Conquering His Cold Heart

Several hours after everyone arrived and after Dark stopped moping in the corner, the grand gathering carried on.

Dark returned to the upper level to address his many children as well as their guardians. "Alright, alright settle down we've still got a little more business to take care of before we move on to the next phase." His loud voice reverberated throughout the room drawing everyone's eyes. More than a few still had looks of derision, mocking, pity etc but Dark ignored them as he carried on.

"Though I have agreed to letting your guardians stay by your side if that is their and your wish there will be severe restrictions put in place if you choose to do so." He paused for a moment to highlight the gravity of what he was about to say.

"Before Frost, Indra, Terra, Gobuske and Liana objected to the separation you would have parted ways, simple as that thus allowing you to break free from your containment, spread your wings and become truly independent.

Now however you have a choice, option A you will immediately part from your guardian going down the route I initially planned or option B your guardian will remain by your side but under very different circumstances."

"Now I am aware that this will create an unfair imbalance between the cores who choose to have their guardians remain and those who choose to separate from them thus for those that choose option A I will grant you a one time injection of 100,000DP as well as a B-rank monster that will be fully under your control regardless of your Dungeon's or your personal development." The Dungeon cores who had no desire to keep their guardians by their sides and who had started to develop ill feelings towards the upcoming situation immediately felt relieved.

With an injection of DP and a free high ranking monster the scales evened out somewhat.

"For those who choose option B your guardians will be allowed to remain by your side, but their strength and capabilities will be strictly capped. The restriction that prevented them from interfering in the Dungeon's defence will be rescinded but their strength will be restricted to a sub level below your own i.e.

if you're at the mid stages of B-rank your guardian will only be able to use strength equivalent to entry stage B-rank. This goes for their weapon mastery, chakra quality and their magic, all forms of power will ultimately be restricted. The only way they'll be able to return to their former power is if you are able to reach their former heights.

This effect will continue indefinitely as long as they remain by your side, even when their lives are in jeopardy it will not be lifted."

"In the case that you the Dungeon core perish for whatever reason their lives just like the lives of the monsters you summon with DP will end in that moment.

The lives of your guardians will be bound to your own….This is a big decision and against my initial plans but if you and your guardians truly wish to be with one another you must agree to these terms otherwise I will not sanction it, you will be forced to separate here and now." Dark coldly looked down at his children before addressing the guardians in particular.

"Those who agree to stay with their charges will be putting their lives in their hands, a heavy request but one I must enforce. If for whatever reason you decide to change your minds you will be granted a single opportunity to opt out at the next family gathering in a year's time.

After that you will be forever bound to your decision….Take your time and think about your futures, option B can only be carried out if both parties are willing." With his final piece said Dark took a step back and waved his hand. The moment he did guardian and Dungeon core were isolated together so they could discuss their options.

Dark decided to allot them a maximum of 30 minutes, a generous amount of time given that it was never planned for in the first place. There was so much to get done and so little time to do it in. Keeping his children away from their Dungeons longer than he had to was counterintuitive.

Within the first ten minutes over half the Dungeon cores and their guardians left their temporary isolation. Most opted to split up after hearing how restrictive the new contract would be. Thankfully the Dungeon cores that were rejected by their guardians could spend away their sorrows with the free 100,000DP.

After 20 minutes less than a dozen were still mulling over their options but those leaving at this point usually chose option B.

At the 30 minute mark the remaining few were forcibly ejected from their temporary space and forced to give their answers. Surprisingly Frost and Maya were actually one of the last couples to exit. Now this wasn't because they were getting cold feet after hearing Dark's new restrictions, no they had already made up their minds to stay together no matter what price Dark asked of them.

Staying within the isolation space for the full 30 minutes was just so they could get some alone time to celebrate their victory as well as ease the tension brought on by Dark bringing the thunder.

As they left Frost had some evident kiss marks on his collar and nape while both their clothes were slightly dishevelled. Dark's upper lip couldn't help but twitch up seeing this. He let out a long sigh and shook his head before addressing them all again.

"67 Dungeon cores have chosen option A thus choosing to separate from their guardians and receive an injection of 100,000DP as well as a 100% loyal B-rank monster in leu of that sacrifice." Dark nodded his head in approval, encouraging the choice his children made or were forced to make.

"33 of you have chosen option B, both you and your guardians have agreed to be bound by the new restrictions and forgo the possibility of the DP injection and free B-rank monster." He eyed the remaining third of his children with some mixed feelings.

He appreciated the emotional bond between his children and their guardians but deep down he was still of the opinion that option A would be better for their long term development. What made this more annoying was that the majority of those who chose to stay with their guardians were the upper ranked cores, the ones doing fairly well on the accumulative DP rankings.

He wondered if the allure of 100,000DP and a B-rank monster wasn't attractive enough to them given their success but that was the offer he made, it was too late to take it back. He lightly sighed before waving his hand.

"The 67 guardians who have chosen to leave please exit through the portal on my right. I will come and see each of you later to hand over your rewards and alter the magic contract I placed on you."

"Yes your eminence."

"By your will great God of creation."

"If the Dark God wills."

"Understood Dark God-sama," Multiple forms of respectful replies and bowing erupted from the 67 guardians before they made their way through the large portal. Each of them sported wide smiles as they thought about the lavish rewards Dark promised them over a year ago. Even for beings like them who were pretty much above all, but the Gods showed greed in their expressions.

The grand ball room was a little less crowded with the 67 departures, but it only amplified the festivities as those remaining truly wished to be here.

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"For the guardians who have chosen to remain I'll rewrite your soul contracts as the gathering transpires." For someone as powerful and skilled as himself rewriting a few soul contracts was easy as 1 2 3. He could even do it while talking with his children.

The remaining guardians all bowed their heads to Dark before facing their charges now partners with satisfied smiles. Their bonds were sure to become even closer over the next year.

"Alright let's get back to the actual schedule then shall we." Dark loudly announced with a spring in his step.

" First off I'd like all of us to have a meal together and exchange life stories, I want to hear all about how you've been living, what you've done, where you've gone, who you've met and what you enjoy doing beside developing your Dungeon." Dark craved these details, it was what gave his life meaning now, to hear about the lives of his children.

"After that I want have a short Dungeon war exhibition as well as a few duels, with prizes for the participants and gambling for the observers. Then we'll get into what you've all likely been either looking forward to or dreading, the DP rankings. Depending on how well you performed and how much better you did compared to eleven months ago a varied list of rewards will be made available to you.

For those who didn't do so well and or greatly declined in their rankings they will be given a forfeit challenge. Completing one will allow to you avoid penalties and possibly even unique rewards so don't worry too much about ranking lower on the board."

"And to finish we'll have a large group discussion about Dungeon development.

We'll share ideas, bring up the pros and cons of the current system and come up with inventive solutions to make your Dungeons that much more interesting…..by the way I'm really looking forward to the group discussion after overhearing some of your earlier conversations hehehehe." The Dungeon cores provided excellent feedback during the last family gathering so he expected them to do the same this time possibly even better.