Aria bit her lip again, harder this time. Yes. She didn't need to be cautious. She didn't need to overthink.
It was just a slime.
A strange one, sure, dangerous, maybe. But still a slime. A monster. A creature of the Dungeon that didn't think or feel. Something that shouldn't matter.
But her?
She needed to live. Her family needed to survive. Her mother needed medicine and food. Her father needed a debt cleared before the collectors took everything.
This slime… this slime…
Aria glanced at it again.
It clung to the wall like a lump of living jelly, its green surface trembling faintly, its core pulsing with a brightness she had never seen from a slime before.
If she didn't know any better, she would have said it looked… happy, or excited.
She frowned, shaking her head quickly.
She shouldn't be able to feel anything from a slime. Slimes didn't have emotions or expressions. They weren't intelligent. They weren't supposed to live for long anyway.
Right?
The more she thought about it, the more something twisted uncomfortably in her chest like her mind and her survival instinct were fighting each other.
"It saved me. Yes, but it could just be coincidence."
It mimics speech. That makes it valuable. It didn't attack her. Or it might just be waiting for the right moment when its instinct kicked.
It's… different. Different kinds of monsters means profitable.
Her breath trembled.
Then, with a sharp inhale, Aria straightened her back and gave herself a firm nod.
She had decided.
She would find a way to capture the slime.
"My family and my life are more important," she whispered to herself.
The last fragments of the mana ore vanished into the slime's body. Its form loosened, the rigid tension fading as if satisfied.
Slowly, it released the stripped cavern wall and oozed back down to the floor.
Its green membrane wobbled softly as it settled on the ground again.
The slime looked toward her again. Its whole form angled in her direction.
It approached her.
Aria swallowed hard, forcing herself to strengthen her decision again.
Meanwhile, inside the slime's mind—a mind that was only now beginning to shape thoughts—it struggled.
It recognized her.
She had the same type of body as the creatures it had devoured earlier. Soft flesh, warm blood, weak mana
She has a similar shape and scent.
Yet she had not hurt it like other things it had encountered its whole life.
She had healed it when her kind had burned it.
The slime couldn't categorize her.
Was she prey? Was she a threat? Was she something else?
Its instincts buzzed with confusion, unable to decide.
So it simply moved closer, seeking information and understanding without knowing what it truly wanted from her.
And Aria stood there, determined but trembling, both fear and opportunity swirling in her eyes.
Aria then slowly crouched down in front of the slime. She forced her lips into a soft smile.
She had no idea how intelligent this creature was. Maybe it understood nothing. Maybe it understood everything.
But for now, the safest path was to act kind and harmless.
To act like someone the slime wouldn't immediately attack, or slip away from before she could capture it.
"My name is Aria," she said carefully, pointing a thumb toward herself.
The slime's membrane trembled.
Its core brightened.
"My name is Aria," it echoed, using her own distorted voice.
Aria exhaled slowly through her nose.
"…Right. Good. That's… good."
She nodded encouragingly.
"I'm not an enemy, okay?"
The slime tilted its body, as if mimicking the tilt of a head.
Then, without understanding, without context, it repeated what it heard.
"I'm not an enemy, okay?"
"No," Aria corrected softly, shaking her head.
The slime watched the movement of her head, the way her body shifted, and the tone of her voice.
It didn't mimic it because for now it could only repeat sounds.
It had no idea what "enemy" or "name" meant. It had no idea what she wanted.
It simply stored the sounds inside itself, the Speech skill vibrating quietly within its core.
The skill was still weak because it was still on level 1. But instinct told the slime that if it keeps using it, the skill will become stronger.
Aria took in a small breath and forced her smile a little wider.
"Let's be friends, okay?" she said quietly, even though part of her voice cracked. She felt part of desperation and guilt.
The slime repeated:
"Let's be friends, okay?"
And then something shifted in its core.
There was a pulse of bright flicker of green, then the slime felt a strange sensation that wasn't memory but felt like it belonged to something older.
Something deep within its core mana.
"Friends…"
The word resonated in its core.
Warm.
Unknown.
And Confusing.
The slime didn't understand the meaning of it for now. But something in the sound awakened a soft feeling.
Before it could explore that sensation further a huge explosion shook the Dungeon.
BOOOOM!
A violent vibration ripped through the cavern.
The stones rattled, dust rained from the ceiling, pebbles on the ground trembled and began rolling.
Aria's heart leapt into her throat.
"That… that was big," she whispered, panic instantly flaring in her eyes.
BA-DOOOOM.
Another quake happened. Enough to make her stumble to one knee.
Aria gasped.
Something was coming.
Something massive.
The slime immediately spread its mana outward—like a silent ripple pulsing through stone and darkness—as it activated its sensory skill.
Its core brightened faintly. Information rushed back into its mind.
There was chaos below.
It sensed fractured stone, stirred dust, frantic movement. That kind of tremor shouldn't appear on the first floor.
Strong monsters were never supposed to climb this high… unless something had pushed them.
The slime thought instinctively that this phenomena happened too close to the first floor. This shouldn't be happening.
After Consuming the bowman's charm earlier, its scanning range had grown noticeably. Its field now reached far wider.
Within seconds, the picture sharpened.
A massive green creature barreled through the cavern tunnels. It was the Goblin Chief, towering over its kin, its muscles taut with rage, its fangs bared in furious expression.
Thick mana radiated from its chest, its core glowing a ferocious amber-green that marked it as a high-tier monster, far above normal goblins.
It was rampaging. Hunting something.
The chief swung a crude but mana-hardened club, smashing aside debris as it clashed against a monster draped in dark fur, its body bulked with unnatural strength.
It was a monster with a jagged glowing horn jutting from its skull, its own core blazing a deep violent crimson.
The two titans collided again, shaking the tunnels with every blow.
Around them, chaos spread. A swarm of goblins poured from behind their chief, rushing forward like a green tide, clashing with scattered monsters that had inhabited this section of the Dungeon.
The entire second floor had become a big battlefield.
And they were getting closer to the first floor. The wall cavern starts to crack.
—