The Slime Kingdom was built on the lowest level of the Xylene Dungeon, a complex, stone labyrinth that stretched thousands of kilometers long and extended hundreds of floors deep. So many different species of high leveled monsters inhabited this dungeon that it was considered to be one of the most difficult and dangerous in the entire continent. Not even dragons dared to enter its depths alone.

Despite the fierce nature of the dungeon, its ecosystem was completely dependent on a peculiar berry plant, called the Yaksha, which crawled along the walls of the dungeon and fed off the mana that permeated its passageways. Its leaves and vines possessed the ability to convert mana into light, illuminating the entire labyrinth with a dim glow. The Yaksha’s berries grew in bunches of small spheres, resembling discolored grapes, and were packed with essential nutrients and mana. They were the staple food of the dungeon inhabitants, including the Slimes of the Kingdom.

Four King and Queen Slimes ruled the Kingdom. It was said that these four were the first of their kind to inhabit the world; four brothers and sisters who ventured into the Xylene Dungeon from the Surface and fought their way to the bottom valiantly to build their Kingdom. These royal slimes were distinct in color, and possessed crown-shaped nuclei indicative of their elemental affinity.

The youngest of the four, the Earth King Amadeus, was a jolly brown slime with a nucleus of jagged stone. He longed to expand the Kingdom, and beautify it with sculptures and grand buildings of intricate design. For decades, he dug deep into the earth every day, excavating the four walls of the kingdom until it had reached an area greater than 100 square kilometers, held up by majestic stone pillars and filled with masterfully constructed infrastructure.

The second youngest was the Wind Queen Sylvie, a delicate and beautiful green blob that flaunted a nucleus of fragile leaves. She inhabited the skies of the Kingdom, a feat only possible because the height of the dungeon’s bottom floor was an astounding 1000 meters. She conjured cloud foundations that were interconnected via air current roads, and constructed fluffy cloud buildings for whomever wanted to live among the free spirits of the sky.

The second oldest was the Fire King Kai, a cynical and hot tempered red slime with a nucleus of black flames. He spent most of his time in the hottest areas of the Kingdom, where the ground was closest to the planet’s mantle. He was the one who educated the first artificers, blacksmiths and metalworkers, providing the Kingdom with the finest tools, weapons, and armor.

Finally, the eldest of the four royal slimes was the Water Queen Esmerelda, a blue blob whose immense size rivaled that of the Kingdom’s average home. Her nucleus was comprised of pristine ice. Esmerelda was a wise, powerful slime who created the lakes and ponds that provided hydration for the entire Kingdom.

As per their species limitation, these four Kings and Queens were the only slimes in the Kingdom with reproductive capabilities. Once they absorbed an excess amount of mana, they were able to expel the excess energy through detaching a small part of its body, as if they were budding. Once a baby slime was born, it was sent to the Kingdom’s central orphanage where adult slimes were able to adopt their very own child, regardless of color.

Like this, the slimes lived in harmony.

-End of Excerpt from "The Eyes of a Lonely Wanderer" by JFK-

It was another one of those days when the Water Queen blobbed aimlessly through the halls of the Royal Palace, a magnificent, marble building created by the Earth King himself. With pearly white walls that stretched four stories high and encompassed an area of over 135000 square meters, this impressive piece of architecture was constructed at the middle of the Slime Kingdom, and served as sort of a base for executive meetings and governance.

As for why Esmerelda was blobbing about, it was because she was tired of her siblings’ bickering about whose elemental affinity was the best, which variety of Yaksha tasted the best, and yadda yadda yadda. In her opinion, there were much more important things that they could be doing instead. For example, the population growth rate had stabilized over the years. The Water Queen thought that her siblings’ energy could be better used to populate the kingdom further. She herself had set a personal quota of 10 new slimes a day, while it would be a lucky day if any of her siblings gave birth to even 1.

Sighing, Esmerelda made her way towards the Royal Gardens in the palace courtyard. This was her favourite area to rest and recover. It was home to her favorite flowers, the Moonglades, whose silky white petals were illuminated by the countless mana crystals embedded in the sculptures of her fallen siblings.

Esmerelda sadly recalled the terrifying months on the Surface when she and her siblings lived every day fearing death. After accidentally aggravating a golden dragon by eating from his favorite berry tree, the slime siblings were forced to escape into the dungeon. So many of her brothers and sisters had lost their lives to ensure that the remaining survivors could finally reach the last safe area of the dungeon, the bottom floor. Only the four of them, the current royal slimes, had lived to tell the tale.

Although it had been over 300 years since then, it was only a matter of time when powerful, evil adventurers or magical beasts would attempt to conquer the dungeon and attack their Kingdom.

They had to be ready for such a crisis.

Esmerelda stood at the edge of the garden, where a large, stone arch had been erected as a memorial. A symbol for facilitating her siblings’ passage to the afterlife, where she hoped that they had found peace. She closed her eyes and prayed.

‘Dear brothers… sisters… I miss you all so much. Although it has been many years, I still remember the days when we splashed around in the pond as kids. Ark, you lifted me high into the sky and showed me what freedom was like. Lisa, your smile warmed my core and taught me love. Hope, you bastard, I hate you. Still miss you too, I guess. Sigh… life was so simple back then. Now, there is far too much for me to do, yet I may not have much more time. My core is withering away. I am getting too old. Our younger brothers and sister still have hundreds of years to live, and I ask that you give me strength to teach them to be wise.”

…

Feyewwwwwwwwww… Plop!

Esmerelda felt a small object hit the center of her face. Despite it having a large mana signature, whatever had hit her didn’t hurt at all. She crossed her eyes to see what it was, but it was so small that she had to extend an eye outwards using a thin pseudopod to visualize it.

Ba-dump.

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

Ahhhhhh! Nom nom nom nom~

Completely forgetting her somber moment of prayer, Esmerelda joyously ate and digested this delicious treat as she felt the enormous magical energy wash over her and rejuvenate her old, slimy body. Her nucleus tingled with delight and the crown of ice which had steadily melted over the centuries was restored to its former glory. However, this was still too much energy, even for her, the Water Queen! She collected all of the excess mana swirling around her body, and condensed it into a small blob on her body. Repeating this process over and over again for the next 30 minutes, Esmerelda successfully managed to expel the surplus energy by detaching the blob.

Inquisitively, she turned around to look at her shit— her new baby. Unlike her own gloriously blue body, the little slime was translucent and white. Moreover, the baby’s nucleus had a mysterious, ruby red shape that was too small for Esmerelda to make out. It was clear that this was abnormal though. Baby slimes were typically born with a round, grey nucleus, not having developed any innate characteristics or affinities.

Curious indeed.

Although Esmerelda wanted to raise this strange one herself, it wouldn’t be appropriate since she one of the Queens of the Kingdom. Not only could she not show favoritism, but she also had many duties to attend to, and would not be able to nurture the child personally. Regretfully, she called for one of her personal maids to take this newborn to the orphanage.

As the baby was carried away, it cutely nuzzled against the maid’s chest. Ahh… it was truly a shame.

‘Grow up strong, little one.’