Chapter 12: The Burden of Birth

Nyoka appeared in the dungeon on a stone platform, an icy crunch surprising her. Looking down she saw several shards of ice littering the stone floor “What the?” She looked up at Rose fiddling with her gun who scoffed at her “Put the slime in it’s place. Give it a moment and It will be back” Rose said, placing the gun on her on her back.

The cat girl shrugged, carefully navigating off the plate form before taking a glance around the room. She noted it was empty besides their group and a metal totem “Why is it empty?” She asked, watching Rose approach the totem. Usually there would be people in the first room with shops set up and adventurers selling their drops before heading back in.

The totem lit up, a single panel opening to reveal a touch screen “Higher ups booked the place for our job.” Rose said, navigating the panel and reading the information “Looks like there are a few groups that were in a deep dive and didn’t get the memo.” She sighed, noticing the Catherine starting to reform.

“Fucking dramatic whore.” Catherine said once she was reformed, one of her arms turning into a blade. She suddenly froze, feeling a heat building in her chest she looked down to see the metal ball light up.

Scoffing, Rose spoke “Keep in mind, even without Lucy here I am more than capable of keeping you on leash.” She smirked ‘Even without that collar, I suggest you stop it with the hostilities and get working.”

Catherine grumbled something, her arm returning to normal and the heat in her chest dissipating. She took a glance around the room, it was just a stone room with a stone platform which she assumed was the entrance and exit, a metal totem Rose was currently fiddling with, stairs leading down “So what, just keep going down?” She asked, walking over to the stairs and looking down the dimly lit staircase.

“That’s the plan, as far as you can get with the goal of scouting new floors, and bonus goal of capturing the place.” Rose slapped the machine, the panel closing as she walked away “Currently we have this place mapped out for 30 floors, a boss on every 10, and no clue how deep it goes.”

Nyoka raised her hand “And what should I do?” she asked.

“Stay behind me and watch the slime work, speak up if you notice anything.” Rose answered then turned to Catherine “You will be doing most of the work, this is your assignment after all. I am just here to observe and make sure you don’t try anything stupid.”

Catherine waved her off “Oh please, what could I possibly do?” She asked, starting do descend the stairs and the other two followed.

“A lot.” Rose simply said. Reaching the bottom of the stairs they entered the next floor which was just a large stone room with another staircase at the end of it. The room itself was populated by a bunch of blue slimes.

Catherine’s eyes went wide seeing her fellow kin mindlessly scoot about the room. She approached one, it not showing any reactions towards her until she got close and it suddenly ramming into her, the golf ball sized core jiggling about. Catherine kneeled down, picking up the palm sized slime and staring at it.

“Huh? What is wrong? First time seeing another slime?” Rose asked, keeping her distance from them at the bottom of the stairs.

Catherine shook the slime in her hands, frowning ‘if this were me I’d already of tried dissolving the hand that held me…’ She thought, looking down she noticed other slimes in the room gathering at her feet and ramming into her fruitlessly ‘These things are pathetic…’ she then jammed her hand inside the slimes body, ripping out the core and causing the slimes body to turn into water and lose its consistency, falling to the floor with a splash. “Pathetic” Catherine mumbled, watching the other slimes panic and start to move away from her.

“That’s how normal slimes are” Rose shrugged. “Weak, and helpless when you attack their core.”

Catherine went silent, anger building inside her. ‘I am the same species as them?’ she thought, extending an arm and pulling another slime towards her and glaring at it. Instead of attacking the slime tried to get away, trying to ooze out of her grip or separating itself from the parts of its body touching Catherine. The woman not allowing it, however, as she kept it glued to herself “Attack me, try to dissolve the hand, do something!” She yelled.

While Catherine was freaking out, Nyoka tapped Rose on her side “Is… is she alright?” She asked.

Rose gave a sigh. “Yes and no.” She said, watching Catherine kill another slime by ripping out its core, only to pick up another slime and shove the core inside of it, causing the poor thing to explode and Catherine to scream in anger, going after another slime. “Something like this always happens when a variant meets it’s original species… What is making it worse is she apparently didn’t know just how weak slimes are, usually.”

Nyoka gave an understanding but confused “ah.” Before watching Catherine morph, shrinking down in size to take the form of her white slime self with the metal ball taking the place of her missing core. The other slimes paused for a moment, one slowly approaching her. There was no movement from the two for a while, before Catherine expanded slightly and swallowed the other slime. It’s core quickly dissolving without any signs of it fighting back.

Catherine convulsed, her body shrinking ‘These fucking… weaklings!’ Her body started to expand rapidly, her form shifting ‘They dare share the same race as me?’ four limbs extended from her form, lifting her up as a fifth limb grey out behind her ‘laughable! Insulting! Humiliating!’ A head formed and a mouth opened and filled with sharp teeth “Insulting!” She growled as her form solidified, taking the form of a grey wolf that quickly started chasing down and eating every slime in sight.

“Ah, didn’t know she could do that…” Rose said, watching the carnage. The wolf quickly leaping from slime to slime, clawing, eating, and squishing every single one of them till nothing was left. The wolf panted, glancing towards them and taking a fighting stance, the metal orb in its forehead heating up. “…The next five floors are slimes.” Rose with an unamused look said.

The wolf growled and dashed down the next flight of stairs. “And who is the dramatic one?” she sighed and started heading down herself, careful not to step in any puddles.

“Is it usually that violent?” Nyoka asked, a bit shaken up from the show.

“No, but it’s safe to say her pride is a bit injured” She laughed a bit. When they entered the next floor what greeted them was another mass genocide of slimes, Catherine had already left for the next floor. Rose shrugged, heading down the next flight of stairs.

The next few floors were also cleared in a similar manner, when Rose and Nyoka caught up they saw the wolf staring down a huge slime with a head sized core floating inside of it. The new development having calmed down Catherine.

“Oh, you found a big slime huh?” Rose asked, chuckling when the wolf turned towards her with its head crooked to the side in confusion “The evolved form of a regular slime, It’s just bigger, still weak but its increased mass makes it harder to get to the core.”

Catherine faced the slime again and took a step forwards, getting angry again when the slime chose to move away from her. “Still a coward” She growled, leaping inside of the slime that was easily big enough to swallow the wolf whole.

“Now that’s a weird sight…” Nyoka said, watching the wolf swimming towards the slime’s core and swallowing it. The slime instantly lost its form and was reduced to just a puddle.

Catherine faced upwards and howled. Her wolf form lost shape, coming together and forming her high elf body. She raised a hand to her face, inspecting it for a moment “That one still didn’t fight back…even as I was inside it…” She made a fist “Those utter morons. Cowards!” She growled then started to walk towards the stairs.

‘how dare this place show me something so unsightly, horrid.’ She thought to herself, taking a moment to look back at Rose who was following behind her at a distance. ‘I’ll show them…’ she started walking down the stairs ‘I’ll drill it into their fucking minds.’ Thinking back to her fight with Rose and how Rose countered her. Her pace picked up, remembering how she was forced to join this alliance, now forced to enforce it and how she was toyed with by Frig and Dea, who could of ended her life with a push of a button.

‘I’ll make them afraid, shake in terror.” She then recalled lucy, someone who despite being so weak held complete control over her body with just a thought. ‘They will question everything about slimes.’ She then raised her hand to her chest, letting it rest on the metal ball that served as a leash that kept her in check. ‘I will… I will make them regret not finishing me off when they had the chance.’

She entered the next room, this one filled with a group of goblins equipped with weapons. She looked them and scoffed her chest held high as her arms turned into blades ‘I am going to slaughter every single one of them who looked down on me.’ She charged into the room, the goblins panicking when they couldn’t keep up with her movements.

Ever since she was captured by this organization, she felt unsure of herself, but now after seeing just how weak her fellow species was, she was filled with a new purpose. As she cut threw goblin after goblin, seeing their scared face as their life was ended that purpose grew. ‘everyone will suffer, everyone will die, and everyone will fear me.’ Catherine stopped, looking at the carnage she left behind. Not a single goblin left, her arms split, forming countless thin tentacles that spread around the room and jabbing into the bodies to suck up all the fluids.

She turned, watching Rose and Nyoka enter the room. Nyoka herself hiding behind Rose. Catherine chuckled, then glared at Rose, a heat building in her chest before quickly dissipating as she turned around. With her hands reformed she started to go down the stairs. ‘It won’t be today, or tomorrow, but someday I am going to enjoy slowly killing you Rose,”

She entered the next floor to see it was filled with more goblins, this time noting that they were more geared. She scoffed, popping her neck, and began the slaughter.