Ever since Mavis was a tiny slime, its world had never made any sense. Mavis’s body would move without any thought or purpose. The slime crawled, ate and grew, pondering all the while. Why was it in such a body? Why did it feel so stifled? Why was its life so boring? Eventually, Mavis became tired of moving in such a mechanical way. Its body had been crawling and so Mavis told it to stop. The slime stopped. Enlightened, Mavis tried to move in a different direction. The slime moved. Mavis’s core began to rotate in glee.

After a very long time, Mavis grew to be quite large. However, it had not forgotten how dissatisfied it was with this world. This dark, cramped, simple world was not what it wanted. It couldn’t stand living in a dungeon.

As Mavis sprinted through one of many ever-changing tunnels in Naraka’s first layer, it couldn’t help but feel angry. Mavis turned back and glared through its mask at the human named Galt. This gesture was entirely superfluous. Most slimes didn’t have faces, let alone eyes to see through. However, it still felt natural to Mavis.

“Why…attack…Theo?” It asked.

“Hmm?” Galt raised an eyebrow, but he didn’t slow his pursuit.

“Theo…and I…try hard…so…raiders…no…attack.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Galt chuckled ruefully as he finally caught up to Mavis. Even though the slime was more familiar with these tunnels, it had no chance of outrunning a human with enchantments. Galt’s sword suddenly erupted with a bright white light. He swung at Mavis, but the blade’s tip got caught on the edge of a wall.

Mavis didn’t relax for an instant as it jumped backwards.

Galt’s sword tore straight through the tunnel and completed its arc. The blade failed to reach, but dust from the wall buffeted Mavis’s mask. Galt noticed his advantage and stepped forward. He chopped down in a high arc, cutting straight towards the mask’s new blind-spot. However, Mavis had already started dodging before his swing reached its apex. It was a wide miss.

“You really aren’t looking with your eyes, are you?”

The guard abandoned his sword and lunged towards Mavis. The slime moved in a thoroughly unnatural manner to avoid him. Galt gaped as he doubted his own senses. Meanwhile, Mavis disappeared down another tunnel.

“A mage treated my eyes so that I would be able to see in low light…but this is completely different. When she found us earlier, we weren’t just hiding in darkness, we were hiding around a corner. She should have been blinded by that dust, too.”

Galt smirked for a brief moment.

“Yale would have loved to fight a queer opponent like this.”

The smile vanished.

“But she’s too unpredictable. I need to kill her and return as quickly as possible.”

Galt charged through the tunnel, but he couldn’t catch a glimpse of Mavis. He wasn’t worried though. This tunnel was completely straight with no side passageways. He pressed forward until the cramped space opened into a wide cave. Fearing he’d lost his target, Galt strained his eyes to scan the open area. He sighed in relief when he confirmed that there weren’t any other tunnels. This room was one of the maze’s many dead-ends.

However, he still hadn’t found Mavis.

As this revelation struck him, a slimy tentacle wrapped itself around his throat. Galt was pulled off his feet and a terrifying amount of weight tugged at his neck. Raising his sword, Galt stabbed upwards into the darkness. He was rewarded with a sickening squelch as his blade severed the tentacle. Galt fell to the ground, gasping for air.

*Splat*

Galt’s ragged breathing was cut short as he watched something hit the ground. It landed in front of him in an inauspicious puddle. That puddle quickly grew into a humanoid form. A dark green cloak and mask seemed to have fallen with it, along with some other articles of clothing. The slime picked up its mask but left the rest behind.

Galt stared up at the slime in abject horror. He couldn’t have predicted this situation. It would have never occurred to him, not even in his wildest dreams. Galt had assumed that the girl’s unique vision came from a magic tool. However, now he knew better.

Slimes were constructs, which meant that they only had one vital organ—their core. To this day, researchers had yet to determine exactly how a slime’s core granted them vision. The most anyone could say was that it was some sort of magic, similar to sensory-enhancing magic tools. Slimes could ‘see’ about six meters in any direction. Things like light levels and line of sight were irrelevant. So long as an object wasn’t completely cut off from the outside, a slime would know where it was.

The ability to attack their prey without explicitly looking at them was a slime’s second greatest advantage as an ambush predator.

Mavis lunged forward and Galt hastily readied his sword. He thrust towards the slime’s chest and the blade pierced straight through. Pivoting, Galt seamlessly converted his momentum into a horizontal slash. His falchion sliced across Mavis’s body and severed one of its arms.

“I…understand…”

Despite its wounds, the slime didn’t falter. Mavis pressed in until it was close enough to breathe down Galt’s neck. Of course, it didn’t actually breathe on him. Instead, dark blue tentacles wrapped around Galt’s arms and legs. He struggled desperately, but Mavis wasn’t finished. The slime expanded and Galt held his breath before being completely submerged.

A slime’s greatest advantage was its fluid body. The ones that mimicked plants and animals didn’t do so for protection. They would wait until a predator attacked, and then turn the tables. Damaging anything other than their core was useless. Losing some fluids might slow them down, but it would never be fatal.

“I…understand…Theo…no want…me…attack.”

Galt’s remaining breath was crushed as Mavis constricted his body.

“I am…rare…can’t show…other…raiders…for now.”

One of Galt’s arms bent at an odd angle. His vision was growing dark.

“But…you…die…secret…safe.”

A sharp crack was muffled beneath Mavis’s body. The pain of his ribs breaking kept Galt awake for a moment longer. After a few more seconds, he closed his eyes. Mavis untangled itself from Galt’s limp body. The slime stared at its victim for a moment.

“Theo…danger…hurry…you…force…”

Mavis suddenly turned away and went to gather its clothes. Even after the slime was dressed, it still looked like a monster. All the color and texture modifications that Mavis had made were undone during its fight. Mavis quickly morphed its tentacles into hair and changed its skin tone. It wasn’t very convincing, but the finer details would have to wait. Mavis walked towards the edge of the cave and then stopped.

“…Sorry…”

After muttering a single word, Mavis sped off into the darkness.

- - -

*Clang*

*Clang*

*Clang*

The sound of steel meeting steel rang out again, and again, and again. Two figures danced under the light of a single torch. Their movements splattered blood across the tunnel walls, but neither seemed ready to give in.

“Using that coat must be tiring.”

“Oh, I’ll be fine.”

*Clang*

“Seriously? You don’t want to take five?”

*Clang*

“You’re quite chatty.”

“My master once told me that all fights are a conversation. Therefore, there’s no harm in starting an actual one.”

“You say that, but you’re really just stalling.”

Theo grinned. “When that coat runs out of power, you’ll die.”

The corners of his lips trembled, but Theo forced himself to look confident. No matter how much he sang their praises, daggers weren’t suitable for one-on-one duels. Theo leveraged the advantages of their cramped environment as much as he could, but Yale clearly held the upper hand.

*Clang*

Theo caught Yale’s blade between his two daggers. The white glow supporting Yale’s arm surged out and his sword pressed down on Theo like a thin steel mountain. The outlaw stepped to the side and guided the path of his opponent’s sword. As Yale missed, Theo retaliated with a quick slash at his arm. It was a shallow cut, but a bloody one.

Theo knew that he had no chance of seriously injuring Yale. All of his attacks were meant to exhaust the young master. The more blood he lost, the quicker he’d tire. Once Yale was tired, then he wouldn’t be able to supply his coat with mana. Assuming Theo didn’t take any fatal injuries before then, he would have a massive advantage.

“I wonder how your friend is doing?” This time, Yale initiated a conversation.

Theo grimaced and Yale realized that he’d hit a sore spot.

“That girl can’t possibly escape from Galt.”

Contrary to Mavis’s belief, Theo hadn’t sent it away because he was afraid of revealing the slime’s true nature. What truly terrified the outlaw was losing his ticket back to the surface. The very thought of losing such a priceless treasure made Theo want to vomit. Though, if he was being honest with himself, his decision wasn’t entirely based on profit.

“Mavis, you’d better be alive!” Theo thought as he dodged another attack.

“If she doesn’t escape, then you’re going to learn just how dangerous it is to damage an outlaw’s treasure!”

“Ooh, a treasure. How romantic.”

“No, that’s not what I-”

Theo cut his reply short to avoid another powerful slash from Yale’s blade. The two men stared hatefully at one another. They prepared for another exchange, but a foreign noise caused them freeze in their tracks.

*Grrrrrrr*

A series of growls and yips made Theo’s blood run cold. He looked back and saw dozens of beady red eyes shining in the darkness. Yale scoffed, but then he stiffened when the rat-like creatures stepped under the light of his torch. During Yale’s two days in Naraka, he had never seen them act like this. Before, they had scampered away at the slightest glimpse of his person. Now, they were staring up at him like beasts possessed.

“There was too much blood.” Theo muttered.

Packers surrounded the pair from both sides. Theo and Yale moved closer together until their backs were practically touching. A sea of eyes and teeth watched them hungrily.

“So…” Yale spoke in an even tone. Even in a situation like this, he refused to show fear. “Any ideas?”

Theo sheathed his daggers.

“Any ideas besides giving up.” Yale pressed.

Theo stuck a hand in his pocket, and Yale quickly averted his gaze. Theo threw a small glowing crystal into the crowd of packers. The resulting explosion had no physical force, but the monsters didn’t act like it. They howled in pain, rolling around and clawing at their own faces. Unfortunately, the light could only reach so far. When Yale uncovered his eyes, he saw that the packers on his side of the tunnel had only been startled.

Yale turned back to see Theo running away. The outlaw jumped and kicked off the tunnel wall. He just barely made it over the stunned beasts. Theo caught his fall with a roll and ran off without looking back. Some of the packers chased him down the dark tunnel, while the rest closed in on Yale.

“You piece of shit!”

The young master was about to hurl more insults, but then he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Yale spun around and thrust his sword into a packer’s neck. Or, at least, that’s how it looked. In truth, Yale had simply braced as the beast impaled itself mid-lunge. More packers prepared to jump and Yale hurriedly dislodged his sword. His coat’s enchantment flared up and the situation quickly devolved into a melee.

Minutes passed slowly. Yale couldn’t remember how many times he’d swung his sword or how many bites he’d received. If not for his myriad of life-saving tools, Yale was sure that he’d be resting in over a dozen different stomachs. Eventually, the horde thinned and the packers lost their confidence. Their desolate yips gave Yale an immense feeling of satisfaction. He would have loved to chase down the survivors but his body could barely move.

“And that…huff…is what happens when…”

Yale paused to cough violently.

“…When you pick a fight with a Wallace.”

Yale leaned on a wall and slowly sank to the ground. Once his mana recovered, then he could heal his wounds. Yale listened carefully, but the packers had vanished. He finally allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief.

While waiting in the darkness, Yale was surprised to discover that he was trembling. This was the first time he’d been in such a dangerous place alone. Even Galt was out of reach. Yale felt afraid, yet exhilarated.

A dull grinding noise caught Yale’s attention. He looked up for a moment, and then slammed his fist against the wall. It was the familiar sound of a tunnel closing up. His path to Theo had been cut off.

Time passed and Yale noticed a pale white light moving in the void. He stiffened and readied his sword. Yale got to his feet and then…he dropped his sword. There was a figure stumbling blindly through the tunnel. Blood trailed behind him as he ambled forward. The man’s clothes shone with light as they strained to support his broken body. He held out one hand, atop which was a compass. There was a green crystal affixed to the needle’s tip, driving it to point forward. It was the same kind of crystal that Yale kept in his pocket.

“Galt…” Yale breathed. “What…What happened?”

The young master rushed to his guard’s side. Yale held him up, biting his lip when he realized the full scope of Galt’s injuries.

“Who did this to you?”

Galt slowly turned his head to look up at Yale. His eyes, which normally shone with an enchanted glow, were dim.

“Yale…Please be safe.”

Yale nearly fell as Galt’s entire weight pushed down on him. The white light on his clothing faded, along with his breath. For a while, Yale could only stare at his companion in disbelief. Then, a piercing howl rang out through the dungeon. The sound travelled far, but the person meant to hear it was already gone.