Worthy Core

"I fucked up. Gods above and below, I fucked up."

Xenia eyes the short-statured woman sitting in her office, and narrows her eyes as the woman starts lightly hitting her forehead against the dungeon master's desk. "Hey, now! You're in a False Mortal body, remember? You're not nearly as tough as you used to be, and I don't wanna have to be cleaning damn bloodstains off my furniture. I get enough of that in the rest of the dungeon."

The former Lady Nalina Evervein lightly rubs her temple with two fingers. "...I think I can notice that, yeah. But dammit all, a bruise is the least I deserve! I can't believe I fell to a single one of those scaly bastards - and I didn't even take her with me!"

"Hey, it was close enough! She barely lasted like, three minutes longer than you. And you did take on a monster, and knock down another draconic. And as battlefield commands go...well, I've seen worse, for sure."

The dwarf scoffs at the review. "I can admit it - I'm no professional general. I know how to inspire men and women, but...in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have gone off like that. I forgot my proper role as commander of the defense. Fortunately my team were all more than competent enough to do without me." She glances around the room before continuing. "Speaking of - might I see them? Talk to them?"

Xenia gives a slight nod. "We can set that up, sure. First, I just wanted to get an idea of where your head's at. I mean, you were dying down there, and your last thought was to hand your soul over to me, huh? I didn't know you held the place in such high regard. We don't exactly have a guardian slot open right now, but we can come up with something."

Surprising the reincarnator, Nalina shakes her head with a denial. "That's, ah, the other thing I fucked up...Dungeon Master Worthy? Do I call you boss, now? My lady? Ugh."

"Xenia's fine." The dungeon master furrows her brow. "But what did you fuck up? You wound up here talking to me, after all. What else would you have been trying to do?"

"It's just...don't take this the wrong way...Xenia. But I don't want to be one of your eternal floor guardians, yeh? You understand? I like a good scrap more than I should, more than most I'd say, but...it ain't the afterlife I've always been looking forward to. My family always honored the gods properly, you know."

The explanation only confuses Xenia more. "You don't? Okay, explain to me then - just how did you surrender yourself to me if that's not what you wanted to do?"

Nalina takes a moment to collect her thoughts. "It's a little fuzzy, but...as best as I can recall, my last thought was 'I can't die yet, not before the fight's done, not before my people are safe. I'll trade anything to the dungeon to make it through this.'"

"...And the system took that as an offer of your soul in exchange for a second chance." Xenia chews her lip. "So you've changed your mind, then? Your people won the battle, after all. If you want, you can, you know...say your goodbyes, then we'll let you go. I ain't forcing anyone to work here who don't want to."

The dwarf shakes her head again. "No - it ain't over yet. Not til my people can walk free under the sky again, you ken? Whether it's a week or a month or a year, I'll sign on til it's done. Then...I think I'd like to move on, aye. A life of slayin' Challengers is no life for me. But tell me, is there a way for me to help? I feel so..." Nalina looks at her hands. "...Weak."

"Yeah, well, I don't have to ensoul floor guardians specifically. Right now you're just a Floor Five minion. And even high-tier False Mortals are still pretty squishy. I think the tier improvements mostly just work to make your faces less...well, at least you won't have any trouble looking in a mirror. Point being, right now one of our stage dancers could probably take you in a fight."

"I see. So, you say there's no opening for guardians left, is it? Well, at least give me something with a bit more muscle on, aye? I'm sure I could manage to do something, you give me a spear to wield and the hands to hold it."

Xenia taps her fingers across her desk. "You know...there's one case of precedent of me ensouling something other than a floor guardian."

"Aye? What's that?"

The reincarnator's lips twitch upwards. "Doorman. The riddle door out front. Ensouling him made him sapient, left him...theoretically brighter and more flexible than the average sapient minion."

Despite the woman's grin, Xenia's words make Nalina recoil in horror. "Y'wanna turn me into a door!? Gods, woman, just kill me now!"

Xenia raises her hands in a placating gesture. "Easy, easy, let me finish. I've got options for ensouling things besides doors, and besides guardians and minions. Just recently got a few new ones, too."

The words don't do much to relieve Nalina's worries. "Oh? And what would you be thinking of for me, then? A window?"

"Pfft. Nah, but...look, funny story, but I spent a couple years as a sword once, you know? It's got its downsides, but you get used to it. Magic swords are powerful, right? But a magic sword that can think? Triggering enchantments at just the right time, adjusting swings so that they're always on target, perfect vision of everything around you...it's a real force multiplier for the lucky warrior to wield one."

Nalina's eyes narrow, as the woman worries she knows what's coming next. "Not sure how a sword became a dungeon, but...where is this going, exactly?"

"Now, I know you're a spear lady, which is cool, unfortunately I only got spears at B-tier and that's not enough for this. But swords..." Xenia gives Nalina a not-so-comforting smile. "Ever wanted to be sharp?"

"...Let's...talk about this a bit, aye?"

---

"You can't seriously be considering this." Tinter Gloomroot leans forward with widened eyes, his hands pressing on the table in front of him.

"Oh, I had quite the same reaction at first." Nalina chuckles before drinking from her mug, enjoying the comforts of the private room in the Fiver's Lounge. "But, crazy as it is, I think she's actually sold me on the damn idea."

"A sword..." Paladin Daylinta shakes her head in confusion. "Would somebody be able to just walk off with you? Take you out of the dungeon, I mean. You wouldn't exactly be nailed down like that door out front."

The undead dwarf shakes her head. "Apparently nay. Well, the sword could leave, but my soul's bound to the dungeon. If it goes, I get yanked out and back here. As for that trick about sending monsters outside the dungeon, well, apparently that only works for floor guardians. And y'can't be a floor guardian and an enchanted sword at the same time, seems like."

"But...I don't..." The normally fluent Glory Silverbloom had been stumbling over his words ever since Nalina had informed them of the dungeon's proposal, and it's only with great effort that the elf can produce a coherent sentence. "But why? What can you do as a sword that you couldn't better do as someone wielding a sword?"

Nalina takes another drink. "Seems that Xen...the dungeon master...is of the opinion that this is all going to come down to a fight of a few high-tier folks against the Domain's specialists. Maybe even the Dragonlord themselves, though she wouldn't say it. That all this...siege and slaughter's been nothing more than prelude."

Red Daylinta nods along. "Depressing, but likely true. With an entire war going on, the Domain can't afford to keep taking losses like they did on Floor Two and Four. They'll need to bring in people who can blow past the average dungeon defense."

"Aye, and the dungeon wishes to give her 'A-team', as she called it, the best shot she can. And apparently, that includes a talkative sword. With the tight confines of a dungeon, a battle with a lot of folks might not be in the cards."

Her three teammates share a look, and come to an unspoken agreement. Taking a breath, Daylinta voices it for the room. "While my focus and training is on warhammers and the like, I am the best suited here to wield a blade. As...unusual as it may be, I would be honored to carry you into battle, Lady Evervein."

The lady doesn't answer at first, save with a thin-lipped smile. "...I appreciate that, Lady Daylinta. But the dungeon's got someone else in mind for the job. Someone who's got experience with a talking sword, strange as that may be."

Glory gives her a disbelieving look. "What? Who?"

"Well, you remember that toasty-looking monster slayer who's been training up the Challengers lately? Seems she's got an interesting resume..."

---

"This...feels weird. It feels wrong."

"You feel weird!? I'm the one turned into a bloody hunk of metal! What's your issue with this?"

Beatrice looks down at the dragon-slaying blade in her hand, then up at Xenia's ghostly form - visible thanks to her enchanted helmet. "Xenia...I never wanted to talk about this much before, because I thought it would...I don't know, be depressing? Unhelpful? But I always thought it was a terrible fate that you were trapped in that blade for seven years." The warrior swallows before continuing. "After you were destroyed, a part of me felt relief for you. That'd you be moving on to something better."

"And now I'm a rock!" Xenia cackles for a brief moment before growing more serious. "But no, you're right, it had its issues for sure. I spent a lot of time wishing for even just one hand...but it wasn't as bad as you might be thinking, either." Proving her point, Xenia calls out to the sword in Beatrice's grip. "Nalina. Would you say that you're, I dunno, going stir-crazy with the inability to move? Feeling, oh, claustrophobic, maybe, getting stuck in such a small package?"

The sword is silent for a bit before answering. "...Honestly, not as much as I would have expected? You know, I've heard stories of folks who've lost limbs in battle before. They talk about how they can still feel like they've got arms and legs, and that they keep tryin' to use em even after they've been gone for years. I thought that'd kind of be how it goes, aye? But...I ain't feeling like I've lost my limbs or anything of that sort. I'm just...this is me, aye? It's a weird one, no denyin' it."

Xenia gives her an understanding nod. "Won't sugarcoat it, if I'd had a human brain stuffed inside a sword for seven years, I probably would've gone completely insane. Hell, seven hours might'a done the trick. But instead, all I got was a few minor...frustrations." The reincarnator clears her throat. "It's like it is with my floor guardians, though. The dungeon adapts a person for their shape, and all that shit. I mean look at Doorman, he's been a piece of wood for a coupla years now and he's got a better attitude than most of the rest of us."

"I...suppose I can understand that." Beatrice swings Nalina around a bit, feeling uncomfortable with just how easily the motions come to her. "There's more to it than that, though. It wasn't just that I had a talking sword, you know. It was that I had you. We were a team! We slew monsters for years together. Lady Evervein and I have barely spoken before today - you're not that easily replaced, Xen."

Nalina speaks up before Xenia can respond. "I'm still curious as all the hells as to how a dungeon spent seven years as a sword, you know."

"We'll get to that...maybe, probably. It's sensitive info." Xenia takes a breath before continuing. "But hey, I respect that, and I appreciate it, Beat. Despite it all, I liked working with you too. But Nalina's no novice, she's a Supreme-tier combatant herself. And the Dragonlord ain't knocking on our door tomorrow...probably. Unless now they're gonna just because I said that. You got time to train is what I'm saying. Also, Nalina's got something I didn't have."

The sword speaks up in a curious tone. "Oh? And what might that be?"

"You didn't think I'd be sticking you in that sword twenty-four-seven didja? A False Mortal body is cheap as shit - you get to have all the evenings and weekends off from being a sword that you want. And free booze!"

"...Well, at least the position comes with a few perks, then."

Beatrice chuckles at the former dwarf's answer. "In that case, how about you and I get a drink later tonight? A warrior needs to know her weapon, after all..."