"What the hell was that?" I yelled, hoping to wake Otis. It had reminded me of the soul hunters that had been chasing me and Karlinovo. Were they back?

"I was wondering if they would notice us or not," Otis yelled in return, finally annoying me with his lack of actual answers the first time.

"But what is it?" There was anger in my question. I was exhausted, and as much as I could tolerate the strangeness the Spiral brought, there were times when I needed answers. Often, those times overlapped with my own energy levels.

"Soul beast, probably not a full hunter. I think we'd know if they had sniffed us out yet. But probably best to see if you can get those other two paths closed off as well." Otis's answer confirmed my own thoughts.

"Are the bridges safe to cross?" Not that it fully mattered if they weren't. I had no memory of how I had gotten back the first time, which left them as my only option at the moment.

"The secured ones are, we are going to need to figure out how to illuminate the other two, though," Otis replied.

If that meant what I thought it did, we had a problem. The bridges and the platforms seemed to work differently. While Chip could somehow secure the first, the latter required my personal attention. Likely, the other darkened paths that had shown up led to the final two people who were part of my soul chat. Would I even be able to seal off Maud's with how difficult our communication had become?

Chip was still asleep on the bed when I reached him, having managed to sleep through the commotion. "Chip, can you do what you did before?" I asked, shaking the bed gently.

Surprisingly, as my hand hit the bed, I felt my own exhaustion start to fade. There was a huge rush of mana into me from somewhere. My soul energy was replenishing itself faster than I had ever felt before. What the hell was causing that? Had the creation of the bed here signified something deeper?

That, more than the rustling of the bed, seemed to wake up Chip, as the pumakey leaped to attention. His small head swiveled back and forth, surveying the room while his ears twitched slightly. That was a look I had only ever seen in him when he could smell food.

He hopped off the bed and charged down the paths I had just returned from. He stopped at the first platform just as the earlier colors that had followed his mana trail appeared yet again. Unlike before, they seemed to be returning to his form.

Was he taking back what he had originally used to light the path? I was starting to question if that was even his normal mana charging ability or something entirely different. Was it possible I had found another reason pumakeys were such a trafficked animal?

He repeated the light show on all four of the other platforms before running back to the central hub where Otis and I stood. After a few seconds of him standing there, the remaining two bridges flared to life. Chip looked as exhausted as I had been before touching the bed.

"Good job. Let's get you back to the bed for some rest, and I'll try to handle everything else," I said as I leaned down, scooping the little guy up and gently carrying him back to the bed.

"Curiouser and curiouser. I never would have expected that little pumakey to be the, pardon my pun, key to this. I wonder what that means for the way others build a soul realm." Otis had produced a small book as he spoke. He had started scribbling notes in it.

"Can those creatures get to us here?" I asked. More questions had occurred to me after the book had appeared, but they were more about Otis himself and less about our situation. Where he had been keeping the book was one of them. I couldn't access my System storage here. Could he?

Then again, did he even need System storage? Timon seemed to have his own way about doing things, and Glorp had mentioned he had his own abilities that avoided it as well. There was something there that I'd need to ask about later. What was the point in all these abilities if System storage just mimicked them?

What happened to everything in the System if you were just cut off from it? Was there some secret vault of Sanquar's possessions, or had they just been lost forever? That was clearly the answer. If you were reliant on the System to that level, if someone broke your connection to it, you lost everything tied to that reliance. But then, how much of all our abilities were system-based versus universal representations?

It was odd that these questions were just now all occurring to me. It likely had something to do with the nature of where we were and what I was building here, but that added even more questions. I was going to have to have some deep conversations with Karlinovo soon.

"They don't seem to be able to once you've established those platforms. I'm not entirely sure what's happening when you do that, so it's anyone's guess if they can get across the bridges into already established areas or not," Otis replied.

"What does established mean in this context?" It was the first time he had used that phrasing, and while I could guess based on the end results, I still didn't understand what it was I was doing on any deeper level.

"Not that I'm against a discussion on the proper terminology have you, but are you sure now is really the right time?" Otis chuckled lightly as he asked this question.

While the answer was a bit grating, it wasn't wrong. I needed to get the other platforms lit up. And now that I knew I could recharge myself at the bed in between, it seemed much more doable.

As I made my way to the longest of the two new bridges, I realized I needed a way to keep track of which one was which, especially if I could expect new ones to randomly show up. All of the platforms were circular, so if I defined the bridge that led to Corey as zero degrees, I could measure and work from there. That would make labeling them easy enough.

Focusing on the radians that made up a circle made it much easier to ignore the void that surrounded my path. As much as I was sure I wouldn't make the misstep, that anxiety had to be fought against, and basic geometry seemed to be helping. Would it be funnier to call Corey's path two pi instead of zero?

The platform wasn't what I had been expecting. There were two smaller darkened paths from it, and no sign of anything that made me think it represented Karlinovo or Maud. Had I missed something?

As I tried to figure out what I was supposed to do here, something crashed into the bottom of where I was standing. It was strong enough to shake the whole platform. Whatever I needed to do here, I needed to figure it out fast. At least whatever was hunting me at the moment didn't seem overly intelligent, but I doubted that bit of luck would hold much longer.

I started to pull up the chat window, thinking Corey may have an idea, since the last hub had been theirs. But that action alone had somehow been the answer. The two remaining bridges lit up. That made even less sense to me. Why were there two here, and what did it have to do with the soul chat?

Unless…

Were these Karlinovo and Maud? Opening the soul chat had triggered whatever my connection was to them. Corey represented my bonds to the other cores, just as the messaging system represented my bonds to the other two. So then what was that last bridge?

I'd figure that out as soon as I finished these. Again, ignoring the void, I dashed across the first bridge, finding a strange six-armed humanish figure floating in front of me.

I suspected this was what Karlinovo looked like before the accident, and while I had heard him complain about only having two arms, I hadn't realized he had six. Oddly, the figure still somewhat resembled the man I had accidentally resurrected. Were the extra arms mutations, or had he been an entirely different species before his mana beast rebirth?

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None of those thoughts helped with what I had to do here. Realistically, I couldn't recreate the circumstances of how we had originally met any more than I was doing just by being here. My soul was already separated from my body, and here was a representation of him, so what else did I need to do?

What did he represent as a person to me? While I considered him a friend, we certainly weren't nearly as close as the cores or Maud. Maud was my daughter-in-law. Corey was both part of me and at times, felt like my own child, as did the other cores. So did Karlinovo represent some sort of scientific pursuit of mine?

Was I even thinking about this right? Did it actually matter what the people represented to me? Otis had said this was as much their soul realm as my own when we first met, so how I viewed them might not be as important as how I viewed myself.

Wait, Karlinovo had returned missing something. And he still didn't have it. Could I recreate that here? I had no idea what his original core contained, and while I probably couldn't build that exactly even if I knew. Could I still use some of the material I had conjured up for the cores to create his own artificial socket system?

With that thought in mind, I sprinted back to Corey's platform, gathering up the supplies I had left there. Despite the strange look Otis gave me, I didn't stop for any words as I ran back. The idea was burning in my mind, and I needed to get to work.

I pulled up the chat window, this time not closing it immediately. I needed to make sure Karlinovo was okay with me experimenting here. I had no real idea if it would affect him outside of the soul realm, but it was entirely possible.

Dave: Karlinovo, I'm working on our connection now. It turns out this entire place is connected to everyone connected to this chat. Whatever binds us together seems to apply here.

Karlinovo: What does that mean? You aren't about to join me into your channels like the dungeon cores are, are you?

Dave: No, at least I don't think so. There's a six-armed humanish figure that looks a lot like you floating in front of me. Does that mostly describe what you used to look like?

Karlinovo: Six arms, yes, looking the same as now, though, no. But if it's a combination of how I see myself it may make sense as a representation.

Dave: Good. Well, there's clearly something you're missing post-rebirth that you had when you died, besides the arms. And I'm going to create it here. I'm going to put together a socket system somewhat similar to my own, but for now, a bit weaker, as I don't want to risk destroying your body if this goes weird.

Karlinovo: I approve. Do what you need to do. If this gives me back a core and anything similar to your setup, it will be well worth it.

Dave: Alright, getting to work now, then. I expect you will feel the difference when I'm done, but I'll let you know.

Considering how much it had taken from me the time I had tried to use the distilled willpower sockets, I decided it was best to start with a single one. It would only give Karlinovo one extra mana orb, but I wasn't sure how much that mattered. If the changes I made here applied to his physical body as well, then it might be possible to upgrade them later.

That branch of thought opened up tons of new possibilities, especially when combined with my own unlocked feature I hadn't touched. Upgrading mana channels and sockets could be a game-changer in all of our power levels. Pushing aside the hypotheticals, I went to work on the socket and the core piece.

My plan was to channel as much of both soul and core mana into my creation as I forced it into Karlinovo's representation. Hopefully, nothing exploded as I did so. Soon, I was holding my hastily designed work. It was only the second artificial socketing system I had ever created, but as the first hadn't killed me, it seemed likely this wouldn't kill Karlinovo, hopefully.

The socket sank into the chest of the soul reflection the moment it made contact. Hoping that meant I was on the right path, I started channeling the mana. Both soul and core mana flowed from me into it. A new message alert flashed, and I pulled that up as I continued infusing my creation.

Karlinovo: This is beyond strange. I have a core again, Dave, and while I can feel that there is a place to socket mana orbs attached to it. I can't actually connect to them yet.

Dave: You may need to visit the place yourself, and explore just what that means for you. This whole experience is rather bizarre.

Karlinovo: Perhaps.

I closed out the chat window, focusing on getting the last bit of mana I could into the thing in front of me as it merged with the floor of the platform. Again, the platform seemed to seal itself from the void around us. Karlinovo would likely have to make his own journey here if he wanted to further alter himself. It made more sense than me having free rein to tug at his soul as I saw fit. I was just the vessel for starting to build the basics to whatever this was going to become.

Feeling good about having one mystery gone, I made my way to Maud's platform. Instantly, I knew there was something wrong. Maud's soul representation was flickering in and out. It was almost like a degraded signal's reception. Dammit, was she too far away for me to connect her platform at the moment? What did that mean for sealing it from the creatures outside?

I took a step onto the platform, intending to test it anyway, and the image vanished as my foot made contact. Damn. Did I risk just pouring soul mana into the area anyway?

"Otis, Maud is too far away for her representation to fully manifest. Any ideas?" I yelled at the man.

"That is a problem. Is that why she hasn't made an appearance in your soul chat during all of this?" he asked back, again not answering the initial question.

I wasn't entirely surprised he could access the soul chat. Based on the events of how we met, it made some sense. Still, I wished he were more straightforward. Were all chroniclers just like this?

"Yes, but as I said, any ideas to solve the current issue?"

"Not at all. I guess we will learn if the creatures can cross those bridges the hard way, then," he replied.

"Great," I said with all the enthusiasm of a sarcastic teenager.

As I also didn't have any ideas on how to deal with that setback, I'd put it on the back burner for the moment. There was still another platform I needed to address, and I wanted to know just what it represented. I could only push that curiosity into the back of my brain for so long.

"The voices chew, teeth with eyes, darkness of noise!" an all too familiar voice yelled out the moment I stepped off the bridge. I had forgotten someone who had access to the soul chat. It seemed Unakite was enough of a person to be represented here.

Karlinovo

He had just finished up his communication with Henjen when Dave had first sent him the message about the possibilities of a core. While he had his own plans on how to form one, those plans would take considerable time. The fact that Dave had managed to present an alternative just after he had learned his old teacher would be coming for a visit had made him much more eager to accept.

He had quickly switched off the suppression field before giving Dave the go-ahead. He had caused enough unintended interactions from his experiments this week already. He didn't need another, especially one that might destroy his body.

While the C-graded core wasn't something to complain about, the fact that he could feel the existence of two mana sockets, but not actually touch them, was. He would need to find a way to remedy that as soon as he could. Luckily, the new core had come with what he assumed was the start.

-\Core Grade {C} -\Affinity\Soul {S} -\Affinity\Soul\Soul Tinkering {0} Due to the manner in which your core was created, it is much more aligned with your soul than the normal core. This allows you to use your soul energies to alter and refine your mana channeling capabilities as long as you are within your soul realm. Further ranks in Soul Tinkering allow for greater alterations.

Sure, it was likely extremely dangerous to go tinkering about in one's own soul. But he wouldn't have it any other way. The greatest knowledge leaps always came with a bit of danger.

The trouble with studying the royal lines within the Spiral is how often they claim to be descended from some divinity who granted them eternal authority by right of their blood to rule over their subjects as they deem fit. That is always a lie. Pointing that fact out, though, is how you end up with your head no longer connected to your neck.

Monarchies: Fools, Morons, & Horses by Doctor Princess Kathaniel

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