The Slime Dungeon: Book 1 (The Slime Dungeon Chronicles) Read Free

What else do you want to know?”
    Satisfied and intrigued by his race’s namesake, Doc asked, “Okay, then, explain to me this bond thing."
    Claire nodded, "Sure, I'll do my best.” She folded her hands in front of her on the table, but couldn’t quite pull off the professional look she was going for. "The bond between a dungeon heart and a dungeon pixie is very unique in this world. We connect spiritually in such a way we always know where the other is located and can talk to each other from any location. Beyond that, we can't harm each other. I have a limited control over a part of your dungeon. That area will serve as my personal home and resting place."
    Sensing his emotions, she quickly corrected herself, "I don't mean anything big in your dungeon. I just have enough influence to create a home and other things for myself, like this table and chair.” She pointed down at the objects made of purple stone.
    "Also, our bond will increase the amount of mana you absorb from the environment because I'm a magic being that also uses mana from the surroundings. You should be able to absorb mana passively now whenever you feel like it."
    Checking, Doc confirmed he could adjust the pull of mana now without becoming tired. "I see that. Why couldn't I do that before?"
    "Silly! It's because you are not a magic creature. You are a crystal that can use mana, a more special type of a soul gem. A soul gem has a natural ability to store mana, but can’t use it on its own. Under certain circumstances, however, a soul gem can evolve into a heart crystal like yourself and gain the ability to use mana. Suffice to say, most young dungeons try to absorb as much mana as possible as they wake up. When they reach their limit, we dungeon pixies pick up on their needs and use our abilities to communicate with them in order to form a bond. That's why I was upset when I came here; I thought you didn't need me which meant that I would be alone forever."
    "Explain this to me: Is the dungeon connection unique?"
    Claire nodded, "Yup. A dungeon pixie gets one chance to bind with a dungeon. If one fails, then they have to live the rest of their lives alone…not that we can live long without a dungeon.” She frowned and let some tears fall from her eyes. "Mommy told me Daddy got a late signal in his life, but before he could bond, adventurers had already found his partner and killed him. I never met him."
    While feeling sympathetic, Doc sensed danger in her words. "A dungeon can be killed? Am I in danger?"
    Claire looked up and shook her head, wiping her tears away. "Not right now. Daddy's crystal was too close to another established dungeon. When it was conquered, they searched the area and took everything valuable. Right now we are deep underground with nothing near us so there is no danger."
    Doc regarded his body curiously, "So I'm valuable to adventurers? What are adventurers anyway?"
    Claire giggled, forgetting her sadness, "Yup, even a small crystal like you is important because you can absorb mana. Soul gems are used in powerful weapons, spells, and armor, so they are very valuable.”
    “What’s a weapon?”
    “Something to be learned later,” Claire admitted. “Anyway, the bigger your body gets, the stronger your dungeon will be. To answer your other question, there are big people in the world that work and live together. Humans, dwarves, elves, demonoids, gnomes, beast-men, and other races live and compete against each other. Adventurers can be any race, and they do things for other member of their race. Some of the things they do include activities like dungeon diving."
    “Why do they do things for others?”  Doc asked curiously, “Do they have bonds between them too?”
    This gave Claire a large fit of giggled as she rolled onto the floor. She quickly recovered and coughed in embarrassment. “Like I said before, only dungeon and dungeon pixies have that kind of bond. Adventurers do things in order to gain one of three things: