The Dungralthis Underworld is an extensive, network of caverns that exists underneath the Dungralthis Mountains, and its lowest levels reach deep into the planet, allowing the underworld to draw upon the endless reservoirs of magical energy that lie within. As such, despite having no direct access to solar energy, the underworld is teeming with life and boundless resources, and is illuminated by the various species of bioluminescent plants that feed off the energy and permeate the cavern walls.

Today, most people know of the underworld as the territory of the Haven Federation, but this has not always been the case. Throughout history, rule over the underworld has shifted hands time and time again, and it was even once said to be home to the mighty race of dragons, evidenced by the trace residues of dragon scales deep within the soil. While most of these stories may have been forgotten over time, lost records have been recovered periodically to tell incredible stories of the past.

One such story takes place centuries ago when demons ruled the land, having escaped the chains of hell and laid waste to the Dungralthis Underworld in a sea of fire and death. This was the era of the 50-Years War, a half-century-long conflict between the demon empire and the rest of the world. With the ability to corrode the land, weaken the density of planetary mana, and spawn monsters ceaselessly, the demonic forces edged their way deeper and deeper into the continent, despite the rest of the world forming a coalition to resist the invasion.

The story goes that, when all seemed lost, the gods of the planet bestowed incredible power upon a group of heroes who led the coalition forces at the front line and performed miracles on the battlefield, eventually turning the tides of war. In the end, they overwhelmed the demons and pushed them back into the depths of the underworld, ultimately destroying their upper echelons and sealing the gate that allowed them to exit hell in the first place.

With the demons eradicated, a new era of peace was ushered in throughout the continent. The coalition forces were dissolved, and the great empires of the continent then turned their attention inward to figure out how to transition into a state of non-war; after all, they had spent so many years under constant warfare. Once the dust had settled, several towns and villages had been constructed in the unoccupied underworld, with people of all races and occupations flooding into these settlements to take advantage of the abundant and unclaimed natural resources in the region. These settlements prospered for many years, and villages became towns and towns became cities.

Eventually, these settlements banded together and form a single nation founded upon the principles of harmony and peace.

This was the birth of the Haven Federation.

-End of Excerpt from "The Ears of a Lonely Wanderer" by YKW-

…

It was another one of those days when the Slime Monarch, Esmeralda, blobbed aimlessly through the halls of the Royal Headquarters, a magnificent, marble building constructed by the greatest architects of the Haven Federation. With pearly white walls that stretched four stories high and encompassing an area of over 135,000 square meters, this architectural masterpiece was the centerpiece of the Federation's capital city of New Haven, and it served as a home base for the six Monarchs that governed the Federation.

As for why Esmerelda was blobbing about on this particular day, it was because she had just met with the other Monarchs to discuss the annual divination report they had received from the head temple. Reading the future was always tricky business. Not only did the process require a lot of manpower in addition to several hundred sacred artifacts that could only be obtained from the most difficult of dungeons, but the prophecies themselves were also unclear, and the most you could get out of them was a vague feeling of things to come. You didn't know when or where the prophecies would take place either. Esmeralda and the other Monarchs, however, understood well how valuable divination could be despite the costs and limitations. This was because the prophesies they divined were never wrong.

And this was also the reason why Esmeralda was so worried. In block letters on first page of the divination report, the diviners of the head temple had written a warning that the Federation needed to prepare for the worst case scenario, as the prophecy spoke of an immeasurably bleak future that was to come. An internal conflict. A bloody and terrible war. Five dark figures towering over a mountain of corpses. Beyond that, pure darkness.

Everyone knew that prophecies could be subverted and the future could be changed, but it wasn't a very frequently occurring phenomenon. It took great efforts to alter the future, not only because the details of a prophecy were so vague to begin with, but also because the forces that helped create a particular future would actively seek to stop any interventions that would prevent said future from happening.

As with any attempt to change the future, one needed to try and piece together the who, what, when, where, why and how. This was the primary function of the annual divination report. It provided plausible scenarios that would explain what the diviners had seen, and recommended several actions and contingencies based on each of these scenarios. During the executive meeting earlier, Esmeralda and the other Monarchs had failed to see how they could identify the five dark figures of the prophecy, but they thought that they might be able to gather information regarding a potential internal conflict in the continent and catch the wind of a potential war early on if they expanded and enhanced their surveillance network.

Other than that, there was little they could do for the moment.

Esmeralda worried for her people, the citizens of the Haven Federation, and then for her family. Her parents had passed away long ago, but she still had eight sisters and brothers, most of whom were living in distant settlements of the underworld with their own families.

Esmeralda herself did not have any children; her position as Monarch didn't allow her to do so. However, as the Slime Monarch in particular, she had a duty to help grow the slime population of the Federation, since only slimes of the fifth level and above were able to reproduce. At most, there were a couple thousand of slimes in the Federation who were above level five, so there was always a population shortage. Even if they couldn't take care of the babies themselves, all level five slimes and above were encouraged to give birth as often as they could and send the babies to the nursery, so that lower-levelled slimes who wanted children could adopt them.

In fact, demand for adoption was steadily rising each year, and there was even a waiting list for applicants. Quite a number of non-slime parents even applied to adopt slime babies. Apparently it was a trend since slime babies were so cute and were low-maintenance, according to Esmeralda's close advisors. Upon learning of this fact, Esmeralda was baffled at first and wondered if she should ban this from happening, but she quickly reconsidered. Non-slime parents adopting a slime baby wasn't really a problem, as long as they were given proper guidance in terms of slime biology and nutritional needs.

'Young people these days,' Esmeralda mused.

She allowed her thoughts drift away from the depressing meeting and onto the topic of slime babies. They were indeed very, very cute. They looked like little round blobs of colorful pudding that you could just eat up in a single gulp. She could see why slime babies were also considered to be low-maintenance. The biology of slimes were exceptionally efficient when it came to digesting their food and produced very little waste products. All they had to do was spit out a consolidated ball of waste once a month. In fact, all slimes prided themselves on being environmentally friendly.

Esmeralda considered for a moment the possibility of passing on her duties as Monarch and settling down somewhere nice and secluded in the Federation to start a family. Then she disregarded the thought… for now. Maybe she could consider it once this prophecy business was dealt with. It would be very irresponsible of her to retire now under the current circumstances.

Sighing, Esmerelda made her way towards the watergardens of the Royal Headquarters. This was her favorite area to rest and recover. All along the edges of a small pond, there grew her favorite flowers, the Moonglades, whose silky white petals were illuminated a peaceful yellow by small, golden mana crystals embedded naturally within. This was also the place where Esmeralda had grown accustomed to giving birth.

Esmeralda sat on a large, elaborately decorated cushion of velvet red and gold embroidery that was placed specifically there for her use by the building staff at her request, and gazed across the pond, at the center of which stood a large, dilapidated stone arch that protruded out of the water. The arch was missing some pieces at the top and was chipped along the sides, but it was apparently one of the ancient ruins in the area that the architects of the Royal Headquarters had constructed the building around. Coupled with the lights of the Moonglades, the ruins gave the watergarden a mystical feeling to it.

Closing her eyes, Esmeralda turned her attention inward to begin the birth cycle. She first isolated a part of her blue, blobby body and poured magical energy into the isolated blobby part, condensing it as she did so. This magical energy was made up of particles called mana, which were as small as the basic elements that made up the world. After filling the blob with mana for several minutes, Esmeralda pinched the area between it and the rest of her body until the blob was connected to her body by a thin thread. She then refined mana within the blob and infused her will into it. Slowly, the dense ball of energy started to unravel and expand, forming internal organs and an intricate, complex web of mana channels inside the blob. There was only one step left to go.

Feyewwwwwwwwww… Plop!

Esmerelda felt a small object hit the center of her face out of the blue. Other slimes may have been distracted by such an event and lost control of the birth cycle, but Esmeralda was an experienced Monarch who had gone through the process hundreds of times. If she wanted to, she could give birth while conversing with another person and eating dinner at the same time.

The object that had hit her didn't hurt at all, even though it had a large mana signature. She crossed her eyes to see what it was, but it was so small that she had to extend an eye outwards using a pseudopod to actually see it.

Ba-dump.

Not only was it stupendously nutritious mana-wise, but it had the appearance of her favorite food: a delicious, white Yaksha fruit!

Ahhhhhh! Nom nom nom nom~

Putting the birth cycle on hold, Esmerelda joyously ate and digested this delicious treat as she felt the enormous magical energy wash over her and restore the mana that she had expended on the birth cycle. Her nucleus tingled with delight at this, and soon she was full to the brim. She then diverted some of the excess energy into the blob that was hanging from her body. In the end, she was a proud, eco-friendly slime. She couldn't waste anything if she could help it.

Before she could relish any more joy from receiving a surprise treat, Esmeralda completed the birth cycle by infusing some of her soul into the blob. Not enough to significantly reduce the size of her own soul or enough to even impart her will into the blob, but just enough to seed the blob with its own spark of life. At the same time, Esmeralda severed the connection between the blob and herself, allowing the blob to gently plop onto the cushion beside her.

Inquisitively, she turned around to study her new baby. Unlike her own gloriously blue body, the little slime was translucent and white, and it sat there as it quietly dozed through the first few seconds of its life. As she looked at the tiny ball of white pudding, Esmeralda felt a compulsion to attack it and squeeze the cute little thing to death out of sheer cuteness overload.

Regretfully, she called for one of her personal maids to take the newborn to the orphanage.

As it was carried away, it nuzzled itself against the maid’s chest. Ahh… how Esmeralda wished she could raise one of her own children one day.

‘Grow up strong, little one,’ she thought.