that was by design, but... the only major mess up was the last race to form in this world. 

Humans.

They had appeared in a valley somewhere, and the kitsune had immediately let everyone know. All of the races believed it was best to allow them to grow on their own for a few generations before introducing them to the rest, so for a few centuries we didn't interact with them at all- which was a mistake. We didn't know how short human lives were. 

Humans bred like crazy, and when we finally came to find them, they'd created their own magi, learned things that had taken us millennia to discover, and built a thriving kingdom... no, an empire. As soon as we made contact, they were wary. We helped them, taught them, and told them the rules... Everything went well until they learned the rules. 

They had broken several, and didn't want to change their ways- so we tried to force them to agree. Unfortunately, we didn't understand what the terrifying truth of humanity was. They leveled up insanely fast. We races gained levels until we were considered old enough to care for ourselves. For humans, this happened at the tenth years old, and for most others, it was closer to thirty or forty. For orcs, it wasn't until fifty, and elves kept going like that until they were base level one hundred and twenty. 

We were balanced by the fact that it was insanely hard to level up after you reached your age cap. Humans had an extremely easy time leveling, and didn't seem to have any harder a time in later levels than in early levels. An orc might take a year to increase by five levels, but a human could improve up to eighteen in one year if they tried. We assumed that they would be weak, and we were oh, so wrong. 

They fought us, and they won. They also didn't automatically gain points to certain places, and had more points to pick from than most, letting them specialize way more easily than most. The war was long, and bloody- and humans almost won. None of the other races could reproduce as easily as humans, so they could keep up the bloody conflict far longer than we could. Eventually, under the guidance of the gods still heard from and the kitsune, we tried something desperate. 

We gathered the most powerful spell-casters from every race into a single place, thousands of them, and cast a very complicated, dangerous spell. It made every human who failed to agree with our rules forget about the system, and removed their ability to access their interface unless they signed a very special, binding contract. This spell was fueled by all of the non-human gods except the kitsune god, and the humans couldn't resist it. 

Suddenly, the spell-casters couldn't remember how they'd gotten so powerful, and they couldn't improve like they had before. Their wariors died and none of them could be replaced as perfectly as before, making the war turn against them. We called a truce, and they slowly gave back every territory they had once held, retreating until their own kingdom was all they had left, only three of the old wizards remaining, as they'd cracked the trick of immortality before losing the interface. 

They never agreed to the rules, so they never got it back, and lack it to this day, leaving only the adventurers access to it- and that only because they agreed and signed the contract- they couldn't tell anyone even if they wanted too. the scars of that time were still felt, and no one was sure just how deeply those scars went- words like humanoid replaced elfin for example. 

Most adventurers knew the other races intimately, and felt ashamed of their past, so me saying Humanoid brought up painful memories and old shames. It was a terrible thing to do to my friends, and I hadn't even thought about it... I normally was careful to avoid saying words like that out loud around my human companions. Auriel understood, and we both felt sad that we hurt them, while neither of us knew a way to fix it. It was an awful sensation. 

Once I'd explained this, Yorick had lots of thoughts- so many so fast, flitting across his mind in such a confusing manner that I couldn't keep up. So I didn't try. I let him have his thoughts, let him think whatever he wanted, without paying attention. My focus was on my teammates who were clearly not happy, whom wanted to be alone. 

Eventually, me and Auriel stopped trying to catch up, and we just let them get ahead. I looked at the ground and groaned, sighing in frustration. Auriel looked up at me, confused and a bit worried- It was normally pretty hard to get me down, and she was wondering what had happened in my head. 

"I'm sorry, Auriel. First, I try to leave and don't willingly come in here with you guys, then I end up with a gem from your god, after that I didn't notice the demon and almost got Stephen killed, and then I was barely able to keep the boss occupied... I should be better. Worst of all, I just took the most exciting discovery of her life away from Val, and even reminded her of the first great war..." There had been others, but the human one had been the first. After that, they tended to avoid war if at all possible, which left them even weaker than before, but much, much safer. 

Honestly, I felt like I wasn't worth much right now- and I was beginning to wonder if a person even could have a definable worth. Sometimes, being extremely wise made me wax philosophical, which could be useful- sometimes, like now, however, it was simply annoying.

I stiffened when I felt something soft and smooth, covered in a sticky liquid that was still drying, touch my arm. Auriel smiled up at me, raising an eyebrow and taking my arm in hers as she started walking just fast enough that I had to consciously move my feet- which helped distract me from my thoughts. I blushed, and by now even she should've known what I looked like while blushing, no matter how hard it was to see. 

She didn't say anything, just kept walking, and I followed her lead rather silently. She was beautiful, and kind, and sexy as the the battle-maidens when covered in blood like she was... and she was choosing to be nice to me. That made me feel warm and tingly inside, a sensation I wasn't familiar with, but one that was similar to how I felt when I saw her looking like she did. I decided it was probably love or something like that, and couldn't help but try to memorize this moment. 

It ended when we reached the main chamber, three paths splitting- with the way home marked by the stairs. Of course, I saw Val and Stephen arguing about something, both seeming close to tears- which meant only one thing could be done. I suddenly picked up Auriel in a bridal carry, making her squeal in surprise and turn bright red in embarrassment. The others froze, turning to look at us as I shrugged and cautiously gestured to the bag. 

"Let's finish the quest." I started walking, carrying Auriel towards the temple and trying not to die inside as I started berating my idiocy. I hadn't asked Auriel first, I'd just embarrassed her, I had probably made her hate me, and now I had still not put her down, and I felt so awkward... but what if she didn't want to get put down? 

Mentally, I considered every single way I'd probably messed up and ruined everything- but externally my face remained impassive, and my expression was serene. That was normal, as showing emotions in obvious ways was discouraged in Orc society. Go figure, the men especially had to be practically emotionless unless in the privacy of his own home. 

The humans caught up with me pretty quickly, luckily enough, and I smiled slightly. We continued walking down the empty hall, keeping a look out and watching each others backs as we did so- and everything was awkwardly silent the entire time until Auriel spoke up. 

"Um... Alcor? Why are you still carrying me...?" I hesitated, blushing deeply enough for anyone to see the pinkness of my cheeks and set her down, shuffling awkwardly and feeling embarrassed. How could I explain all of my feelings and the situation all at once?

"Um... convenience?" If my voice were prone to expressing emotions more than it was, I would've sounded embarrassed, chagrined, and nervous. Instead, only a bit of mild discomfort came through. She looked at me, considering that. 

"Oh... Okay then..." She turned, beginning to walk, and Val followed, moving to walk next to her while Stephan and I stood still for a moment. I looked at him, my expression conveying my emotions for once... mostly. Stephan sighed, shrugging. 

"Women are women, no one understands them... but you should never do something romantic, and then say it was simply convenient... it makes them feel like you weren't even thinking of them as a person, but an object. People aren't objects to have things like 'convenient' easily applied to them. it feels Impersonal, and it feels rather cold... You might want to apologize."

Stephan started walking again, and I stood still again, turning and looking at the walls of the cave.I remembered the dungeon core, and looked at it's thoughts again. He was still remarkably silent, apparently having no thoughts about the exchange. I sighed, lowering my head and beginning to trudge along after my party. I hadn't wanted to hurt her... I felt awful. I felt a tiny pulse of magic, and froze, quickly looking behind me and holding out my bow, an arrow already being drawn.

A demon formed, freezing and looking at me like... like he was terrified. He raised his hands, confusedly not doing anything. I almost called for the others, but Yorick's voice sounded in my mind. 

"Alright, learn how to seduce a woman from him. Ask him for help... I think he can help you- you just need to give it a shot." At the same moment Yorick spoke, I got a weird sense he wasn't only speaking to me, and the demon smiled, nodding as it looked at me again, looking like it felt more safe this time. it was the first unclothed demon I'd seen so far in this dungeon, and... at least I felt no attraction to this one- then again, I hadn't seen it in battle.

"I'm... supposed to ask this demon for help...?" I couldn't believe it, but the demon had other plans, and believe you me he was going to express what his intentions were in what was possibly the most uncomfortable experience of my life so far. 

"Yes, yes I'm supposed to help you. That's new... I've never had to 'help' the adventurer before, and it's not even with the dungeon... normally I just die, and go back to being unmade again. I don't feel any desire to kill you... you poor soul!" He hugged me, knocking my hands to the side and making me freeze in confusion, then tense up as he started using his hands and eyes to examine my body. I shoved him away after a minute, feeling disgusted. 

"What in Azzugrau's name are you doing?!" I barely kept from shouting and the demon chuckled, as if it thought I was adorable. Or utterly non-threatening. 

"I was looking at what I was working with. I-" He paused, blinking and seeming curious after a moment. "You're trying to seduce her with clothes on... interesting... well then, I wonder if..." He moved forward before I could ask what he was doing, and grabbed my left bicep, growling softly as he said something in a language I didn't know. My screen flickered into view in front of him, and had details I couldn't normally see, making me confused. He closed it after an instant, and backed off. 

"What did you just-" "I know what's wrong with you, and I can fix it if you're willing to pay a small price. I don't know if it'll help, but it'll at least help you in feeling more confident. I think." I blinked, confused and not quite trusting it. 

"You... what are you planning to do...?" The demon grinned, holding out it's hand and breathing in as magic began slowly draining out of the air and lighting his hand on fire. I stared, taking a step back and feeling uncomfortable. 

"I'll give you a gift, and you'll give me one in exchange." He paused, thinking for a moment before continuing to smile. "Yorick is fine with it." I realized I couldn't hear Yorick, and looked at him again. he didn't seem to be lying as far as I could tell... So I nervously asked him my one question. 

"What gift are we each giving...? And are you certain it'll help me with her..." I paused, shaking my head. Was I about to make a deal with a demon? Why did it feel so hard to breath...? He smiled. 

"I'll give you the seductive charm of us demons, and you'll help me stay in this realm instead of fading away when I die. I've waited thousands of years to come back, every demon does once they die. Demonic cores are so few and far between, and they summon so few demons..." He smiled, waiting and looking hopeful. 

"I... I guess I can do that... I'm not sure how I would though..." I hesitantly reach out, slowly putting my hand in his, my head feeling heavy and my thoughts slowing down as I felt mild pain in my chest, like I couldn't breath properly. I felt so confused... I could barely think... but I shook once with the demon, right before I heard Auriel scream. 

I jumped, opening my eyes and looking at the demon's eyes- inches away from my own. It was... my lungs were on fire from the need to breath, and I was leaning against a wall as my body trembled, the demon... The demon was kissing me? But... we'd just shaken hands, and he... his tail was blocking my nose. I couldn't move, couldn't make a sound. My eyes widened in understanding. he'd give my body the chance to be with Auriel, but he'd become me... and he'd stay in this realm far longer. 

Blackness started to come in at the edge of my vision, and I saw my own health-bar rapidly lowering. I closed my eyes, trembling as I acknowledged that this was where I would die... and then the demon backed off, screeching. I collapsed, gasping for breath and shuddering as My heath stopped lowering, beginning to extremely slowly rise back up and making me start sobbing in relief. I'd never felt so scared before...

The demon cackled, slipping in close to me again and biting my neck before vanishing and leaving my neck and right shoulder spasming in agony. I blacked out, I'm embarrassed to say. but... that was fine. much better than dealing with Auriel's eyes after she'd seen me being kissed by someone else. Especially a male...

Then again, she might not mind? It was a demon after all... even if you weren't attracted to men, demons were hard to deny. Especially if they found a way to touch and... and use magic on you. I felt extremely stupid after realizing that. I didn't even know what that demon had ended up doing... wonderful...

I slowly came back to consciousness, not opening my eyes as I tried to breath and moaned, my whole body feeling pretty bad pain. The faint sound of Auriel nearby made me sigh in relief, and relax. She hadn't been hurt after I passed out. That was all I really cared about for now... well... that and the still burning pain in my shoulder. 

Why had he bitten me? What had that done? And why did I feel nervous and apprehensive about it...?