The Slime Dungeon: Book 1 (The Slime Dungeon Chronicles) (6 page)

Chapter 6

Doc and Claire began to work on replenishing their dungeon after a well-deserved long rest. As it turned out, the human's death had increased Doc's capacity to hold mana; even if it was just a tiny drop in a large well.

Doc felt a sense of trepidation about this discovery. "Does growing stronger really require the deaths of many adventurers? I'm not sure how I feel about that."

Claire sighed, but she smiled up at him. Doc had been mulling over the human's death ever since they woke up. While he accepted that the death had been necessary to prove a point, he was very obvious in his attitude toward killing. It refreshed and relaxed her, because it meant he would never endanger the two of them by killing on purpose.

"In all honesty, you don't have to kill to gain power; killing is one of the many methods that could increase your capacity. The easiest way would be to actively spread your influence everywhere, but that would corrupt the area and spawn dangerous monsters born from your power on the surface. Those types of dungeons are known as Corruption Dungeons, and are the most dangerous of your kind. They are always targeted once found, and rarely survive past their first year. On the other hand, your powers would slowly increase over time without doing anything, but that would be rather boring. Having living things die within your dungeon is a middle ground between being benign and being too dangerous to be allowed to live. Just set up your dungeon traps, and then the fools will die in them. You get power, the adventurers don't have to deal with fools, and everyone wins."

Doc sighed, "Well, okay then, I guess that's the best solution. By the way, is there any way you can change your clothes? They look really uncomfortable on you."

Claire's transformation had completed in their sleep, and she was a pleasantly busty pixie girl now. Unfortunately, her previous outfit had been designed for her previously gender neutral form, and thus was now actively trying to kill her.

Claire looked down and frowned, "I need my house for that, so I guess this is as good a time as any to make it.” She flew up to her pedestal and pointed to Doc, "Now Doc, I'm going to begin making my house, which means I'll be moving some of your inner wall around to make room. No peeking is allowed until I am done, and afterwards you cannot enter without permission. If you do, mommy taught me suitable ways to make you regret your decision. If you have a question, ask away and I'll help you, but don't do anything new without my consent."

Doc rolled his crystal light across the ceiling, "Whatever you say dear."

Blushing with a pout on her face, Claire pointed at the pedestal wall and created a door. She walked over, opened it, stepped through, and closed it behind her. Doc felt her forming a tunnel, but moved his attention back to the dungeon.

He had remade his slimes and brought the total number up to 100. The floors were often times completely covered in little slimes, and one of the pitfall traps had already been accidentally triggered by a mass of slimes. Yes, Doc had decided to call a group of slimes a "mass."

“Claire, can I create new rooms?” He asked her.

“Yup. Within your dungeon, you are in complete control. You cannot shrink or grow the space available to you, but the entire dungeon territory is movable under you power. For instance, you can make stairs and move the rooms above you or below you. Spreading your influence in the ground will increase your territory, and thus the available room you have to work with. However, your heart room and my house will always be together."

“Good to know.” Doc thought to her, “Not that I have considered it before.”

"Meanie.” He got this the subtle feeling that she was sticking her tongue out at him.

Smiling, Doc focused on his dungeon. The three existing rooms were not enough for his taste or protection, and he wanted more. Originally, he had to carve his way through the stone in order to spread his influence and expand his territory. Now, he could actively spread his magic through the earth that existed next to his walls.

Focusing on that, he spent the rest of the day changing the surrounding earth to fulfill his needs. As it turned out, Doc found that he couldn't spread his influence beyond a certain area. His territory projected itself outward in a spherical form, so the area he could use to create his dungeon was about average in height, length, and width. According to Claire, a dungeon could shape its territory into any form as long as the actual area stayed the same.

Once his influence reached its limit, Doc went ahead and began shifting himself around. He moved his room to the bottom of his influence and created an additional floor to separate the entrance. His dungeon was now starting to look like a “real one.”

The first floor held the entrance with the three original rooms, but now the third room held a staircase down to the second floor. It was also a pitfall room with a single path through it where the wrong step would lead to slimes. The second room was still the ambush room, and pitfall traps had been added to the entrance corridor. The second floor held 4 more rooms that were in a counter clockwise rotation that led to his room. The traps were intermingled as well, with a new addition Doc came up with. He created many holes in the ceiling that would be impossible to avoid and had slimes climb into some of them. This would force adventurers to look up, risking a pitfall trap or air ambush.

Satisfied with his work, he moved himself into his boss body to inspect it. He had discovered earlier that he could read information about creatures by using magic to form the blue screen. He already had practiced by observing both the regular slimes and his personal slime.

Slimes are small gelatinous masses capable of devouring anything by absorbing them into their bodies. Lacking in intelligence and wisdom, they rely on their instincts and luck to find prey. Their cores are useful in potions and their bodies can be used to create certain poisons. His slimes had a general magic attribute, meaning it had no strengths or weaknesses when facing other forms of magic. Because the slimes were created in a dungeon, they were all connected to his hive consciousness. Due to their lack of intelligence, they would not understand his orders, but were capable of instinctively understanding what he needed them to do.

His personal slime was a different species altogether. It was an overslime; a slime that had accumulated power to grow to great size in comparison to the normal slimes. It had grown to a height equal to the waist of a grown man, and was much swifter than its smaller brethren, capable of launching its body short distances and forming small tentacles to wrap prey. It also had a general magic attribute and thus no inherent magic weakness or strength. Also, because it was his boss monster, it possessed a much higher agility than a normal overslime.

“I guess that means an overslime is normally a slightly stronger slime, but becoming a dungeon boss raised it to a much more dangerous level,” Doc mused, “I wonder if I'll be able to evolve my slimes soon?"

“Drop that line of reasoning right now.” Doc winced at Claire's sharp tone in his head.

“I was wondering where you were Claire; I guess that means your house is done?”

“It is, but don't change the subject. Evolving your monster requires a lot more experience and power than you currently have, so give up on it for now,” she cautioned. “Instead, let's check each other's work.”

She opened her door and flew out into the dungeon. In turn, Doc moved his awareness into her house to see what she had done. Doc had never seen a "house" before, but he assumed she meant living quarters and wasn't surprised by what he saw.

Claire had formed tiny rooms for herself in the back wall. It was complete with a room for sleep, a room to sit, and a room where he assumed she ate food. He had never seen her eat food besides mana, but that didn't mean she couldn't. He also took the responsibility to fully appreciate her new outfit.

She now wore a tiny purple dress with a graceful neckline and a longer petal skirt complete with purple stone earrings. Her dress was covered in silver lines that swirled up and down her body. Her luscious brown hair flowed down her back in waves and sparkled with purple stone ornaments.

"I like your outfit, but what's with all the purple?"  He asked.

He heard her giggle as she flew through the tunnels, "It's because you're purple, you goof! Your stone was all I had to work with. Does it suit me?"  He sensed her focus on his response.

"Well, I can't compare since you're the only female I know, but I'd say you look fine."

Somehow, he sensed a bit of disappointment from her, but it was quickly lost in her excitement. "Wow, Doc! You really did a great job! I love the new ceiling traps and this floor path!"

"Glad you like it.” He smiled, "Is there anything else I can do?"

"Not really, sadly enough. You've done everything you could with the power you have, so now it's time for the waiting game; which is the worst part of being a dungeon."

Doc sighed, "Can I spend it sleeping?"

"Not all of it, but go ahead and sleep now. I'm going to go get some things for my house,” Claire added.

Doc was instantly alert, "Do you mean outside? Isn't that dangerous for you? I can't help you if anything goes wrong out there."

He sensed her dismissal, "Don't worry about it. I just want some leaves. I'll be right back, okay?"  She flew out the dungeon entrance before he could stop her. Fretting, Doc moved all his awareness to his entrance and watched her small form enter the forest. He didn't feel safe until she returned with a bundle of plants in her arms.

"Please don't do that again Claire, what if someone caught you?"  He begged her.

"I understand your worry Doc, but I wanted to get some plants before it became impossible to leave. Here, why don't you use this plant I got for you?"  She took the plant, complete with roots and leaves, and sat it on the floor. Doc eyed the tiny sprout.

"What is it?"

"That is an herb plant, I think. Since your slimes are good for potions, I figured growing this plant inside you will increase your reputation as a dungeon where a lot of healing components can be found."

Doc was skeptical, "I thought I couldn't control living things."

Claire nodded, "You are correct, but plants are a unique addition to a dungeons. When in a dungeon, plants gain the ability to feed off the mana that permeates your walls instead of the sun. They also spread quickly so long as the surface they grow on holds your mana. You can remove your mana from parts of your surfaces as well, which will limit the growth of the plants if you so choose. Your slimes can feed on them as well, so feel free to experiment with them for a natural evolution."

"What is a natural evolution?"

"Sorry, I forgot you don't know about that yet. Natural evolution occurs in nature, when a monster satisfies certain criteria to evolve on their own into a stronger monster. Dungeons can cause evolution to occur by using their mana to compensate for the criteria, but like metals, you can only create what you are familiar with. For instance, you would not be able to create a gelatinous slime because you don’t know what it looks like. On a more important note the stronger the evolution, the more mana it requires. When you force a slime to evolve, the process will continue to completion even if you wish it to stop. If you use too much mana, you will drain yourself to death. Many newborn dungeons have accidentally killed themselves by going too fast from this, so be careful."

"Gotcha! By the way, I think that plant is growing already.” Indeed, the herb had already taken root on his floor and was beginning to grow. Claire clapped her hands in happiness.

"Great, now your room will be covered in beautiful plants in a day or two."

Doc paused a moment, thinking about what she had just said. "Your old home didn't have plants because of the dungeon type right?"

Claire drooped, "Yup, because the zombies rotted everything. Dungeon Pixies spend most of their life underground, but by our nature we love being near plants. Mommy kept some potted plants in her house away from the zombies; plants she had managed to bring in before the zombies were prevalent. I always told myself I'd have plants in my dungeon."

"Your dungeon?"

She giggled, "Our dungeon. Now, don't let the plants spread out of this room. We want to make these plants the dungeon reward for beating the boss. They will also serve to hide your body and my house."

"Yes, dear." Doc playfully answered.

"Stop that." She flatly stated.

Chapter 7

As it turned out, Claire was right about the wait. Doc had never been so bored in his single month of existence. He sighed again as he watched the slimes bump into each other. It had gotten so boring that they had started betting leaves on which slime would be able to get by the overslime and reach the back wall.

"Slime A is heading toward the goal, will he succeed?" He commented monotonously.

Claire glanced over from the overslime’s top, "I'll bet two leaves on failure."

Slime A was heading toward the back wall, but barely grazed the overslime and wobbled away. Claire and Doc sighed together at the sight. "That makes 50 failures to get past the overslime; and I owe you 100 leaves," Doc lamented.

Claire groaned and rolled over, setting a pair of small twigs down she had been using to ‘knit,’ as she called it. "I don't even want any leaves. Can't we bet some of the gold you've been making? How about the silver or copper? I’ll even take iron at this point."

"You know better Claire, that's all for the adventurers when they get here," Doc scolded. Since filling out into his full dungeon territory, Doc had come across a small silver vein and learned its properties. Finding the silver had completed, according to Claire, his list of metals used to create coinage for the adventurers. Doc decided to form copper and silver coins for the astral bag slime drops, but kept the mining area limited to copper.

“[Sigh]… But I want to make some pretty things for my house," she pined, "I want some shiny things!"

Doc chuckled, "Well, let’s see what the adventurers bring in. I'll let you keep some shiny things from them, okay?"

This brightened her up immediately and she flew around the room in happiness, "Yay! Thank you, Doc!"  She blew him some kisses as she bounced on the overslime's head. He rolled his eyes and focused on his slimes.

His slimes were now up to 120, and spread evenly around his dungeon. The pitfalls held six, the skyfalls held three, and the rest of them were moving or hiding as puddles. All in all, a good basic dungeon set-up in his opinion.

The two were startled by a vibration in the earth. "What's that?"  Doc asked excitedly. Claire flew up into her personal path to the peephole at the entrance.

"It's people!"  She cried out happily, "I see a lot of adventurers and wagons. That means they are going to set up a base camp, and send people in to fight us."

The two of them happily watched as horse-pulled wagons and men came towards them carrying materials and equipment. They stopped before the first line of refuse from the explosion and began to set up things.

"Claire, what are they building?" He asked as they watched the men work.

"They are making houses, tents, and a shop," she informed him, "The houses and tents are to sleep in, and the shop is for selling the loot they get from us. Oh! I think I see some blacksmith equipment too; which means they expect some mining and tool repairs will be needed."

"Should I set up the mining areas now?"  Doc asked.

Claire thought a moment, "Why don’t you create a copper vein in the first room. You should replenish the copper when adventurers leave, and I advise you don't focus on that room when they are mining; it'll be very annoying otherwise."

Doc split his attention between growing the copper into veins and watching the men outside. He was fascinated by the humans; they were so interesting. They didn't have magic to make their homes, but they could use their arms and legs to make anything they needed. They were fast too; Doc could see a lot of small tents set up already.

"Do you think the elves will come too?"

"If they do come, it'll be later, after the humans are done. Oh, get ready for the scouts!"  Claire shrieked excitedly. A small party was approaching the entrance; five men in full metal armor and wielding some very shiny swords. Doc could see the glow around the swords that indicated magic.

“Those must be strong adventurers,” Doc thought to himself, “I wonder if they want to take my crystal.” Doc kind of doubted it though, because of all the work the humans were doing to make places to sleep. “No matter, I want to see what they can do.”

The two occupants watched the men enter the dungeon without hesitation; strolling right in with their weapons drawn. Inside, water drops plopped down from the ceiling, forming puddles on the floor. It was a cool effect Doc had designed to hide the slime puddles. The men did not even pause at the sight, and began swinging their swords at every puddle in their path. Doc winced as his slime army disappeared rapidly. "Claire, I think those men have dealt with slimes before."

Claire was following the men from her path and watching them with Doc. "Those look like ranked B adventurers; very strong adventurers who are good at scouting out dungeon; it seems as if they have reached the first room."

The men entered the room after first observing the ceiling and walls. They moved slowly across the floor, testing each step for pitfalls. One of the men paused beside a wall and took out a small tool. He chipped at the wall and inspected it closely. He called over the others, and they grouped together and whispered to each other.

"They aren't whispering Doc; you just can't hear them because you're avoiding the room," Claire retorted, "Anyway, they’re excited to find the copper vein."

The men exited the room, but not before the first man drew out a stick and pointed it down the hall. Instantly, a blue light shot down and illuminated all the pitfall traps in a blue light. Doc felt a little cheated as he watched the men easily avoid his traps. They even avoided the second room ambush by throwing stones into the room. The slimes fell harmlessly to the floor and were easily slain. They repeated the trick on the next corridor and entered the third room.

"This should be new to them, so maybe I can trick one!"  He thought happily to himself. Doc didn't expect a strong man to die, but watching someone fall into a pitfall was funny and entertaining. The adventurers repeated their earlier tactic, spreading out and checking the floor as they slowly moved forward. Unfortunately for them, the pitfalls were a little thicker in this room, and 2 of the men fell into pitfalls after thinking the floor was safe. Claire and Doc laughed as they watched the two men rolling around the slimes and sputtering curses. The slimes were having trouble eating the armor, but had some success slipping inside the cracks. They didn't get too far when the leader blasted both holes with fire and evaporated all the slimes.

"That one must be a warrior mage," Claire observed, "He's currently making fun of the two that fell in.” Indeed, while they helped the men up, they were greeted by laughter and back clapping. The mage adventurer pulled the stick thing out again and illuminated the proper path as they all walked out of the room and down the stairs. The same thing happened for the rest of the dungeon, and now the five men were standing at the front of the boss room.

The herb plants had grown quickly along the walls and ceiling, but were eaten off the floor by the slimes. The effect was a dimly purple illuminated room with plants growing everywhere except the floor with one large slime in the middle of the room.

"Okay, now it's my turn!"  Doc tensed up as he flowed into his slime boss body. He jiggled as the men entered and took stances facing him, eager to experience his first fight. "Attack!"  He cried out in his head, launching himself at the man on the far right.

The men were startled for half a second, not expecting a dungeon boss to make the first move. It was brief, but enough for Doc to almost reach the man. He threw out his tentacles and wrapped them around the waist and sword.

The man began yelling and struggling, but was stuck by the purple tentacles. Doc picked the man up and stuck him on his head, impaling the man up to his waist in slime. He also ate the sword. The captured man struggled lamely on top of Doc's head, trying everything to escape, but couldn't find a solid enough surface to push against.

The other men moved quickly and began their attack. The mage stayed in the back and began firing fireballs at Doc. The other three ran at him and swung their swords. Doc dodged a fireball, then slapped at the swords with his tentacles. He pushed one of the men away as he desperately tried to avoid being sliced by the swords. As the third man recovered, the other slashed high and low at Doc, cutting one of his tentacles off.

Annoyed, Doc prepared another lunge. As he prepared to jump, the man in him cried out a warning. Instantly, the sword wielders dived out of the way as Doc surged forward. He missed, and ended up surrounded by the remaining warriors. A burning pain let him know that the third man had pierced him from behind. As Doc turned his attention, the mage burned him from the front with fireballs.

It was a route after that for the men, with Doc unable to split his attention between the four combatants. With a silent gurgle, he felt his dungeon boss die and dissolve. He moved back to the dungeon and sighed as he watched the overslime dissolve into a slightly bigger core, some silver, and a very embarrassed man. The adventurers were clapping and laughing and doing other forms of congratulations.

"Well, at least they had fun," Doc said with a small smile.

Claire sent him a questioning feeling from across the room, "Why did you not eat the man immediately? He would have given you a nice boost to your power and that armor would have nice too.”

Doc shook his crystal, figuratively, "I wanted them to understand that this dungeon isn't a threat, but I did want them to see I could have killed if I wanted to. Err, speaking of, are they aware of my existence?"

Claire was amused by the question, "Not in the sense that you are an individual. Most adventurers believe a dungeon is a hive mind made up of many monster minds. The idea of a single mind controlling everything is not a common one among the sentient races, though perhaps some of the smarter individuals suspect it."

They watched the men collect the loot and take some of the plants from the walls. "Hey Claire, how do they leave now? Do they walk back the way they came?"

"Watch," she told him.

The adventurers came together and disappeared in a flash of light. Doc was surprised, "Where did they go?"

"For small dungeons like you, adventurers can buy a magic talisman that allows them to leave whenever they are out of battle. When you get bigger, one of your possible powers will allow for areas to be connected by portal or teleporting glyphs. It's one of the cooler things a dungeon can make, like different realities for adventurers to travel through."

Doc didn't feel like asking about what she meant, but instead focused on the adventurers leaving the dungeon in high spirits. "I can't wait for more of them to come," he thought happily.