“What?” I couldn’t think of a response to her words. It couldn’t be true, right? After everything that had happened, how could this be true?

I promised myself I would save her. It can’t end like this, not again!

“I’m sorry, Rook. There’s nothing I can do.” Rose clenched her fists. She had been the one to talk to Claire, and the connection had obviously let her grow attached to the spirit of my friend. “This is far outside of the realm of normality. It should be impossible for her to exist at all…”

“No, there has to be something! What about you, Core? Do you have any ideas?”

“Wait, you have a friend who’s a ghost? I didn’t believe that was even a possibility. I’m sorry, I don’t have any ideas.” The core shook from side to side as it dimmed down. “I was created in the past, but this is my true form. If you lose your body, it's impossible to create a new one. The world won’t allow it.”

“We can’t create a new body… but can we use an old one?” I spoke quietly, afraid that they would shoot down my suggestion instantly. Rose shared a glance with the Core before she answered my question cautiously.

“I guess so, but we don’t have anything like that. Every monster in here is just a copy, so we can’t use them.”

“What about this!?” I pulled an item out of my inventory and thrust it at the pair. Rose and the Core leant in close before they figured out what I held.

“A slime queen core? How the hell did you get that?” The core asked before it pulled itself together. “It’s possible, but we need some way to transfer her across. She isn’t alive, technically, so we can’t use mana on her directly.”

“What about my Transmutation?” I read over the skill again. ‘Inanimate objects’ it said… wasn’t that a perfect way to describe Claire right now? She wasn’t alive, and she wasn’t organic. In fact, she was the opposite of both of those states.

“You can try, but please don’t get your hopes too high.” Rose threw a bucket of water on the raging fire in my chest. “This is all guesswork right now. If it doesn’t work, then we need to accept reality.”

“What does Claire think, can you ask her?”

“Sure.” Rose nodded as she faded into my mind. The several seconds before she returned felt like a century, but her smile as she appeared before me gave me hope. “She agreed, but she wanted to make it clear this is her choice. If it doesn’t work, she wants you to promise to not blame yourself.”

“Agreed.” I nodded, though it would be difficult to keep such a promise. I rested the slime queen core on the ground and focused my energy into my mind. Rose held a palm towards my head and closed her eyes. A faint wisp of energy broke into my brain and tugged at something deep inside.

Claire’s soul, or what was left of it.

A faint cloud of energy pulled itself out of my forehead as Rose clenched her teeth. Before it could dissipate, I focused my thoughts on it and muttered a single word.

“Transmutation.”

I didn’t need to speak the name, but I did it anyway. My newly increased mana pool would allow me to use it for a longer period, but there was still a limit. My mind floated around the cloud and pulled all of the thin strands together until it settled into a rough sphere.

Then I pushed it towards its new home.

The slime queen core shivered slightly as the pale cloud seeped through the crack on its surface. After it had been fully swallowed, I used Transmutation on the surface of the core to seal the breach.

“Don’t stop, you need to help her integrate!” Rose shouted as I was about to release my control. I quickly pulled my thoughts together and focused on my target. The core shook as though it was fighting against the invader. I could sense that Claire’s soul was about to fall apart, so I caught onto the core and held it still.

Just sit still! If you mess this up, I’ll hunt your kind for the rest of my life!

The core settled down as though it had heard my threat. Despite that, the process was still extremely slow. Seconds turned to minutes, which turned to hours. As time passed, my mana drained away slowly. The increased regeneration wasn’t enough to keep up with the level of mana usage. After three hours, the process still hadn’t finished.

At most, I could last another hour. The Transmutation used just under three mana a minute, but that was still too high for the regeneration to counter. I could swap to the Rage pool, which had recovered to full, but that might interrupt the Transmutation.

And that would be a disaster.

Either way, it would be my only option if Claire didn’t win out over the slime queen core in the next hour. If my mana dipped down to one, I would move over to the Rage pool and reactivate Transmutation as fast as possible.

Fifty mana. Forty mana. Thirty… twenty… ten.

I had less than five minutes to go. As my mana dipped closer to the minimum amount, I prepared myself for the transfer I would be forced to do. As it dropped before five, a voice rang out and almost shocked me out of the concentrated state I had sunk into.

**Congratulations! Transmutation has reached (advanced) proficiency. Additional details and effects will be listed in the ability window.**

I watched my mana pool like a hawk. It remained at five for several minutes. The increase in proficiency would lower the cost of Transmutation, but if it had made enough difference remained to be seen. After a short wait, my hopes were proven true.

My mana had moved up to six, then seven, then eight. Over time, it increased rather than decreasing. It was slow, to the point where it barely moved, but it was still going in the right direction.

Now I could keep up the process as long as was needed, unless I died from thirst or fell asleep, of course.

“Rook, how’s it going?” Rose leant close to the core and stared at its dull surface. After Claire’s soul cloud had vanished from view, she had remained silent. She spoke up after seeing my smile, obviously hopeful for good results.

“I’m not sure, sorry. My Transmutation just went up a rank, so the cost has been balanced out. I can keep this up forever now.” I didn’t look up from the core as I answered her. I saw Rose’s tense shoulders settled down slightly out of the corner of my eye as she dropped to the ground beside me. The core, which had shut off as I began the process, perked up at my comment.

“Wait, your Transmutation ranked up? Is it intermediate?”

“Advanced.” My answer was short and to the point. The majority of my attention was still focused on Claire, so I ignored all further questions as I concentrated on the invisible battle going on below me. The Core and Rose moved off into the distance to converse, obviously worried they might cause issues with the process if they stayed close.

I paid them no mind as I continued my work. The battle settled down after another few hours, but it still didn’t feel finished. Just as all movement had ceased, a new wave of power surged from within the core. This felt like its final stand, one last push as it tried to force Claire back out.

I rested my hand on its surface and pushed my skill to its limit. My mana started to drop again, but it was within acceptable limits. Even with the increased usage, I could last for half an hour before I ran dry.

After ten minutes, the core stopped moving. I lost my connection to Claire’s soul at the same instant, which sent a wave of apprehension through my body. Rose and the Core noted my frown, so they moved over to flank me.

“What happened?” Rose stared at the core as though she expected it to explain the situation. “Did she win? Did we save her?”

“I don’t know.” I picked up the core and turned it back and forth carefully. “She’s still in there, but I can’t do anything with my Transmutation. It’s been cut off for some reason-”

A surge of blue slime burst out of the core and covered my hand. I almost dropped it in shock, but I barely managed to hold back on the urge to let it go. I lowered it gently to the ground and pulled my hand out of the sticky torrent.

“What is this? Did the slime queen wake up?” The dungeon core floated up towards the ceiling again. “There’s no way we can beat that thing. Even the lowest would be level one hundred at minimum, and most are past that point.”

“….ssrreee…”

The slime collected into a pillar below the core and pushed it into the air. It rocked back and forth as the blue liquid lifted it to our line of sight. As it reached that point, the pillar tipped towards me as though it was about to fall over. Before it could, the base moved to match the top as it slid close to me.

“….Sssssrrreeeee!”

“Uh, Claire?” I tilted my head to one side. The slime pillar copied my movement, though it almost fell to one side as it did so. Rose closed her eyes and held a hand out towards the slime queen core.

“I think… she won.” Rose smiled slightly, but her expression darkened as she turned to me. “Quick, form a pact with her. This is only temporary, she needs you to boost her defences.”

“A pact? What do you-”

**Do you wish to form a pact with the slime queen? This is permanent and cannot be reversed. Number of entities you can form a pact with is limited by multiple factors. Current limit: Two.**

“Yes!” I held my hand out towards the slime pillar. It tilted towards me until the core rested on my hand. A wave of energy passed along my arm and into my brain, which passed away after a few moments.

**Pact formed. Slime queen set as follower. Level lowered due to master's level, skills locked due to master's level, statistics lowered due to master's level.**

So many penalties. Does the world really think I’m that weak?

Despite all of the disadvantages listed by the voice, the slime queen was still ecstatic. It rocked towards me and slapped against my chest. If this had been a person, they would have just run towards me for a hug.

But this wasn’t a person, it was a fragile pillar of slime.

The core fell from its perch and rolled to the floor. The slime, which had lost its controller, collapsed onto me in a wave. My entire body was washed with a thick layer of blue muck as the slime rocked back and forth at my feet. As I rubbed myself down, a voice I recognised echoed in my mind.

Sorry, I still can’t control it too well.

“Wait, is that you Claire?” I leant down and picked up the slime queen core or, to be more precise, I picked up Claire’s core. “Are you OK? Is there anything I can do to help.”

Oh my, that’s why I like you so much, Rook. A thin layer of slime-covered the core, but it didn’t leave any residue on my hand as it raised itself up. You saved my life. I’m falling in love with you all over again.

“Wait… what?” I stared at the orb on top of my hand. I had to have misheard that, right? Maybe Claire had been driven mad by the transfer process? Maybe she would get better over time?

Oh, how embarrassing. The core dipped onto my hand and shivered. I didn’t mean to say that out loud. I need to get used to this. I’ve never talked to someone telepathically before. Sorry.

“You don’t actually mean that, do you?” I asked. Rose and the dungeon core watched our conversation without a word. They could only hear my side, which would have made the entire scene very odd. “I mean, we only knew each other for a short time. How is that possible?”

I’ve always been impulsive. I tried to hide it, but the others knew about my past. Claire collected herself again as she answered, quite literally. I used to live in the Holy Kingdom. I left after I had a fight with my friend. They already had their chosen one, so I wasn’t needed. They didn’t even try to stop me.

“Wait, chosen one? What are you talking about?”

Oh, sorry. I forgot that I never told you. Claire bounced happily as she spoke, as though she wasn’t talking about her unfortunate history. I was born with the Holy attribute. They thought I could become a great leader, but my friend was always a step ahead. They chose her, so I left… are you ok, Rook?

My mouth dropped open as she revealed her past. Claire… had been one of the possible Saint’s?

That’s impossible, right? Drake said there would be one Saint for each attribute… how could there be two?