The Spirit Fox had an interesting taste to it. It had that basic meat saltiness, blood and bones adding special notes as they dissolved. While the fur of this creature, like all others, was mildly disgusting, it was definitely worth getting through. Especially for the magic that dwelled within the meat.

Apexus had noted this while gorging on the lesser beasts of the dungeon, but magic infused life was delicious. It added a rich sweetness to the food the kind of which the slime found unprecedented. This was why it was mildly disappointed when the tiger girl had decided to keep her hunt to herself.

However, she had killed those rats herself, so it would have been unbecoming of Apexus to take her food. Instead, it wondered whether there were creatures with mana-rich flesh outside of dungeons.

Reysha herself was slowly awakening to the taste of dungeon critters herself. Well, less the taste and more the satisfaction of eating something that could kill her. There was just something primally satisfying about feasting on other predators, but she would have preferred them cooked and seasoned. Then again, the raw meat did have a special note to it. With insane gluttony she discarded the first rat, having stripped all of the tender meat and leaving the guts and chewy stuff. “You want this?” the tiger girl asked her unlikely saviour.

Apexus nodded and the carcass was thrown its way, landing on the floor and being left there for a bit. Room had to be made within the slime’s mass before it could absorb even more meat. Reysha went on to the second carcass, the two of them observing each other as they went on.

There was an instinctual attraction to the tiger girl, an internal buzzing in the slime that let it feel that she would be theoretically able to carry healthy offspring. A very basic and plain instinct, present in basically all living creature. Helped that she was sexy to boot. She had cute ears and her red tail, covered in black stripes, looked nice and fluffy. Underneath all the blood and ripped clothes she had a killer body as well. Apexus just wanted to wrap around her and slide into her reproductive organs. It was the same urge that it had for Aclysia, except it was very much a possibility with Reysha.

In return, the tiger girl was still weighing her options. Her luck seemed to have turned for the better. Whatever this monster was, it wasn’t interested in killing her. ‘If it wanted to, it could at any point,’ Reysha thought, with the injuries she had sustained she was easy pickings for this creature. Even if she had been completely fine, going into unarmed combat against a slime was stupid. Particularly one with digestion acid so strong that she could visibly follow the disappearance of the Spirit Fox.

Something inside her shambled mind could also not help but feel that this thing that had saved her was kind of cute, from the fuzzy spider legs to the cat eyes. Then again, her brain was making that assertion because she was now indebted to the slime. The only part she didn’t like were the rat nose and ears. Much to her surprise, the latter one disappeared and were replaced with the ears of the Spirit Fox, the black-tipped orange contrasting awfully with the light blue of the slime’s body.

“Do you require assistance?” the metal fairy asked, pointing at the wound on her leg. “It may take me a while, but I can mend the injury.”

Reysha gulped down the last strip of rat meat, tossing the third cadaver to the other two. There was more meat on that third one, but she was seriously filled up now. Stress and a weird desire to not stop eating before the slime had caused her to overfill. Now she was feeling bloated. “By all things unholy, please,” she answered, suppressing a small burp.

Stretching the injured leg out, Reysha watched the metal fairy land. She was so small; the tiger girl could have squashed her between her hands. A large part of her really wanted to do that, just to find out what the reactions would be. However, she wasn’t insane enough to anger her saviours or start beef with yet another healer, especially not while she was healing her.

Aclysia stretched her arms out towards the injury and gathered magic. Careful, as to not overcharge herself and break again, she began to weave together a very basic healing spell. While weak, she could maintain it almost effortlessly. “May I inquire about your name and purpose in this place?” she asked, eager for a conversation.

“Reysha,” the tiger girl answered, then suddenly laughed when she remembered why she was even in this dungeon. “This is going to be a long story.” She quickly retold the events that had brought her to this place, by the end of which Aclysia had a surprisingly understanding look on her face. “What? Aren’t you going to be a bitch like the other healer?” the redhead blurted out.

“I have great understanding for your situation and wish not to offend you any further,” Aclysia bowed her head.

“Wow,” Reysha was flabbergasted, then she cackled. “Why the fuck was I expecting a fairy accompanying a… slime, to behave like all the priests? Dumbass me. You are a cutie, little girl.”

“My name is…” the metal fairy stopped in her answer, remembering what had happened last time. Apexus extended a tentacle towards her, nudging her in the side, and then transforming the end of the protrusion into something that could charitably be called a thumbs-up. Basically, her awakener was giving her the go-ahead. “Aclysia,” she continued, the understanding of who she was dealing with immediately reflecting in the tiger girl’s eyes.

“Mighty stupid of you to tell me,” Reysha answered, looking over to Apexus, “there is a bounty on your… core, I suppose. High enough for me to get debt free and still have money to spare.”

The slime had no idea what a bounty was, but it sounded bad. “A bounty means she will get money when she delivers proof of your death,” Aclysia explained. That didn’t clear things up, Apexus only knew of the concept of money. “She can get lots of food and other valuable in exchange for your life,” the metal fairy tried again. That caused the slime to perk up, that was bad.

It still would have wanted the tiger girl to know though. Because she was attractive and the slime was an inexperienced thing with a very real wish to not just fantasize about intercourse but actually do it. To put it bluntly, it was thinking with its consentacles. Aclysia, herself inexperienced, was not yet realizing this, she was just following along like she felt she had to.

However, something inside the metal fairies’ chest was tugging unpleasantly. Having been sent to this leaf with the clear purpose of serving whoever awakened her, what she thought could not get in the way of what her awakener wanted. That she was clear on. Why then was she feeling this adversity?

“No worries though, I won’t tell anybody,” Reysha promised. “All I want to do is get off this fucking world and start somewhere else. Although…” She had a crazy idea, in other words, she had a brilliant idea. Without any hesitation, she followed the impulse. “Yo, can I work with you?”

“An extra member surely wouldn’t hurt,” Aclysia stated, doubt swinging her voice. Evidently, Apexus was happy with the suggestion, but she was shaken by uncertainty. Not only was it dangerous to just trust a random person they met, although that threat had already peaked with her knowing who they were, but the addition of a female member to the party bothered her. It wasn’t that she wanted to keep Apexus’ company to herself. The thought of the two of them interacting was no source of annoyance to her. So where did this pull in her chest come from?

“Then it’s settled,” Reysha grinned too widely, bloodstained teeth and gums showing. “So what do you people even want here?” It would have been wise to ask that question first, but Reysha didn’t care about wise decisions anymore. “Are you just here to eat out this dungeon?”

“We are in search of more of me,” Aclysia answered directly. “Metal of my body is spread throughout the leaf and I can feel some of it residing within this structure. Have you encountered a fountain or something like that in your past weeks of lost walks?”

Reysha blinked once, moving her leg a bit to test it. The wound had almost closed at that point. “Yes, actually,” she answered.