The Slime Dungeon: Book 1 (The Slime Dungeon Chronicles) (11 page)

Chapter 14

"Are you ready Claire?"

"I think so Doc," she said timidly.

"Are you sure? I don't want to force you to do this."

She gave him a kind, but determined look, "Doc, you have to do this. Make yourself into a man!"

Doc gave her a droll look, "I'm not human you know."

"Idiot! You're male so act like it! Come on, I'm a big girl!" Emotions rising, Doc nodded, "Fine, you asked for it. Today, I become a man and you a woman!" Claire swooned, "Oh my, what a declaration!"

"Take it Claire, take it all!"

"Oh, oh, OH DOC!"

"CLAIRE!"

***

The two relaxed in Claire's bedroom, Doc inhabiting her slime bed. Claire smiled and rolled over on him, rubbing his ‘back’ affectionately. "Doc, that was the best I've ever seen."

"You think so? I've never tried it before, so I wasn't sure I'd be any good."

She scoffed and giggled, "No problem there, you were great!"

"Thank you so much for helping me install that shelf in my wall."

Doc flexed his slime tentacle in an effort to copy a human habit he had observed. "I wasn't positive I could control this body properly and was really scared I'd break it. I'm happy it worked out."

"Me too.” The two smiled happily at the new wood shelf in the bedroom. Claire had used her magic to form the shelf from scraps of torch, but had needed Doc's strength to put it in the wall. Sure he could have adsorbed the wall and placed it himself as a dungeon, but Claire didn't want his influence in her home. Not that she minded his presence, but she wanted everything to be done without magic in her house.

Doc didn't quite understand, but he did relish the challenge of delicate work. The shelf was rather fragile, being composed of various wood fragments stuck together, and his tentacle had not been intended for usage beyond whipping and sticking.

"I'm proud to say that you've mastered an important part of having a dungeon boss,” Claire declared, "Fine control over your body. Being able to control the lesser abilities of your body will assist you in future battles."

"I don't see it,” Doc declared flatly, “Shouldn’t combat be about overpowering your enemy?"

Claire waved her hand as she rolled onto her back, "For basic combat, yes, but the stronger the enemies you face, the more you'll find agility, reflexes, and experience; that will serve you better than raw strength like, for instance, being able to control more tentacles."

Doc perked up in interest, "So the better I control my body, the more things I can do with it?"

"Yup, that is it exactly right!"  Claire giggled and rolled around on his "back." "Slimes don't really need lots of control because they lack a lot of the equipment other monsters and sentient beings have, like fingers, for instance.” She wiggled her fingers and rubbed the bed.

"Fingers... I want them.” Doc declared. He moved away and entered the overslime. Wiggling out a tentacle, he focused on it with the utmost concentration. A tiny slime tentacle popped out the end, and then another one appeared, and then another. He ended up with five tiny slime tentacles at the end of his regular tentacle.

"Now, let’s see what I can do.” He tried to move the tentacles, but only managed to wiggle them in waves. Frustrated, Doc tired again, and the tentacles stuck together. He growled mentally as he waved it around in frustration, but only managed to sink the tentacle back into his arm.

Claire watched amusedly from her perch as he struggled for a while to make fingers. "Are you having fun yet?"  She asked him after he calmed down.

"I can't make them work like yours,” he complained, eyeing the stubborn tentacle, "I can't make them separate and move by themselves."

Claire shrugged and floated down to his head, "You can't expect to know what you don't know,” she said sagely, "My mommy used to tell me that when I asked her complicated things, like baby making. You've never had fingers, so how should you know how they work?"

"Oh,” Doc said sadly, "That's disappointing."

Claire patted him, "Don't worry Doc, I'm sure you'll figure out fingers someday. After all, there are many rumors in the world about highly dangerous monsters, which include tales of human-shaped slimes.

Doc stared at her, "What’s significant about that? If I wanted to, I could have a slime take the form of a human. It may take a while and prevent it from moving around, but it would be doable."

Claire started, "Well, that is true I guess, but why do something wasteful like that? Anyway, I guess I need to tell you the tales in full for you to understand.” She flew up to her perch and sat down, clearing her throat."

"As you know already, adventurers of all races rate themselves on their system of strength from rank E to rank A. There are three ranks above A and they are not commonly used for adventurers; these are rank S, rank SS, and rank SSS. There are a limited number of S-ranked adventurers, but I have never heard of any above that level. Those ranks exist because this classification system is also used for monsters, slimes included. The slimes that take human form are said to be SS rank monsters, some of the most dangerous in existence. They are immune to physical damage, have the ability to split, and are very intelligent, which is nearly on par with normal adventurers. Slimes, even the low ranking ones, are always dangerous because of their abilities, but lack a clear advantage because of their lack of brain or ability to plan. You can see what I am getting at here."

Doc flip-flopped up and down in excitement, "That is amazing! That means that slimes are a worthy existence in this world, up there with the top monsters right?"

"Nope."

"Eh?"

Claire shrugged her hands, "As I said, it's a legend. In other words, no one knows the truth and the rumors can’t be verified. If there are slimes like that out there, they do a wonderful job hiding themselves from the rest of the world. If they do exist, then they are very far down the evolutionary path we are currently on. My advice is to wait and see."

"That’s disappointing to hear,” Doc lamented, “Is there anything else you can tell about them that’s vaguely known?"

Claire nodded, "If they are immune to physical damage, then that means they lack a core. Gelatinous slimes share that ability, so perhaps it exists further down that particular path. Also, their form ability would be related to the lesser mimic slimes, presenting another possible path."

"Don't slimes need cores to exist?"

Claire waved her hand, "Most slimes have some sort of core, but some do not need it. As I just said, the gelatinous slime I told you about doesn't have a core, which is why it's immune to anything physical. The core is the center of the slime and thus is responsible for controlling the mucous slime around it. Without it, the slime dissolves and no longer lives. Gelatinous slimes and their relatives actually dissolve their core within their own bodies, pulling apart every inch of their body to remove that weakness. They are the only monster known to have that ability.”

"Other monsters have cores in them?"  Doc was very surprised.

Claire snorted, "I'm sorry, that's a half truth. Monsters have a part inside them that is involved in the use and storage of mana. When killed, it can be removed and used by certain people. Those are normally referred to as magic hearts or ‘cores’."

"So monsters have cores/magic hearts," Doc mused, "and the sentient races don't have cores because they conduct magic naturally?"

"Something like that," Claire agreed, "Mommy wasn't quite sure how to explain it either. Something to do with a "fun-da-me-nal" thingy that makes races, races, and monsters, monsters."

"You keep saying you mother taught you things, but didn't the dungeon teach you anything?"  He asked curiously.

"Nope, the dungeon tried to eat me,” Claire declared nonchalantly.

"WHAT!"  Doc shouted in shock.

"Well, what did you expect?"  Claire asked confusedly, "Dungeons aren't born smart; they are born of instinct. The only thing they don't try to eat is their bonded Dungeon Pixie, and that's because of the magic linking the two together. Everything else within a dungeon is fair game, except in the Dungeon Pixie's home."

"Oh, is that why you don't want me in your part of the dungeon?" Doc realized.

Claire nodded, "Yup, that's the reason, indeed. I know you wouldn't eat my children, but I have to teach them eventually."

Doc digested this information, "So, your dungeon really tried to eat you."

"I was smaller and I wanted to explore the dungeon. A scary zombie tried to bite me, but mommy saved me by distracting it.” Claire frowned, "But, I don't…remember it very well for some reason."

"You know Claire; everything you've said about dungeons so far has led me to believe they were all like me,” Doc said slowly, "But now you're saying other dungeons are dangerous places because they can devour everything."

Claire's frown grew as she began to rub her head, "My head hurts."

"Why did you lie to me Claire, or did you not realize what you were doing?" Doc sensed her growing confusion and stress.

Claire grimaced, stood up, and began pacing. "Mommy saved me, but I wasn't in danger. Dungeons aren't dangerous, dungeons are friends. Scary zombies are scary… really scary.” She began to vibrate, her tiny form shaking on the pedestal.

Doc began to grow more concerned, "Claire, what's wrong?"

She began muttering to herself, and Doc recognized the feeling. It was similar to an earlier one when he had a better idea than her. Whatever the matter, it was inside Claire’s head and he was helpless to assist her.

As she paced, her foot slipped off the edge and, with a cry, fell off the pedestal. Doc waited a second, than shot forward when her wings didn't work to catch her. His tentacle caught her before she hit the floor, and he brought her to him. The little pixie was crying and gasping as she twitched in his tentacle. Not knowing what else to do, he brought her to his body and hugged her.

"It's okay Claire, I'm here. Don't fear anything anymore, alright?"  Overcome with a feeling, he began singing to her. The noise began in his heart, and flowed out through the bond to her. It flowed into his body as each one of the slimes began to vibrate in the dungeon. The adventurers watched in wonder as the slimes paused and began vibrating in song. The music flowed through the dungeon:

Sleep little child, never cry again

Lonely nights are gone, happiness awaits.

Moonlight calls down, sinking peacefully

Stars call your name, and the sun sleeps with you too.

Express what is known,

Relive what's yet to come

Believe in what is shown

For life is not only for some

Life is the wind, the ocean, and storm

As solid as the earth and moon.

Black as night, pure as white,

The opposite of death's embrace

Claire calmed down as Doc finished singing, eyeing him through tears as she hugged him with all her might. "I'm sorry Doc, I'm really, really sorry.” She sobbed.

Doc patted her gently with his tentacle (it did come in handy after all). "It's okay little Claire, but tell me why you are so sorry."

She sniffed, "Mommy put a memory spell on me after I was attacked. She was scared the fear would eat me up forever, so she cast the spell to make me forget until I bonded with a dungeon. It wasn't a zombie that attacked me; it was the dungeon boss itself. A tall, dark skeletal knight that oozed miasma and death. I'd lived in the home my whole life, and had never been scared like that before. The spell messed up, but it wasn’t apparent until I bonded with you. Since you were already sentient, it started to cover more memories than it was supposed to. Its original intention was to keep me happy and eager to bond with a dungeon. I'm sorry I messed up; I’m really, really sorry.” Her lips trembled as she hugged the gelatinous mass.

Doc eyed the little pixie and felt for her. He hugged her childish self to him and said, "I forgive you, alright? It wasn't your fault little one, so no harm. After all, I’m so much bigger than you; it’s my responsibility to take care of you."

She giggled amidst her sobs, "Silly, I'm the same size as you!"

He chuckled, "I doubled in size remember? Now I'm bigger than you."

"Stupid.” She beat her fist against him, "Stupid Doc’s not bigger than me.” She eyed him angrily and before his eyes grew an inch, doubling her previous size. She grinned, then resumed her hug.

"Silly dummy Doc, we're always the same, forever and ever."

Chapter 15

Mary scratched her head as she gathered the reports together on her desk. Thanks to the success of farming the dungeon, the previous ‘tent city’ had finally blossomed into a proper town on the edge of the forest. It was still mostly populated by humans, and many supplies had to be shipped in from Duran, but proper buildings and a wooden palisade had been built. The Adventurer Guild Branch office also experienced a change as the building had been completed and Mary had moved into her new personal office on the second floor. The magic torches flickered overhead, casting a low light in the room as the sun was setting through the window behind her. Sighing, she read the summary reports on the dungeon in front of her.

Account #25

Dungeon confirmed as being of difficulty rank E with magic required.

Boss confirmed as Overslime variant magic attribute.

Account #135

Dungeon complexity increased as of day 75 in the year 2032.

Confirmed the presence of multiple realities within the dungeon.

Confirmed new evolutionary slimes within the dungeon.

Account #141

Unusual situation occurred within the dungeon.

Multiple adventurers in different realities within the dungeon reported phenomena.

Locals have taken to calling the event the ‘Choir of the Slimes.’

Slimes reportedly stopped attacking and began emitting musical tones with their bodies.

Slimes did not defend or attack during the event and were easily claimed by all adventurers.

Reasons for the event remain unknown.

Mary rubbed her head as she placed the summaries on top of the official reports. She regretted her previous views about been banished here, as she now was one of the most important people in Duran with her influence in the dungeon town. Privately, she had come to accept the boring assignment and thought the job would allow her more freedom to train and entertain herself, but now the dungeon seemed to have something new to report on every day. Not only had three new species appeared within it, but the last adventurer team to beat the endboss had returned with Moonglow of all things.

"And now the dungeon sings.” She chuckled as she stacked the papers together, "Will wonders ever cease?"

A knock at her door broke her train of thought. "Enter," she called out.

Fiora the Fearless entered the office, her long hair tied in braids down her back. The adventurer had once been a part of Mary's group back before she retired, and the two had kept up the friendship even after Mary became an administrator. Mary was well versed with the reasons for Fiora's title, and could smile ruefully as she took in the sight of the woman before her.

"For the gods’ sake,” she shook her head, "Do you even try to protect yourself?" Fiora had an arm in a sling and numerous small bandages around her body. Fiora smiled ruefully at her and shrugged.

"You should know better than to ask that. Who was it that beat me till I was black and blue in sparring and yelled at me to use my shield?"  The two shared a laugh of nostalgia, thinking back to when the fearless leader had been a fearless, obstinate teenager.

Fiora gestured toward her arm, "The overslime had a few new tricks this time. It picked me up with a tentacle and threw me into the wall. Nothing a little grog and healer can’t fix."

Mary groaned and clutched her head with both hands. "Not again," she muttered as she began writing on a new sheet of parchment, "Now I have to rewrite the report to include that. You have your report on its new abilities?"

Fiora nodded and took a sheet of paper out of her sling. As she handed the report over she asked, "Why don't you use your elvish magic to write it? I cringe just imagining doing your job."

Mary gave her a droll stare, "Not all of us get headaches after only a few hours of reading and writing. Besides, you know that there is no ‘elvish spell for writing’,” Mary air-quoted with her fingers, “Especially since elves prefer to remember through words rather than literature; besides, no reason to show off my mixed blood any more than I have to.”

She sighed and waved vaguely at the wall, “It was bad enough they tricked me into coming out here; now some of the other administrators are pressuring the guild master to replace me with someone less… I don't need anyone giving me contempt for ‘elf favoring’."

Fiora sighed and leaned back into her chair, "You know the guild master would never exile you, and he would never have you replaced after everyone gave such ‘heartfelt’ approval for it. Those leeches are merely green with envy at your good fortune and won’t be able to get anything but scraps from this. Besides, everyone in town loves you and would never think anything bad of you."

Mary snorted, "The key word you missed in that sentence was ‘most.’ You know Koran and the group he's part of loathe mixed bloods and sympathizers. The little bastard is still trying to get into my robes, you know."

"Typical hypocrite behavior; willing to set aside for pleasure, but not for love," Fiora waved her hand, "On a more relevant topic, here is the Moonglow we collected from the dungeon boss.” She took out the herb and placed it on the desk. The Moonglow was a white flower that closed into a long dipper form in the daylight. It could be used like this, but its beauty only appeared during the full moon. Right now, it would be impossible to differentiate it from a regular droop herb, which was very common in the area.

"I still can't believe Moonglow actually bloomed in the dungeon." Mary couldn't hold back her wonder as she inspected the plant, "When news of this spreads, medicine makers will flock to the area to buy as much as they can."

"I wouldn't hold my breath on that," Fiora spoke up, "The fight was harder this time, and there wasn't that much Moonglow there. We took a single plant, but only the flower itself is needed for potion making. If adventurers run to their death dying against the boss, even if they survived I doubt a single flower would earn them much."

Mary waved her hand, "A single flower can be used to make at least five potions if properly handled. Since you brought back the whole plant, I'm sure someone will be willing to pay well for this little wonder. We’ll limit requests to only acquiring the flowers so the dungeon can regrow them. Anyway, what kinds of requests are being posted on The Board?"

The Board was the large wall where anyone could post requests for the guild members after leaving some type of reward at the guild. Adventurers would take the request they wanted, and would turn the notice in with the proof they had for completing the quest. The receptionist would then give the adventurers the reward for the job. Mary had been stuck writing reports for the past few days, and had been unable to check on it herself.

Fiora tapped her chin in thought, "Well, the requests haven’t changed too much since you last saw them. Collecting quests are one of the highest still; lots of workers are asking for copper from the mine. A few want herbs from the dungeon boss room, but the reward really isn't enticing enough to attract many of us. Now that I think about it, there are a few new subjugation quests that have appeared."

Mary raised an eyebrow.

"Some wolves have begun to appear from the forest,” Fiora explained, "They have been stealing some of the livestock brought in from the city. They have become a large enough nuisance that a reward was offered for their pelts. There's also a rumor going around that a demon was spotted during the full moon, but nothing has been confirmed as of now. Lastly, one of the old fossils from the wizard council offered a reward for an intact slime."

Mary and Fiora looked at each other, and burst out laughing. Mary snorted and giggled as she collected herself, "Oh, I love the wizard council! They come up with the most ridiculous requests and outrageous rewards. What did they offer this time?"

Fiora laughed, "They offered to perform a familiar contract for free with the slime, with the added bonus of being an untested experiment. They also offered 50 gold pieces."

Mary whistled, "Sounds like they really want this to happen. Fifty gold pieces could feed a poor family for life, or buy some top grade armor or weapons."

Within the magic community, there were several different councils and circles of magic. It was essentially a gathering of prideful casters who grouped together in an effort to display some form of authority. Besides the wizard council, there was also the circle of mages, the witch division, the technomancer court, the summoning council, and a few others. The groups were not limited to one nation or city, and many had small "guild" houses in every major population area. The wizard council was best known for their daring and insane magical experiments. Apparently, this time they wanted a slime removed from the dungeon intact for a pet binding. As dungeon monsters quickly evaporated outside the dungeon, this made it an impossible job already; not counting the low likelihood of success the actual ritual had.

"Well, thank you for your assistance Fiora.” Mary smiled at her, "Your reward is downstairs with the ladies behind the desk. I'll let you know if anything else pops up."

Fiora got up and saluted with her good hand, "No problem Stormy,” she winked at Mary, "I'm off to the local temple to get healed, and then I'm thinking of going into the dungeon again. I haven't had this much fun in a while."

As she shut the door behind her, Mary couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Adventurers, the whole lot of them are insane." She smiled, returning to her reports, “I really miss that life.”

***

"Claire, how are you feeling?" Doc asked the little pixie. Claire had recovered from the backlash of the magic, but it had left her weak and house-bound. The pixie smiled at Doc's voice.

"I'm doing much better, thank you Doc. How was the boss fight?"

"I almost got them this time," he said with a hint of pride, "I even managed to injure that crazy sword lady, but that annoying archer shot me too many times. I managed to figure out how to move my body to dodge sword attacks, but magic and arrows are still my nemesis."

Claire giggled at him, "It's amazing how even in defeat you find the bright sides of things. Besides, magic and arrows can’t be your nemesis; only people can be your nemesis."

Doc mentally shrugged, "It would be boring if there wasn't any challenge, and I can have any nemesis I want. Besides, I have fun against that group and look forward to their return." That particular adventurer team had come in a few times, but only made it to the boss room twice. They hadn't been within when he had sung, but Doc had picked up on their conversations about it. He thought it was funny everyone kept talking about it.

Claire dragged herself up into a sitting position, "As long as you're having fun, I guess that's okay. I still don't like hearing that you lost though." She frowned, "It's a matter of pride you know; my dungeon has to be the strongest."

Doc chuckled, "Whatever you say dear. Just lie back down and let me take care of you."

Claire blushed and covered herself with her blanket. He heard a muffled sound of embarrassment, but chose to ignore it. "Are your memories starting to come together?"

"They seem to be fixed for the most part," she said from under the blanket, "The main things I’m starting to see are differences in my lessons about dungeons. The memories affected were my perceptions of dungeons and the memories associated with them, like how dungeons differ by personality or environment. I can give you a little more knowledge now about other dungeons."

"I'm curious and listening," Doc announced, "However, please move the blanket down so I can hear you."

"You can hear me just fine in your mind," she complained, but lowered the blanket to reveal red ears, "Anyway; you’re pretty rare for a dungeon. As I said before, an old soul like you doesn't often enter a dungeon heart crystal. In fact, it's one of those "once in a many thousand years" kind of deal. Mommy told me once that her great, great, great, grandfather was bonded to one and that it was a source of great pride for our family."

"Why would that be something to take pride in?"

"Because," Claire explained, "Most dungeons are soulless monsters, and I mean that literally. According to legend, the first dungeons appeared after some great, ancient war. Some say they formed from the blood and magic of their fallen bodies, but I digress. In places of high mana concentration, crystals tend to form within the ground. Sometimes, a formed crystal will from that has the ability to absorb and control mana. This is a mana crystal, and is commonly mined for magical equipment used by the sentient races. A dungeon heart crystal is essentially a variant of a mana crystal because it also has the ability to "corrupt" the area around it."

"So, dungeons are evil things?" Doc was a little sad to hear that.

"No!"  Claire shouted, "I'm sorry you misunderstood. Corrupt is the easiest way of describing it, but essentially the crystal can change the mana within itself and spread it through an area. Anything touched by the mana falls under the control of the crystal. Now, as you have experienced, your race can only grow from magical power. While mana can be taken in from the environment, all crystals have the innate desire to grow as fast as possible. I say "desire" loosely because a dungeon doesn't have sentience until a certain level of power. When it first forms, it's a crystal with a tendency; which is lower than an instinct. As it slowly spreads, a new dungeon will come across small living things. It will pick up that by killing them, it will gain magical power faster. This forms a higher tendency to actively lure living things into its territory. From practice, it will eventually pick up the best baits to attract the best sources of mana."