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

pointed to. As he pictured the gold in his head, he was surprised to find his light disappearing. Feeling nervous at the unexpected loss, he quickly stopped and felt the light return to his body.
    Claire flew over to him, frowning, and asked: "Why did you stop? You didn't make much at all,” she complained to him as she glanced at the wall.
    "What happened just now? I felt my mana disappearing.” Doc asked nervously. Unlike Claire, he could not see the effects of his mana’s loss and was loathed to lose any of it. All this new information had made him tense, especially when learning about death. He wasn’t a crystal that would fill with fear at the first sign of trouble, but he was trying to be cautious about alerting the dangerous adventurers of his presence.
    Claire huffed, "As I thought, you've only used your magic to carve and destroy rather than create. I bet not seeing results made you nervous, right?"
    "Hey, I made this room, didn't I?" Doc said defensively, “Am I wrong to take things slow and steady?”
    She waved her hand, "Making a room was easy for you because you dissolved all the stone you didn't want. The reluctance you felt is actually one of your dungeon instincts kicking in. Crystals naturally horde their mana, so it’s a hard lesson to teach new dungeons how to overcome their instincts. Try looking at what’s behind the wall now.”
    Doc sensed the area and was surprised. "Is that gold?"  Within the wall, out of sight, the area was intermingled with tiny gold specs that glistened in the purple light. Not enough to be called a proper vein; however, it was enough to garner interest from anyone who saw it.
    Claire nodded, "Yup. That is gold you created with your own power. It is magic completely unique to dungeons. They can create minerals and monsters within themselves by using the mana created by their bodies. The strongest mages can cast a lesser form after years of accumulating power and experience, but to dungeons it is an innate ability. That ability only works when the dungeon is alive, and is impossible to be replicated by any mortal. As you just experienced, you can only create metals and stones that you understand and examine; I have some copper and iron on me as well so feel free to look at them at your leisure. When you get strong enough, you can create areas that are full of metal to be mined by adventurers.”
    Doc nodded, "Okay, so I can create areas to be mined. Should I do so now throughout the dungeon?"
    "NOOOO!!!!" Doc was surprised by Claire's frantic scream as she flew in front of him frantically. "Remember how I said the walls are a part of you? Well, imagine if thousands of greedy adventurers were mining your body every day and every hour searching for gold."
    The purple crystal actually turned slightly white for a moment as Doc processed the information. "Okay, so I don’t make my entire dungeon a mine then; how about a small area?"
    Claire calmed down and took her seat, "Yes, you can have specialized areas for mining, but don't make the entire dungeon like that, okay?"  Feeling his agreement, she sighed in relief. "Also, since my house will be hidden in your walls, I don't want miners to find me. Dungeon pixies are a rare commodity that slave traders like to hunt, and most die after being captured. Anyway, as I was saying, your walls can form the metals and you can absorb them into your astral body."
    "My what?" Claire pointed over to his body, "Think of it as an invisible bag only you can access. Within your dungeon, you can take anything not attached to another being. For instance, if an idiot adventurer dies inside you, feel free to absorb his belongings and body. His valuables can be given to your monsters as loot and his body can be made into a skeleton or zombie if you desire."
    Claire grimaced, "I won't protest too much, but I don't like zombie dungeons. They get really smelly and make the Church priests angry and vengeful."
    "What is the Church?"
    "Not important right