Homestead Survival

<20 September 2024, MOLBRAK CAVERN, A>
[Skully]
Dungeon Core E3-D1A1-LM, also known as Skully, was still coming to terms with his situation. It had been four days since the young child known as Sarah Armstrong had found his small pocket dimension and taken him from it. She talked to him incessantly, and at night the Homestead Core, Hestia, probed him with mana. He knew that this was Hestia's way of letting him know that she could reach him at any time. But she had not deigned to speak to him yet, so he chose to simply observe.

The older girl, Sylvi, who he had come to know was a dragon, had made it abundantly clear that if he harmed Sarah in any way, shape, or form, she had a dungeon core that would absolutely be willing to tell Sylvi how to torture a dungeon core.

The last and oldest of the women, a human named Velna, had simply greeted him and said nothing else to him. The only thing that made Dungeon Core E3-D1A1-LM remember her was the wash of System energies that encapsulated her.

Today seemed like it would be more of the same. But as the day progressed, Dungeon Core E3-D1A1-LM felt pulses of energy happening, and a deeper voice called out. Sarah looked excited. "Come on, Skully! We need to meet Dad!"

She scooped up the skull and rushed to where her father's voice had come from. As she walked up and hugged her father, she introduced Skully and kept rambling. A dwarf and an elemental joined the conversation.

The Dwarf spoke up. "Joshua, not to tell ye' how to parent, but I'd not let my child have a dungeon core, they can be dangerous and more often than not view people as resources."

The first man, Joshua, apparently, grew wide-eyed. "Sarah, honey. Let me have the skull."

Pulses of energy continued, and finally, as a tall man with one of the highest mana densities approached. Joshua reached down to take Dungeon Core E3-D1A1-LM from Sarah. But Sarah was squeezing him desperately. "No! Skully is my friend."

[Theo and Julia]
Theo could see that tensions were high. And Joshua looked concerned. Sarah looked deeply upset. And the skull looked as if it came from some kind of predator. Sarah was starting to cry as her father tried to gently pull the skull from her, and she would not let it go.

Theo stepped up to the group. "What's going on?"

Julia looked equally confused, and Sylvi quickly gave them a rundown. Theo and Julia shared a look, and then Julia stepped over to Joshua. "Give us one moment if you would?"

Joshua looked torn, but Julia placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "We will not let anything happen to her, I promise. Besides, she has apparently been hanging out with the skull the whole time we have been gone."

Joshua nodded, and Theo stepped up to Sarah, kneeling down to be on her level. "Sarah, can I hold Skully?"

"No!" Sarah said her eyes were watering. "You are going to take him from me! He's my friend! I found him, so he is mine!"

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"What if I promise that I will give him back?" Theo said, "We are just worried about you and want to make sure that Skully is a real friend and not a fake friend."

"A fake friend?" Sarah asked.

"Like Tara was," Joshua called out helpfully. Then whispered to Julia, "a girl from her class whose dad instructed his daughter to be friends with mine to get a connection to me."

"I..." Sarah thought for a moment, "If Skully is a real friend, you promise to give him back Mr. Theo?"

Theo smiled. The young girl had taken to calling him that, and it amused him greatly. He nodded solemnly, "I swear that I will, if he is a fake friend, I might not though. Is that okay?"

Sarah considered, then loosened her grip on the skull before handing it to Theo. "Okay, Skully, you talk with Mr. Theo."

Theo stood up and turned the skull to face him. "Now then, Skully. We should have a chat."

Dungeon Core E3-D1A1-LM prepped himself mentally. "I agree, I would very much like to not be destroyed."

They talked for several hours, Dungeon Core E3-D1A1-LM provided as much information as he could, and stated that after his pocket dimension had been collapsed, he had lost any malice for people.

Theo had taken Skully to the core Hestia, and they had conversed, Hestia asking questions silently that the system would not let Theo or anyone else present hear, finally after what seemed like an eternity. Hestia sent out a message.

>Homestead Message: I can not say with 100% certainty that he would never harm Sarah, but I can say that he does not intend to harm her. If Sarah is absolutely set on keeping him, I would recommend that he be fashioned into a piece of equipment for her and bound to her in some way.

Theo shrugged and looked at Joshua, who hesitantly nodded. Theo squatted down in front of Sarah, who had been waiting patiently. "It seems like he is as much of a real friend as he can be. But we might need to change him sometime later. Is that okay?"

Sarah nodded excitedly. "Thank you, Mr. Theo!"

She scampered off with Skully, leaving the adults to chat. Theo, Joshua, and Julia placed their hands on Hestia's core.

"Hello, Theo, Julia, Joshua. How are you all tonight?" Hestia asked.

"Well, my daughter is now best friends with a dungeon core. I don't know how I should feel about that." Joshua said plainly.

"Yes, about that, Hestia, did you know that there was a dungeon core on the Overlook?" Theo asked.

"I know many things about the Overlook that I am not at liberty to disclose." Hestia said carefully, "But yes, I was aware that at least one dungeon core was present on the Overlook."

"That means there could be more." Julia said.

"I know many things about the Overlook that I am not at liberty to disclose." Hestia responded mechanically.

"Probably the System." Theo said, and Joshua agreed.

"Can we really trust the dungeon core?" Joshua asked.

"I would advise that you make him into an item and let him accompany her that way." Hestia said with the mental equivalent of a shrug, "The item will grow with her, and if you get him to contract to her with System agreements or something similar, he could end up being her greatest ally. If you leave him as he is, he will eventually wish to establish a new dungeon and then regain the zeal for taking human life. That is all that I can share."

"Thank you, Hestia," Joshua said, before removing his hand from the core and heading after his daughter.

"Now then, Theo, is there anything else that I can help you with?" Hestia asked.

"We want to take a bath, but before you send us over, what can you tell us about the Overlook?" Julia asked curiously.

Hestia began to compile a list, "Take your bath, I shall compile a list, and after you are refreshed, we can discuss what I know of the territory you have entrusted to me."

Theo nodded, "Alright then, send us off."

With a pulse of power, Theo and Julia vanished.