The voice was feminine, like that of a young woman. And the slime, hearing something other than its own thoughts in its head, did the only logical thing it could think of - it jumped backward, landing near the exit. Newb thought to beat a hasty retreat back the way it came when the voice spoke again, the mild tone stopping it in its tracks.

“Do not be afraid. I have invited you here. The opportunities to speak with such a unique creature such as yourself are limited. Do you have a name?”

Well, Newb thought, I guess that I am not in immediate danger, so what’s the harm? Speaking to something other than myself--- It stopped mid-thought for a moment. Wait, how would I even talk with this thing?

“Worry not, little one. You need not form words like the surface dwellers do. I can hear your thoughts.”

Yeah, because that’s not weird at all. What the slime actually responded with was, “Thank you. I have called myself Newb, after the Dungeon name. And who… or what are you?”

“I am a... visitor to the Dungeon. I am called Aylia, and I have been here for quite some time, though not by choice. I have been observing you since your birth one month ago. And while I do not know everything, what I do know is that you, Newb, are an oddity among Monsters. You are different from the others… not just in your appearance, nor in the higher aptitude of thought that you possess. No, in all my time watching over this place, you are the first Monster that has ever spawned here with a Soul.”

The slime stared blankly up at “Aylia”, unsure of what she had just said. Soul is an attribute on its Stats. Does that mean that other monsters do not have that attribute?

“I assure you that this is not about mere Stats, attributes or skills. The Soul I speak of is a gift of creation to all the races. Monsters are empty shells that were created without Souls. The fact that you possess one makes you capable of much more than a mere slime would normally be.”

“Wait… Are you saying that the other monsters that spawn in this dungeon are empty husks animated to do the bidding of the Dungeon? And since you are here in the Heart of this Dungeon, then does that mean you ARE the Dungeon itself?” Newb was flabbergasted. How could this THING be suggesting that it was fundamentally different from every Monster out there?

“I am saying that the Monsters that spawn in Dungeons are usually the empty shells they were initially created as. Why you are different from them, and how this would happen, are unknowns to me. I am interested in you because I would like to know the answers to those questions. And, I would also like to know if there are other Monsters with Souls out there in the world. To answer your other question - No. I am not the Dungeon. I am… was a guardian of the Races. I used to look upon this world, offer guidance to Heroes, and seek out those worthy of the blessings of Light… In the end, however, I was betrayed and my soul was trapped in this Dungeon’s Heart.”

Newb sat in silence again. Not because it was stunned this time, but it was contemplating what it was like for Aylia. Being trapped in one place for a long time had to be terrible… Even though the amount of time that she was trapped here was immensely different from the time that the slime itself was “trapped” in this Dungeon cycle, it could still feel that they were in the same boat. And, if it was in her predicament, it would want to be free twice as bad as it wanted to escape its meaningless life before today. So the slime asked this voice if she wanted out.

“... If it were possible, I would leave this place. But without a vessel of some kind, I would not be able to be free of this Heart.”

The monster thought about that for a bit. Then an idea popped into its mind, and it voiced it without reservation. “What if I used my body as your vessel?”

The stunned silence that followed was not what the slime had thought when it offered up itself to free the Soul of Aylia from her prison. “I mean, if you are stuck in there, and it is made of water… or something like water, then why not? My body is a semi-solid liquid, but similar all the same!”

“I am unsure if that qualifies… But maybe…”

What followed was Newb feeling like it was being intensely examined by something. There was a small electrical feeling that went through its body, and it actually jumped in surprise. The feeling stopped shortly thereafter, and the slime relaxed.

“... That might actually work!” The voice of a bodiless entity happily responded. The excitement was palpable, and for some reason, Newb thought that she would be bouncing up and down. “Ohmigosh, ohmigosh! I can’t believe I never thought of this before! According to my scans, I believe that there is a 63% chance of success! I would just need to ---!” Aylia’s voice suddenly trailed off.

“Is something the matter?” Newb could almost feel the hesitation from its new friend. Some might think it foolish to trust someone that you just met, but from the monster’s point of view, this was the first thing that it ever met that was not attempting to kill it. So, yes, the monster already viewed this bodiless voice as its friend.

After a long moment, Aylia spoke “In order for this to work, I have to alter your body slightly. The changes would be permanent, and I am not exactly sure of what all would happen. It could appear as something strange showing up on your Stats, or it might end up being more drastic than that. I would understand if you did not want to help me anymore...”

The slime monster thought it over for a very long time. On one side, there was a high possibility of something weird happening to it. On the other, could it leave someone it met to a worse fate than that of its own? Could Newb live with itself if it did? “Is there a chance that I would die?”

“Well, in general, there can only be one soul that inhabits a body at a time. However, in this case, your body would bear my soul within it, but while I would be present, I am not taking over your body. It is more like what happens when an elemental spirit or Esper binds themselves to another. You would carry me, but I would not have control over you. So, no, you would not be in danger of dying.”

With no chance of actually being killed by this alteration, the slime felt relieved. It seems it could still help out if it wanted to, albeit in a slightly different way. And in the end, the monster felt that it could not abandon someone to a fate such as this. How very un-monsterlike of it. But then again, if Newb had learned anything from this encounter, it was that it was already different from the other monsters. And it was just fine with that. “Ok then. Let’s do it!”

“...! You would do this for me? Someone you just met?” It seemed that Aylia was thinking around the same line of thought that it had.

“I can’t abandon you. It would feel wrong of me to leave someone, anyone, to the Dungeon. I’m not staying here, and wanted to be strong enough to leave on my own. But, from observing the Adventurers that raid this place frequently, I won’t always be able to make it on my own. Besides,” Newb hopped a little bit closer, “you sound like you know a lot more about this world than I do. And that will be very helpful as I work towards accomplishing my goals. So, what do you say? Friends?”

A sniffle echoed through the slime’s mind. “... Y-yeah. Friends! Thank you.”

“So, now… How does this work? Do I do something particular?” The slime glanced around the small chamber, seeing if there was a special spot or something.

“I need you to place yourself directly beneath the Heart. Then, I’ll begin the alteration and transfer. You may lose consciousness, but I promise that if it looks like it won’t work, I’ll stop.” As Aylia was explaining, Newb placed itself in the desired spot. Then it waited. It was a little anxious, but it knew that having someone like Aylia along would help immensely. The slime knew almost nothing of the outside world, but she did. That alone made this all worth it. Then, as it felt something begin to shift around it, a notification popped up, along with some weird sounds.

 --- The Heart of the Dungeon’s energy envelopes you. The Heart is attempting to connect with you. Connection successful. A Soul is attempting to inhabit a vessel. The vessel of choice is: Slime Body.

 --- Error! You are currently do not qualify to be a vessel for the Soul of -*s)!<0-. Due to your current state, you are unable to accept the transference of energy into your body.

It was at this point that the slime monster lost consciousness… What followed was this:

 --- Overridden. Access of Creation to Creator is initiated... Modification and alteration is needed. Calculating…

 --- Success! Subject no. ~~-> --- Answer accepted. The base species of Subject “Newb” will not change. NOTICE: The base species of the Subject is currently, “Slime, Grey”. This species does not qualify as a vessel to host a Soul. Searching for additional options...

 --- Answer - “Slime, Grey” will require an evolution to the new variant, “Slime, Æther”. Would you like to proceed?

 --- Answer accepted. Immediate evolution will commence. Estimated time until completion is: 30 hours.

 --- Scan of the Stats for Subject “Newb” has revealed that the following will need to be upgraded:

- Power Level will improve to 10. Might +3, Vigor +6, Intelligence +3.

- Attributes for the new Species Variant will improve, as follows:

- Allure: +1

- Awareness, Willpower: +2

- Might, Finesse, Agility: + 3

- Luck: +4

- Vigor, Grit: +5

- Intelligence, Caliber, Resolve: +7

- Soul: +10

- The Attribute, Bonus - Voice, will be created at base value 1. Voice: +4

- The following Abilities will be improved or created:

- Slime Body will improve into Ætherial Slime Body.

- Increased Potential will improve into Unlimited Potential.

- Energy Sense and Energy Awareness will be combined into the Ability: Æther Awakened.

- Consume will improve into Voracity.

- An available Ability slot will be filled with the Ability, Minor Regeneration.

- An available Ability slot will be filled with the Ability, Soul Vessel.

- The remaining Ability slot will remain vacant.

- The Talent, Energy to Æther, will be granted. Willpower +3, Caliber +1, Resolve +1.

- Subject’s Skills, Spells, and Spoils will be unaffected.

 --- 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... The evolution of Subject “Newb” is complete.

 --- The Soul of Subject -*s)!<0-, named “Aylia”, will now be transferred into Subject “Newb”. Estimated time until completion is: 30 minutes.

 --- … 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… The transfer of Subject “Aylia” into Subject “Newb” is now complete. The Access of Creator now returns to Creation…