Wandering Dungeon

“I’m so glad to be out of that forest!” Kyle exclaimed and reached two tentacles into the air. He felt a light breeze brush against the slime of his skin as he looked out over rolling hills of grass and flowers. “I didn’t think it would take three days to get out of there." He pushed a few twigs and rocks out of his body. "I have got to figure out how to not pickup everything I roll over." He grumbled.

"It would have been faster if rigor mortis hadn't set in." Garrett said as he came up from behind Kyle. "It surprised me at first when it started getting harder to move this body but I was not ready for it to just freeze and not move for a full day." Garrett looked over the the body of the elf he was currently puppeting for any abnormalities. After finding none he started contorting the body looking for signs of residual stiffness.

Blixie followed behind them. She had stopped trying to make sense of the odd words and phrases Garrett and Kyle used in their conversations through the forest. "If we keep going at the pace we have been we should arrive at a town by the end of the day. You guys remember what we planned for getting into town right?"

"Yes Blixie, we remember. You only told us five times." Garrett replied. "I'm posing as a monster tamer and Kyle is my first monster. We should see if there is an adventurers guild in the town we can join and then see what quests they have."

"Great job Garrett." Blixie turned to Kyle. "What about your part Kyle?"

"I'm suppose to be a good little slime by following orders and not talking." Kyle form slumped as he sulked. "Ugh. Why couldn't I have been reborn as dwarf, or an elf. Hell I would be fine as a basic human."

"It is just while we are in town so people don't kill you or steal you away to perform tests on you."

"I know. I was just really excited to talk to merchants and towns folk, like in the games I used to play." Kyle suddenly perked up from a thought. "Wait, I'm a slime! I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner." Kyle focused on the two arm like tentacles. Ever so slowly several smaller tentacles grew from them. He strained and the tentacles shifted around to form rudimentary hands. Kyle was filled with joy. He shifted his focus to his body. Two thick, stubby tentacles emerged from the bottom of him and lifted his body up. The makeshift legs grew about six inches before his whole form collapsed into a puddle.

"Um. Blixie, what just happened?" Garrett asked worriedly.

"That is a great question Garrett. I wish I knew." She replied.

"Is he dead?"

"He shouldn't be. Slimes are pretty hard to kill if their core is still intact."

After a few seconds the puddle that was Kyle started to bubble and rise back up into his slimy, blob-like form. "So much for posing as a human."

"What just happened Kyle?" Garrett asked.

"I was hoping my Form Control skill would allow me to take the form of a human, but I have to focus on everything that needs to be controlled. Do you know how hard that is?"

Garrett laughed and had his elf puppet do a simple dance. "Yea, I get how hard that could be."

Kyle stared at Garrett. "I've been meaning to ask you about that. Since you are a dungeon core shouldn't you be in a dungeon underground, surrounded by monsters you've created, and killing adventures that are stupid enough to challenge you?"

"It's a long story." Over the next several hours Garrett told Kyle his story starting from when he woke up in this world, his meeting with Blixie, his death at the hands of adventurers, and subsequent meeting with George the god of stories, all the way up through him defeating the bandits.

"George was a god?" Kyle balked. "But he was such a noob at any of the games we played. For a god of stories, you think he would be better at roleplaying."

"What's a noob?" Blixie interjected. She had been quietly flying beside Garrett as he recounted his tale and added clarification when needed.

"Well Blixie," Garrett started speaking in a confident teaching voice he had developed while he was still alive in his old world. He used it when he would teach games to new players. "A noob is term from our old world. It refers to someone who is just starting to learn something new and so they tend to make mistakes that are obvious to others that are more experienced."

"I think I get it." Blixie said as she mused over this new word. "So, I guess you two are noobs then." She said with a smile.

Kyle stopped dead in his tracks. "Who are you calling a noob?" He growled and pointed a tentacle at Blixie.

"Well, you guys are new to this world. You have both made mistakes that I find quite obvious. Like your attempt at shaping yourself into a human Kyle. Thus, you two are noobs."

Garrett's elf form collapsed into a heap as he lost concentration from laughing so hard. Kyle's tentacle wavered as he backed up and thought about it for a moment before he too started laughing. Blixie hovered in the air confused. "What's so funny?"

Once Garrett got his laughter under control he responded. "Sorry Blixie. I forgot to tell you it is kind of an insult in our world, but you are absolutely right. We are noobs to this world. I hope we can rely on you to help us learn about it."

They crested a hill and saw a town huddled behind a tall wooden wall a few miles away. "Soon our life of proper adventure begins." Garrett said.

************************************************

"Halt! What business do you have in Arenthia?" Said the guard. Garrett, Kyle, and Blixie stopped and looked at him. Garrett took in his red jacket over a simple leather armor chest piece, spear in one hand, and small shield in the other.

Could they get a more generic guard? Garrett thought. "Good sir, my name is Garrett and this is my pet slime...ugh...Squishy. The pixie beside me is Blixie. we are just traveling through the area and have come to rest for a few days."

"Right, as long as you don't cause trouble you should be fine. The Slick Pig just up the road is the finest inn in town. It is also the only inn in town." The guard chuckled at his own words. "Just know that you are responsible for any damages or injuries caused by your slime while you are in these walls."

"Thanks for the recommendation." Blixie said with a smile. "By the way, is there a branch of the adventurers guild in this town?"

"There is a small branch across from the inn. We usually don't have any dangerous monsters around and there are no dungeons nearby to attract adventures so I don't know if they will have any work for you."

"Thanks for the information." Garrett said as the three of them left.

"Why do I always get the weird ones?" The guards said once the trio was out of earshot.

"Who did you get this time Jack?" Said a guard that was walking out of the gate.

"I just had a pixie and an elf with a pet slime come through. Seriously what tamer would choose a slime as a pet? They are really weak."

"I've heard of a few that take a slime as their first monster, but they usually get rid of them pretty quickly. Besides the pixie I don't see how they were weird."

"I've never heard of a pixie traveling with people before. Besides that, I swear that the elf's mouth didn't seem to move to match his words. It was like he was speaking in a different language, but I heard his words in the common tongue."

"That can't be true." The guard laughed. "There has been no record of a translation spell in the history of our world. You are probably just tired. Which is why I'm here to relieve you. Go get a drink and a good night's sleep."

"Thanks Al. You might be right." Jack turned around and started walking home for the night. "Have a good night."

"You too jack." Al chuckled and slowly closed the gate as the sun finished setting.