Billy felt a massive surge of essence accumulating over Madison as he entered the Blue Room. He knew he had to harness it before it could disperse into the countryside.

  The Core of Darkness was a tricky power. It allowed him to design Cores and the dungeons that housed them, but he only had partial control over the outcome. Cores were powerful entities, and assuming their identity always carried the risk of his mind being consumed by them. He managed to avoid this fate by doing what the Losers always did in dire situations: he cheated.

  The first time, he spent seven hours writing his biography inside the Blue Room, crafting a description so precise that he was reincarnated as an identical copy of himself, with only one power: the ability to create bosses based on his past experiences.

  Most of the essence released by the dungeon had dispersed by the time he was finished, but that posed no additional problems since it happened within the already devastated Chicago.

  The second time was in Babylon. He didn’t have time to create an elaborate con, as the released essence would have caused significant harm.

  He got lucky with the Motif: “Be true to yourself,” which had the same effect as writing his biography for the Core’s description.

  The third time, he brought the entire elven world of Valdar to life, thanks to the Chant. He used his Kingmaker ability to create it without becoming the Core.

  Now, as he prepared to create his fourth dungeon, he realized that he hadn’t planned how to approach it.

  He returned to essential questions:

  - Had the dungeon released a vast quantity of Essence near an inhabited town? — Check.

  He did not have seven hours to fiddle with controls; he needed to act now, or he would be responsible for creating one or more dangerous dungeons near a human settlement.

  - Did he have a surplus of spending points? — Check.

  He didn’t have to employ the Kingmaker option. Spawning as the Core would grant him much greater control over the dungeon itself and add a powerful form to his Akashic Library.

  He could afford to spend a substantial amount of essence on the creation; the more he spent, the closer the final result would align with his intent. While he needed a considerable amount to create a new dungeon tag, 15,000 AP was more than enough to meet all his needs.

  However, there was one big, important question that remained unanswered: how could he guarantee that he wouldn’t lose his mind when incarnating as the core?

  He couldn't use the Motif since it didn’t pertain to identity or true values.

  He would need to utilize the Core’s description, just as he did with the first dungeon he created, but he didn’t have seven hours to write a 60-page biography.

  Did he really need to make one that extensive? He remembered how Jenna had casually discovered the true nature of the Avatar competencies he had faked simply by swiping his status screen.

  He was sure she had inadvertently created that method the moment she tried it, taking advantage of not having a nerf module.

  Could he do something similar? There should be a log recording past changes to his screen.

  He pressed the Core of Darkness button on his spawn screen but held it down for three seconds. An options menu appeared:

  - Change Log

  - Other options

  He selected the first option and searched for the date he created his first dungeon. A copy of the formulary he used appeared on the screen. He pressed the Core description, and another menu appeared. He selected Copy all.

  Returning to the main screen, he pasted the entire biography into the Core description window.

  Then, he added a few lines at the beginning: The grandmaster of the Secret Mountain suddenly remembered his whole previous life and identity. He was Billy, the Everlasting. All his memories, emotions, and personality traits filled his mind like a hand donning a glove. He enclosed his entire biography in quotation marks.

  He was basically playing at reincarnation.

  He erased the Inverted tag, kept the Labyrinth tag, added the Symbiotic one, and created a new one called Alchemical. He crossed his fingers, hoping he would have enough points to cover all of it. Then he pressed the activate button and respawned as the Core of the new dungeon.

  He felt the remnants of the Mall, as well as his soul, sucked into the control office he had been in when he discorporated.

  A Dungeon Rift appeared in the middle of the room. On the other side of the rift, a stunning mountain rose, filled with lush trees and majestic vegetation.

  A brick road spiraled around the mountain, winding six times from the base to the summit.

  Along the road, functional brick buildings rose. These buildings served as the lodgings for the Six Alchemical Sages, who taught alchemy to the students of the Everburning Lotus Sect.

  At the top of the mountain stood the temple of the Alchemical Master, AKA Billy.

  Billy felt a profound sense of satisfaction as he beheld what he had created, from his vantage position at the top of the mountain, where he had spawned. He saw two tiny figures slip into the rift at the mountain's base.

  “Billy, where are you?” Jenna asked through the blood link.

  “Currently waiting for you at the top of the mountain, honey,” he asked, “but you should call me Master Billy while you are here, or the students will take offense.”

  “Master Billy, your hairy ass,” Jenna laughed through the link, “coming up,” she added while starting to run the hill at supersonic speed.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Billy contemplated his status screen with satisfaction. The form had been added to his Akashic Library, but because this dungeon lacked the Hatchery tag, it would gray out when he was outside it. He would have to drop the form to leave the dungeon.

  He saw with surprise that a new form had also appeared, that of a 53-Rank Blind Swordsman. It seems the system had interpreted killing the blind guy with the sword as an act of kindness.

  He contemplated his status screen, studying his new powers.

  Alchemical Master Rank 70 Avatar (Core)

  Alchemy (14): Possesses instinctive knowledge of all alchemical techniques. Can recognize alchemical compounds and divine their properties. Can create minor alchemical compounds that remain effective for the same duration as the time spent in their creation.

  Anyone may use minor alchemical compounds.

  Instant Laboratory x3: May improvise Alchemical creations out of a laboratory, and with no tools, but they have a 5% chance of creating undesirable side effects when used.

  Stable Alchemy x4: Alchemical compounds will not lose their potency for up to ten thousand times the time spent in their creation.

  Major Compound 7: Can create alchemical compounds that, when consumed by an Avatar with the Digestion Competence, grant effects equal to seven ranks in Competencies

  Digestion (13): The Avatar can benefit from the effect of major alchemical compounds, equivalent to a rank 1 Competence. They will work for up to 5 minutes. At any given time, the Avatar may only have one compound active. If the Avatar consumes a new compound while another is still active, he will be sick for the remainder of the active duration.

  Potent Compounds 7: The Avatar can benefit from alchemical compounds up to seven ranks in Competencies

  Iron stomach x2: The Avatar may have more than one Alchemical compound active at the same time, as long as their total added ranks are not greater than 3 x (Potent Compound Ranks).

  Alchemical Tolerance x4: Compounds last for a maximum of one week

  Teaching 12: Knows how to express his knowledge in a way that others can learn from it.

  -Choose Disciple x 3: You can designate a willing subject as your disciple. He will gain the passive title “Disciple of the Alchemical Master”. He will earn four times the regular XP granted by Alchemy quests as long as his Alchemy Competency is lower than 14. You may have only one Disciple at a time. You may revoke your mentorship at any time; however, the person you mentored can no longer become your disciple, but he can become your Student.

  -Revered Teacher: x 3: You may have up to four Disciples at the same time

  -The Class is in session x 4: You may bless up to three different classrooms. Each one occupies one Disciple slot and may hold up to one student per rank in Teaching.

  Each student will get twice the XP points in any alchemical quest they get while in class, and they will automatically get one if they have the Alchemy slot free and the Master teaches them for at least one hour.

  Students must be present when the class is blessed.

  The blessing lasts for a month. The same person can’t be a Student and a Disciple at the same time.

  -Academic Body x 2: You may bless two different Alchemists, so that they can impart lessons in your stead. They must be lower-ranked than you and may only teach students with Alchemy ranks lower than their own.

  Herbcraft (11): The Avatar recognizes any natural or magical herb and divines its properties just by looking at it.

  Alchemical Gardener x3: Time spent looking for herbs as ingredients to craft a specific alchemical compound counts five times for purposes of determining alchemical stability.

  Epic Compounds x 7: The Alchemist may use Experience-laden ingredients obtained in a dungeon with the Alchemical tag to create Epic Compounds up to rank 7.

  Epic Compounds may grant experience or accelerate the speed at which it is obtained, duplicate the effects of major Compounds as if the imbiber had the Potent Compounds 7 Choice from the Digestion Competence, or grant transient increases in stats equivalent to up to seven freebie points.

  He was satisfied with the result. This form was ideal not only for creating Epic Compounds, based on solidified experience, but also for teaching others to do so.

  Jenna would be happy, he thought.

  Then he saw his own form reflected in a mirror as he passed before it, and changed his mind.

  Jenna would not be happy. Not happy at all. The Alchemical Master appeared to be a ninety-year-old man of Asian descent, sporting a one-foot-long, thin mustache. It was a racial cliché so stereotypical that it felt offensive.

  Even if it didn’t, Jenna would not be thrilled. She was quite broad-minded, but she drew the line at ninety-year-old boyfriends.

  He saw the spiral of dust she left behind as she ran up the mountain using her superhuman stats; she would be here in thirty seconds.

  “Oh, shit,” said Billy, who seldom swore. He felt it did not quite express the gravity of the situation, so he dialed up the intensity.

  “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.”

  There, that was better.

  He had to act quickly; fortunately, this form had alchemical powers he could use to reverse the situation.

  Using Instant Laboratory, he created one dose of a specific medicinal pill known as the Pill of the Prancing Stallion. The pill added +2 to Spirit, +2 to Appearance, and +2 to Youthfulness, and its effect would last for one week. It was the equivalent of a sixth rank competence.

  He entered the temple and closed the door, leaning against it as he desperately swallowed the pill and waited for it to take effect.

  “What are you doing, Billy? Open the door!” Jenna said from the other side. “I can’t, I am naked,” he replied, giving the first excuse that came to mind.

  “What are you talking about?” she said. “I’ve seen you naked before. And you’re going to see me naked in thirty seconds,” she added as she pushed against the door.

  Billy felt the effects of the pills beginning to take hold. Thank goodness, just in time. Instant Laboratory was a lifesaver. And with only a one in twenty chance of unfavorable side effects.

  Jenna finally opened the door and beheld his boyfriend. He was no longer that Elven demigod, but he looked like an extremely attractive Asian version of Billy, and with a beautiful mustache as an added boon.

  “God, I have missed you,” Jenna said.

  Billy tried to respond, “I have missed you, too, honey,” but what came out of his mouth was the shrill whinny of a horse.

  Thirty minutes later, Jenna was glumly staring at the bowl of porridge she had not yet tasted, as her idiot boyfriend worked in the laboratory, trying to counteract whatever he had done to himself.

  Bob sat at her side, a coy smile beginning to form on his lips.

  She took the initiative: “Bob, I remember perfectly that one occasion in Peter Longfellow’s house when I accused your literary counterpart of having sex with a horse. I realize fate has provided you a golden opportunity to get payback.”

  “If that is the case, I think you should reflect on your life choices and think very, very carefully about the next words you are going to say. Are you going to make a horse sex joke?”

  “Of course not, never crossed my mind,” lied Bob as he dove into his porridge.