Dungeon Wars

by Jeffrey Logue

  Rowen, facing the words that filled his every waking moment, the things he’d long left unsaid and buried within him, caused him to break down. Amazingly, he cried, forming tears of slime that slid down his body in two trails. The young boy, having properly lived only eleven years, had his soul laid bare by a beast.

  Aisha said nothing, instead waiting as the young slime finished his weeping into small, broken sobs.

  “You misunderstand me, and you,” she said, with a soft kindness. “Regrets, you have none. Your bloodline continues through your missing sister, is feeling. Not task to be placed on one so young. Revenge the same. Your enemy has long since died, replaced by innocents of that sin. Wanting to do more, is that not what you are doing now, even if poor job is doing? And living with new family, perhaps meet again one day. Big world, magic world with teleporting. Maybe see again, but only if you alive.”

  Rowen started.

  “Forgot, didn’t you?” Aisha smirked. “Doc is dungeon. When get stronger, we leave forest, explore world. Human girl aware of Doc, aware of us. Ally, yes? Work hard, and then find her again. World is full of possibility and mystery. Do not fret, little brother. You’re only person with big dreams.”

  Rowen wiped away the remains of the slimy tears and gazed up at the worg. He reached up and pat Aisha on the head with a tentacle. Aisha wagged her tail happily.

  “Thank you,” he said, finally.

  “No problem, little brother. We are pack family,” she answered. “Now, I teach you fight like slime.”

  Rowen crossed his tentacles in a very human gesture of disbelief. “How are you supposed to teach me about being a slime again?”

  Aisha flashed a toothy grin at him. Without warning, four furry tentacles shot out of her back and smashed into the trees around them. The trees fell with a groan, creating a small clearing in the dungeon forest. As Rowen looked on in severe shock, Aisha’s leg turned into a tentacle and patted him on the head, though it appeared she was exerting some effort as to not fall.

  “Now you listen, yes? I shall show you to fight without thought and with wisdom. Now, do what I do.”

  *

  Anadine waited until Aisha and Rowen were gone before turning her attention back to Ayla. The worg stared back, as blank as the cavern walls around them.

  “So, what now?” Anadine asked.

  Ayla snorted. “Seeking answers, are we? Do you even know the right questions to ask?”

  Anadine shrugged. “You’re the wisdom guru now, I assume, after living in four heads at once. Is there a lesson here to be learned, or perhaps you can help me with my problems?”

  The worg raised a paw and scratched her ear. “Lessons are learned every day, and everyone has problems. What good will it do to give you answers if you can’t figure them out on your own?”

  “Then what are we doing here?” Anadine asked, slightly confused.

  “You’re here to get across the floor. I’m just here,” Ayla said, scratching her other ear.

  “Um, well then, goodbye,” Anadine murmured. She turned and moved to leave the room.

  With a whoosh, Ayla appeared in front of the exit. She sat and stared over Anadine at the wall. The slime, pausing only for a moment, moved to get around the worg. However, Ayla got in her way again and continued to block Anadine’s path out of the room.

  “What are you doing?” Anadine asked, crossly this time.

  “Sitting,” Ayla answered sarcastically. “Oh sorry, I suppose a slime wouldn’t understand such a thing. The joy of sitting can only be appreciated through the relaxation of muscles, after all.”

  Anadine snorted, before moving over to the wall of the room. She climbed up to the ceiling and attempted to leave over Ayla’s head. With a bang, a paw slammed into her, sending her barreling back into the room. Anadine shot an angry glare—or the slime equivalent—towards Ayla, who had a teasing grin on her face.

  “Why are you blocking me?” the slime asked.

  “Am I? I’m just sitting here, though,” Ayla chuckled. “Perhaps it is you getting in my way.”

  Anadine tapped the ground in annoyance.

  “This is a game, then?” she asked questioningly. “Or perhaps a riddle? Maybe a life lesson?”

  “Or maybe I’m just standing in your way,” Ayla said. “Overthinking. You’re good at it now. Not that it’s a good thing for a simple creature like yourself to get caught up in.”

  “Fine, then I’ll move you!” Anadine yelled, and she charged forward with her hardened slime tentacles. Ayla’s form blurred, but this time Anadine was prepared and blocked her paw swipe. The worg sister barked as she circled the slime, removing any pretense of her previously obstinate posture as she began attacking any opening she could find. Anadine blocked, counter-attacked, and dodged as she slowly moved forward toward the exit.

  “The strength you gained from your memories is training,” Ayla lectured as she continued her rapid, circling assault. “Battle instincts hammered into you, so your body will react to threats effectively. Your new weakness, however, is the belief in limits created from the memories. For instance—”

  The worg suddenly vanished and reappeared in Anadine’s sight as four different individuals. The slime could only block three before being knocked backwards. The three attacks, however, had lacked substance.

  “You are used to eyes to see your opponents, only using your other senses to fill in the gap where you cannot see,” Ayla continued. “You no longer have sight. Rather, it is your hearing, touch, and smell that have worked together to form a false sight for you, and your brother.”

  “So, this is teaching moment,” Anadine grumbled.

  The worg licked her chops but made no indication of agreement.

  “I don’t believe you are in any position to be teaching me anything,” Anadine observed.

  “Because your human memories are so much more reliable?” Ayla snorted. “Face it, little sister, you are a monster, and a monster shall teach you to fight. Or would you rather die?”

  “Death didn’t stop me the first time,” Anadine said, hardening her resolve. “Fear of death won’t control me now.”

  The worg stopped to consider the little blue slime.

  “That’s right, you’ve never been one to hesitate in this life or the previous one,” she acknowledged reluctantly. “That part of you is worth praising. However, even if you are prepared for death, does that you mean you are okay with others taking your place? After all, there are those more deserving of death.”

  “Death?” Anadine asked, surprised. “Wait... this is about Rowen.”

  “Of course it is about him! He went rogue, showing how dangerous you former humans are!” Ayla snarled. “Doc is worried about you and Rowen—especially Rowen. Going rogue makes him a danger to all of us, with your holding the same possibility within you. My sister is examining him now, and if he doesn’t pass his test, he’ll die.”

  “You mean she’ll kill him,” Anadine said flatly.

  “Please,” Ayla scoffed. “Don’t make us out to be so heartless towards family. It’s like what Claire told you both before; run out of mana and you’ll be forced into hibernation or death. All we have to do is exhaust the both of you, and for Doc to not allow you to absorb from him. This will occur, of course, if you and he fail your examinations. Does the threat of death tempt you now, little blue slime?”

  Anadine’s mind turned narrow and focused.

  “I can’t let you do that,” she said. “Rowen and I, we are not dangers to this dungeon. I will prove it, and I will protect him!”

  Ayla let out a barking laughter. “Can you stop me? Even before our growth, my sister and I have only ever been defeated a few times by groups of experienced humans and elves, never by a single person and certainly not by a low-ranked adventurer like your former self.”

  With a single step, the worg turned into five copies in Anadine’s vision, each padding towards her with slow, measured steps.

  “No human has ever beaten a wor
g one on one,” five voices seemed to echo around the slime. “You will fail here and go berserk trying to stop me, as Rowen did. You are a danger, a risk to this dungeon just like your younger brother. You can’t leave a room, you can’t even escape yourself.” The worgs stared her down with contempt. “Diana cannot defeat me, but can you separate her from Anadine?”

  Anadine readied her slime tentacles and backed against the wall. The position allowed her to cover her blind spots and fully focus on the enemy ahead. Unfortunately, this tactic was worthless against magic.

  “Not good enough,” a voice said behind her, and a paw reached out to hit Anadine back into the center of the room. A sixth Ayla emerged from the wall, at least according to Anadine’s vision. The impossibility of the action triggered Anadine’s memory of Ayla and her sister’s special ability.

  ‘Shadow-walk,’ Anadine remembered the name of the ability.

  With a collective growl, the six worgs leaped at Anadine. The blue slime, acting on pure instinct, whirled around in a circle. With each rotation, she grew faster and sprouted more tentacles. Her body elongated into a bowl, and the spinning hardened tentacle tips slammed into the worgs. However, all six vanished as if they hadn’t existed to begin with.

  From the ceiling, Anadine felt a presence and leaped straight up. With a satisfying thud, her whirling body hit a solid worg and knocked her to the ground.

  Ayla stood back up, smiling.

  “Instinct, little sister. That is what slimes rely on in battle,” she lectured, seemingly unaffected by the attack and landing. “You understand tremor sense, and you seem to be at least attempting echolocation, but you have forgotten about your true natural abilities. Slimes see the world less than any other creature, and yet because of this, they have evolved to observe so much more. You and your ilk can see the essence of life you so desperately crave. You can read the very vibrations of the ground and air and smell any scent, even days old. You used to know this, Anadine, before you became someone else.”

  “What is this idea you’ve kept implying?” Anadine asked, annoyed. “I haven’t become anyone else.”

  Ayla snorted. “Really? Then tell me, how would you have reacted to my attack if it had been the you before retrieving the memories of your past life?”

  Anadine fell silent.

  “You would have attacked head one, with an inhuman level of complexity,” Ayla answered for her. “At your peak, you took on four strong adventurers who were well adept at teamwork and magic. Granted, you did ambush them, and at least one escaped with an emergency item, the escape scroll or something, but you won. Now you’re facing a single worg who can use illusions and shadows and you’re struggling. Tell me, how else should I view the current you but a slime being controlled by human memories?”

  Before Anadine could react, she was slapped across the room. Ayla teleported ahead of her and slapped her again, creating a game of catch with herself.

  “I hate humans,” Ayla growled. “They killed my pack and murdered my mother. If not for her strength, my sister and I would be dead or forced into servitude. I don’t care who you were, but if this is what you are, I can finally take my time savoring your pain.” She allowed Anadine to slam into a wall and slide down. “You just wait there. Someone who can’t even see themselves will never find me.”

  “. . .” Anadine wordlessly drew herself up and formed a hardened slime tentacle.

  “Oh?” Ayla chuckled. “Well, praise be to your tenacity, I suppose, if nothing else.” The worg split back apart into five copies and marched towards Anadine, hackles raised. The blue slimes did nothing but hold the tentacle out front, waiting.

  Without warning, the tentacle suddenly inverted and shot backwards through her body, piercing it and stabbing back into the wall behind her. A hacking cough followed, with Ayla’s surprised face staring out foolishly, a tentacle thrust into her throat. However, it was Anadine who released a cry of pain, slamming herself into the ground with enough force to cause the cave the tremble, the tentacle withdrawing from the worg.

  “Ah, my eyes!” she screeched as she rolled around.

  “I’m surprised,” Ayla said, the hole in her throat shrinking into non-existence. “To think you could do it. I am very surprised indeed.” The worg watched Anadine roll around for a bit longer before sighing. She reached a claw over and poked the slime, who instantly recovered.

  “What was that?” Anadine asked as she dissolved back into a puddle.

  “That was mana sight, the ability to see mana,” Ayla explained. “That essence-of-life thing I mentioned earlier was a hint to you. Slime can see mana in all its forms, using it to track prey beyond the limits of any other creature. Cornered as you were, you used it to spot me appearing behind you and counter attack. The dungeon, however, is filled with so much mana that you blinded yourself and overloaded what you could handle seeing. You’ll need more training to use it, lest it overwhelm the limited senses your memories have forced upon you.”

  “You lied to me about Rowen,” Anadine realized, forcing her tired body back into a slime shape. “This was all a stress test for you to see how I would react to... a shitty situation.”

  Ayla barked out a chuckle. “Slow, are you not? No, scared as Doc was, he would never condone the death of a family member so easily. Dungeons are rather possessive, after all. Even when you were only a slime, you operated best under immediate motivation.” The worg licked her lips suggestively. “I intentionally repeated by surprise attack to make it easier for you, but I didn’t expect you to pierce your own flesh to attack me, so feel a bit of pride for that. If you had spun around, I would have easily dodged your attempt and beat you a few more times.”

  The worg tapped the wall with her tail. “I suppose that means you deserve something of a reward... though we are currently lacking your favorite adventurer snack. Still, I’m sure I can scrounge up something for you, given how impressive that attack was. The beauty of living in a dungeon with near limitless mana.” She titled her head up to the ceiling. “What do you think, Doc?”

  A rumble filled the cave, and a strong, sticky, golden square appeared in the middle of the room.

  “Slime bee honey,” Ayla sighed. “I am very jealous now, to the point of almost wanting to steal this from you. Hurry up, enjoy it.”

  Anadine rolled over and hesitantly picked up the slime bee honey comb. She twisted it and examined it closely. “Doc won’t speak to me?” she asked, saddened.

  “That’s for when you pass your training,” Ayla barked. “Now hurry up, I’m going to start drooling.”

  With a slip, Anadine allowed the honeycomb to fall into her body. Instantly, the delectable sweet sugary goodness began dissolving inside her, filling every part of her body with golden goodness. She began to turn green as her body mellowed out into a puddle. “This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” she finally said.

  “Yes, it’s quite amazing that Doc’s little experiment is capable of creating such a treat,” Ayla nodded. “Since there isn’t a bee queen slime, they’d quickly become extinct without Doc’s spawning nests, but oh how great they are at mixing mana and flower nectar into mana honey. It can even heal wounds and recover mana when you run out, a godly treat which you had the rare chance to try.”

  “Still,” she continued. “You haven’t managed to leave the room, so I doubt you’ll ever get to have another taste. Even if you have taken a step outside your mind and embraced your true identity, there is still plenty of human to beat out of you. I hope you’re prepared.”

  Anadine blinked as she realized her pain had vanished. The headache that had plagued her was gone, driven away by the sweet feeling of honey and training. She raised her tentacles and pointed them at the worg, the exit behind her, and her goal—success, and honey.

  “Keep them coming.”

  Chapter 15

  Within the forest of the dungeon, a patrol of grey slimes moved swiftly through the brush. A gelatinous slime led two armor slimes and a magic slime, se
eking to cover ground before the luminous slimes up above finished their daily cycle. Thoughtless in practice, the slimes carried out their task with impeccable determination and thoroughness.

  Above their heads, a green figure blended into the tree leaves, watching their approach. The forest lion patiently awaited its prey. As the slimes passed underneath, the forest lion’s tail extended unnaturally down in a slow, methodical manner.

  The gelatinous slime halted, sensing movement. The tail froze, allowing the wind to move it ever so slightly. The lion, watching from above, was completely still, neither breathing nor offering any indication it was separate from the tree in which it rested on.

  The gelatinous slime searched for a few moments longer before resuming its trek, followed closely by its smaller brethren. The tail resumed its extension, reaching down towards the trailing magic slime. The tail slowly grew layers of hardened slime and, once the prey was right below it, suddenly burst down to pierce the magic slime and stab the core. The magic slime, caught unaware, died soundlessly. The tail, connected to its prey, began to shrink back up to the lion, absorbing the prey’s slime and keeping hold of the core. The beast waited until the patrolling slimes had vanished into the distance before raising the slime core to its mouth and eating it. Teeth covered in a layer of hardened slime bit down into the core, crunching it down into bite-sized chunks and swallowing. It released a low purr of satisfaction as a comfortable feeling of warmth began emitting from its belly, the core releasing its stored mana through digestion.

  The forest lion was very satisfied with its current existence. Ever since the forest had shuddered many suns ago, or what served as a sun here in this strange world, it had regained much of the vitality and strength of its youth, in some ways surpassing it. While the strange changes to its body had been unnerving, the experienced hunter had quickly adapted and learned to utilize its newfound powers for hunting. Its teeth and claws were sharper now, more easily bypassing the natural dissolving properties of slime bodies. Its tail, already a powerful tool capable of lifting the lion off the ground, could now extend and turn into the perfect ambush tool.