The fair and/or practical treatment of monsters is a subject steeped in both ridicule and emphatic support. To many, monsters are little more than sentient training dummies that drop prizes when they break, sources of income, or dangers that must be eradicated for the safety of all Reasoning beings. On the other side of this conversation, many people exhort the importance of regulating monster cullings, to avoid outbreaks like the Gorefang Incident, which led to the fall of the nation of Merren, or the advent of the Scarlet Mosquitos in the Second Atrium. There is no denying the danger Dungeon monsters represent to Reasoning beings; their numbers almost never decline, with new variants constantly emerging throughout the Atriums to test the collective forces of armies and Guilds alike, and the potential rise of unique creatures such as Gorefang forcing even the most reclusive nations into signing the Communicative Alert assent form of years past.
It is vital to remember, however, that society on Ontarra relies on the Dungeon and, in no small part, the very monsters I speak of, in such fundamental capacity due to the resources they provide. Where would we be without the Hearts, procured from monsters, that have improved the lives of countless Reasoning beings with their industrial applications? What would those who descend to the resorts of the Third Atrium feast upon if the Curators of the Delver's Consortium had not called for a cessation of overfishing, opening the way for the establishment of the Fisheries Guild, who now hold a net worth rumoured to exceed that of the three most influential martial Guilds in the world.
I do not profess to agree with what are, in reality, extremists; those who believe we should dissolve the various Training Grounds of the martial Guilds, instantiate rules of conduct for monsters above a- as yet undefined, due to the controversial nature of discussions surrounding sapience in the System -Thought threshold, or indeed, ally with those mythical beings of the Deep.
I do, however, believe we should be open to considering that, from a purely objective standpoint, there is much we don't know about monsters, their behaviour, and the potential advantages to be found in studying such subjects.
Take for example, the simple slime. Innocuous, widespread; such a basic lifeform that it barely crosses the mind when teachers ask their students to name a monster. Yet, it is the cornerstone of one of the most vital contributors effecting how we live our day to day life.
In this essay I will...
-Homework assignment submitted by Aloysius Tremmaine on the subject 'Monsters and Society', later published as an article in Ontarra Today against the wishes of his sixth grade teacher.
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Despite saying I wanted to make my own way, I've been mighty distracted thinking about what I might need to do to go about evolving as soon as possible, so much so that I eventually take up Big's offer to carry me along with the newborns.
It turns out there's a lot more to the fort than what I was shown in the orientation. Guard, who I really need to talk to again to figure out a better way to refer to them, failed to mention that for each of the four tunnels leading deeper into the fort from the crossroads, there are multiple side tunnels that split off, leading to various playrooms and a couple storerooms for food. Having slipped off the main artery just before reaching the upper crossroads, the tunnel we're in now is less than half Big's size, forcing them to squeeze through the small, twisting subterranean structure.
They don't mind it of course; it's more or less impossible to back up traffic when the slimes we encounter coming toward us can simply crawl through them with no issues, but it's wreaking havoc on my human nerves, ever so slightly soothed as they are by my slime sensibilities.
Speaking of the slimes we've seen, I can see why Big enjoys spending so much time leading them! None of them can talk like Big and I, using simple words and semi-complex concepts, but that does nothing to diminish the visible excitement they display upon seeing Big squeezing their way down the tunnel like a line of toothpaste headed for the brush. The interactions vary to some degree but usually remain within a defined template;
"Big! Come play, want to show new game!"
"Newborns? Can I play? Not yet? Okay."
"Look at this!"
That last line is shouted by a brown slime with the most rambunctious currents I've seen yet, who goes very still for a few seconds before almost folding themselves inside out when they project all of their mass into a long, cone-like shape with surprising speed... straight into the floor, launching them up like a pogo stick into the roof of the tunnel. They go splat, possibly taking some damage from what I can see of the few bits of slime matter dripping to the floor.
After giving them a stern talking to, which boils down to "don't hurt yourself, that's silly", Big congratulates the Brown Slime on what looks like the beginnings of a fun new game and sends them rolling off to show it to their friends.
Watching the little ball of mischief round the corner behind us, I pulse in concern, getting Big's attention. "Are you sure it's okay to encourage behaviour like that? That looked dangerous, slimes could get hurt trying to do something like that." Maintaining their unhurried pace through the tight confines of the fort's tunnels, Big ripples in both agreement and disagreement, shimmering with mirth when they see how unimpressed I am with their response.
Make up your mind, dang it!
"{Pogo} was hurt, yes, but they've learned better" Big explains. "They will teach others not to make that mistake, and the ones that make it anyway will learn as well. It looks fun, I'm excited to see what kind of game they end up making!" They laugh, jostling my co-passengers to the group's utter delight.
Reminding myself that I said I'd trust a slime's judgement when dealing with slimes, I nod my acquiescence, turning my attention to the wiggling forms surrounding me. "I guess-"
"I'll need to make sure {First Hunter} has a talk with {Pogo}," Big continues, the leader rising to the surface once more, the cogs of their mind all but visible as they turn. "This could be another useful game for the hunters to learn."
I look back at them in surprise. "A useful game? Are there more games the hunters play to practice their Skills?" Remembering what Big said about the hunters being some of the few slimes who actually took the Slime Shot Skill, it all clicks into place in my head. "You guys don't just play around for fun, you're training as well!"
Smacking me upside the membrane with a jet of current, Big all but huffs in indignation. "We do too! Good games just do more than entertain us, they teach us things as well!" Still a little rocked by the sudden jarring torrent, Big hits me with the disappointed glow. "That wasn't very nice, saying we don't play for fun. Please apologise."
Thoroughly reprimanded, I flatten myself. It feels like a more respectful move than just bowing my head. "I'm very sorry Big, I didn't mean to insult you or the other slimes. It won't happen again." Man, I've really gotta work on my painfully human perspective on play and fun, I don't want to disrespect my new culture. I need to get with the program, sooner rather than later!
Satisfied to leave it at that, Big turns a corner taking us yet deeper into the fort. For my part, I look to the Baby Slimes catching a ride with me. They've been hanging around me this whole time, seemingly fascinated by the way I talk with Big, rippling and rolling around like a trio of perky kids in their cradle. Every now and then they'll interject into mine and Big's conversations; a pulse of confusion here, a ripple of excitement there. It looks like, after seeing {Pogo} show off, the newborns are trying to turn themselves into little spikes too, though the best they seem to be able to manage is eggs or blunt-nosed surfboards.
"So you lot," I announce, making sure I'm using words they can hopefully understand, or at least get a general feel for, "we're going to see more slimes like us! Are you excited?" Hesitant at first, I nonetheless receive a chorus of sparkling excitement from my audience. "Great! I don't know how long I'll be staying with you, but I look forward to playing when I can. I'm actually a little older than you- or a lot? It's hard to explain -so I might be leaving the nursery before long. B-but don't worry!" I amend myself hastily when I notice them start wibbly-wobbling, sadness and little slime tears building as the meaning behind my words register with the infants. "I'll still come around to say hi and play! I promise!" Watching them for a moment until I'm sure they're not going to burst out in tears, the tension drains out of my membrane. Phew, that was a close one. I don't know how I'd go about handling baby tears, but I doubt it would end well, for me or the baby.
Thinking about evolution again while I bump the little slimes around like beach balls, I look up at Big's centre mass. "Hey, I'm curious. What kind of slime are you?"
"I am a Slime Commander," they reply absently, navigating the tunnel and playing with the babies at the same time. "When I was choosing how to evolve, the voice said I help other slimes work together. Make them better at things."
Damn, that sounds cool! "So you're like, the brains of the operation? What were you before?" If I talk to other slimes about their evolutions as well, maybe I can start figuring out how they work!
Latching onto what I said with a flare of curiosity, I realise my mistake. Luckily, Big is merciful and answers my question first. "I was an Orange Slime before evolving into a Slime Commander. What is a brain?"
I'm stuck explaining the form and function of a brain, and by extension the general anatomy of non-slime bodies, for the next ten minutes.
A minute later, Big squeezes into yet another tunnel squirreled away somewhere between the upper and lower crossroads. "The nursery is right through here!" This one, though, is almost big enough to accommodate them, heh, more of an extended hallway that swiftly opens out into the second most amazing thing I've seen today; the first being other slimes, the third being the Foundational Aspects of mana itself.
"Slime pile..." I breathe, looking out over an idyllic miniature cavescape of mossy, lichen covered rock; thick with soft, silty dirt. A large rock pool fills the centre of the small cave, filled to the brim with so many sleeping slimes that their collective mass displaces the water, cool liquid soaking into the silt around the rocky edges. It's almost impossible to tell where one slime stops and the next begins; they've all melted against each other like a bowl of chopped up jelly, boundaries there but difficult to discern. "Sleepy... slime... pile..."
"Ah, looks like they're taking a nap. I must've been down there longer than I thought," they mumble, their volume unchanged despite the presence of so many sleepy little slimes. Good thing we don't make any noise when we talk. Speaking of talking, I'm sure Big is still doing some of that, but I can't be sure, preoccupied as I am by the deliciously enticing puddle of sleepy goodness we're approaching. We're only a few brisk hops away when the slimes closest to the edge of the pool notice Big's presence.
A literal wave, languid and low, disturbs the stillness of the conglomerate, the motion as if Big's mere presence extends an invisible force that ripples across the gelatinous surface. This subtle motion is enough to stir the slimes; repeating waves of light accompanying their physical counterpart, calling to mind those documentaries of octopi and cuttlefish lighting themselves up with bands of shifting colour. It's mesmerizing; the cacophonous gestalt of greeting from the waking slimes both a wonder I can't look away from and an indecipherable mixing pot of emotions and intent I have no hope of following.
"Big!"/ "HI,-!" /"Who?"/ "Eeeeeee-" / "Big here-!"
"Alright, alright, settle down," Big ripples patiently, stopping a short distance from the now writhing pool while they wait for it to calm down. "Good. Now, I've brought some new friends for us to play with!" Coaxed out of their mass alongside my three little friends, I sit before the excited pool of slimes, feeling like a transfer being presented in front of the class. Again. "Alright, what have I missed?!"
Only this time, there's no awkward speech or stilted introduction. Instead, Big immediately settles down to talk to everyone, the slime pool rapidly flowing up and out of the water, then splitting apart into a crowd of individual slimes, each one excited to talk to their huge orange caretaker. There must be nearly thirty of them, nearly half the fort if what Big told me earlier about the current population is correct. Despite this being a nursery, I spy at least ten Adult Slimes amongst the bunch, each one joining the other infants in surrounding Big, obviously just as excited to speak to them as the little ones.
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Looking around, I call out to no one in particular. "Uhh, what am I supposed to do?". Big is currently engaged in what looks like twenty conversations at once, so I can't exactly get any clarification from them. They must be heinously overwhelmed-
Catching my name light up somewhere in that mess, I watch in astonishment as Big casually answers my question despite the myriad network of conversations they're currently participating in, their membrane lit up like a Christmas tree in order to speak to everyone at once. "Whatever you'd like. This lot only recently started their nap, they'll probably calm right down again after I leave. Go on, introduce yourself before they all fall asleep. You'll make some friends!" With that, they leave me to my devices, swimming back into the colourful depths of slime society.
Social butterfly my gelatinous ass! Butterflies have nothing on slimes when it comes to being vivacious and conversation-y; this scene is like something out of Wall Street, only happier, due to the lack of finance bros.
Yeeaah, nah; I'm not about to jump into that social melee. Glancing to either side at the newborns beside me, I look beyond the edge of the pool for somewhere quieter. "So you three, that looks a bit intense. How about we find a- oh, you don't mind? You're gonna go? Alright then, have fun," I wave weakly, watching them crawl off, happy to brave the lightshow of thirty excited slimes. "So, just me then..." Going back to looking for somewhere quieter, I crawl around the righthand side of the pool.
Approaching the water, I sense the dense mana of more slimes settled at the bottom. Looks like not everyone woke up to say hi. Slipping in, I let myself roll down the shallow, rocky slope, coming to rest upon a bed formed from the intermingled bodies of two or three napping slimes. I wasn't exactly sure what I was thinking when I came down here, it's not like I ever had siblings or friends I could huddle up with to take a nap, but my body seems to be doing all the thinking anyway. My membrane relaxing to a point I've yet to experience, I seep into the bed of slime, the pressure of other bodies and the water around us stopping our gelatinous insides from simply seeping out of paper thin protective membranes. Surrounded by the weight and presence of my kind to the point where I'm almost subsumed, a deep, decidedly animal instinct bubbles in satisfaction and comfort.
This is a thousand times more wiggly-nice and comforting than a weighted blanket, the almost imperceptible shift of napping slime on water more soothing than a kiss on the membrane and night time ambience. Melting within a collection of slimes I don't know and have never met, I am safer and more at home than I've ever felt at any point in either of my lives.
I could get used to this, I think to myself, my mind wandering over everything that has happened to bring me to this point as the pure, sleepy vibes of the pool dance with me at the edge of consciousness.
Waking up to find out I'd died; that hadn't been so bad, I wasn't leaving much behind aside from too much debt and too few shifts at a crappy fast-food joint. As for my state as a slime, that's actually been rather enjoyable, all things told. It's so much easier to find zest for life when you can literally bounce your way around, and talking is like painting.
Everything trying to kill me has been a serious downer though. I've tried to get out ahead of it, fight my way into the resources I need to get strong enough to survive, but it's been hard going. It's felt like... like I started so far behind everyone else that I didn't have the time to take things at my own pace. I pepped myself up and got into it, sure, but there's only so many times I can keep running out into danger before I'm reminded that I have no choice but to gather Impurities, because otherwise I'll be stuck unable to see for shit. Being aggressive in my pursuit of Impurities and levels is the only way I've managed to get strong enough to stay alive, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been exhausting.
Now, though, Big says I'm part of a community; that we don't just live together, but eat together, play together, sleep together... and die together, I add, mind shadowed by thoughts of adult hyenas hunting slimes while they try to provide for the fort. Despite my lamentations, I can see how lucky I've been. Not all slimes could have won the battles I've fought, nor found somewhere safe to rest like my little hidey-hole up in the tunnels. I've had a good start to life, I've already catalysed a Mana Heart, so there's nowhere to go from here but up.
Slowly, slimes big and small begin to return to the comfort of the pool, drifting down atop me and the others, burying us under the weight of our community. Said comforting weight finally tips my dozing mind over the edge, sending me drifting down into semi-but-not-really-consciousness, just one slime of many recuperating after the trials of a day lived in the Dungeon.
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Waking from my nap a few hours later, I quietly slip my way out of the sleepy slime pile without waking any sleepy slimes, the manoeuvre surprisingly easy to accomplish considering the weight of them all. Gliding smoothly between the layers like water flowing down a stream, I follow the path of least resistance until I slip out onto the surface, my membrane solidifying again now that I'm back in open air.
Ahhh, that was refreshing! I feel like a new slime! Taking a look around while feeling out the mana in my vicinity, I come to the conclusion that I'm the only one up. Not to worry, I guess I'll get my plans rolling sooner rather than later. Waving goodbye to the nursery, a single little tendril rises from the surface to wave in reply, sending me off on my happy, wobbly ol' way. First things first, I want to find the scouts Big mentioned. They'll know the area around here, which is important, but primarily, the slime I saved up in the tunnels was a scout; I want to say hi.
Crawling through the tunnels, it isn't too hard to find my way to the upper crossroads. Despite there being a number of caves and small dirt rooms spread throughout the fort, there aren't actually that many separate paths, most of the features spaced out over long stretches of winding, looping tunnel. Navigation is also made far easier by small splotches of slime painted on the floor near the wall at some intersections, each splotch conveying an impression of what lay down the path. Who put these here, I wonder? They aren't degrading, but how is it keeping the colour? Some kind of Skill maybe? However the slimes have achieved it, the signage is appreciated, leading me to the crossroads only five minutes after leaving the nursery.
Looking around the place, I see a few small groups of slimes, pairs and trios, wandering between tunnels or lounging about in the dirt. Approaching one such pair of loungers, I flash a greeting, the red and blue slimes flashing in reply. "Hiya, I'm looking for the scouts. Do you know where I might find them?"
The pair are silent, and I begin to wonder if I maybe should have asked some more... industrious members of the community, when the red one finally responds. "Talk like Big. Interesting." Painting a formless map of light across their membrane, they send me the impression of a route through the tunnels to a playroom filled with roots and plant life where I'll find the scouts. "We play soon. Yes?"
"Y-yeah, sure thing," I spark out, distracted by trying to retain the literal mindmap I was just given. Getting directions has never been so easy! Give it up for slimelight!
Pulsing my thanks, we say our goodbyes and I crawl off, heading down the tunnel that will take me to this jungle-esque playroom.
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"Well damn," I ripple, catching the movement of the ferns and grasses disturbed by creeping slimes here and there as they play a game of Hide and Find amongst the greenery. "They're pretty good hiders. Could do with some work, but not bad. I can't see the finder though?"
Pulsing in what looks like pride, the Adult Green Slime next to me looks out over the natural simulation of a dense jungle, dangling vines and roots descending from the ceiling in numbers so thick I'd barely be able to see more than a few meters ahead without my adapted mana sense. I ran into the scout just outside the entrance of the playroom, who greeted me like the child they believed me to be, even after I started speaking. They asked if I wanted to play inside with the other scouts, but once they learned I was here to ask questions, and that I was looking for one scout in particular, they led me in to watch the game finish, rippling with excitement.
"Those are finders."
Doing a double take, I strain my senses to catch anything more than a vague rustle of plants to mark slimes moving through the undergrowth, the handful I've located with my mana radar as good as invisible to anyone but me. "Those aren't the hiders?! You're all practically ninjas!"
"What is a ninja?"
"CHEESUS CHRIST ON A CRACKER!" Leaping away from the slime that suddenly appeared out of my blind spot with a yowl, I latch onto a low hanging root, dangling there like a bubble of sap stubbornly refusing to fall. "How in the shit did you do that?!" I shouldn't even have a blind spot, I was going three-sixty with my mana radar, nothing should be able to sneak up on me without me sensing it!
Glaring down at the slime beneath me, I can tell they're not like the others. For one thing, they're smaller than an adult but definitely bigger than a baby, and their currents are like nothing I've seen before. I'd barely even call them currents; this slime's mass moves in constant, smooth ripples, like the surface of a pond disturbed by rain, only in 3D. Even their membrane ripples lightly, not as a form of expression, but as a natural part of their movement, spreading out to cover the whole surface, only for another ripple to start and smother the vestiges of the last before stillness falls. It takes me a moment, but I finally figure out what their ripples- rather than the 'currents' I'm used to -convey; they're a clear slime.
"Sorry for scaring. What is a ninja?" They repeat the question after their brief apology, hungry for information like I'm hungry for chicken nuggets after days of nothing but raw monster. "Idea is strange... fun...?"
Still a little unnerved by this fella popping up out of nowhere, I feel around with my mana radar... yep. They're right there, clear as day. Giggling to myself at the unintended pun, I relax my grip on the root and plop down, landing next to the pair of scouts.
"Infant has questions," the green slime says, practically wriggling in anticipation, "about outside. Is curious."
Suddenly, I am keenly aware of the weight of some very intense observation originating from multiple sources surrounding me. Sweating bullets, I cast around with my mana radar tentatively... only to find that, somehow, I've been surrounded on all sides by ten slimy individuals, each one wriggling with barely constrained excitement. I even see the slime I came here for, stalking soundlessly toward me through the long grass.
Addressing me with all the pomp and circumstance of a wide-eyed pre-schooler asked to present their collection of cool rocks to the class, the clear slime edges forward fixing me with an intensity bordering on ardour. "You want to know? Are curious?"
I am beginning to wonder, in a very worried sort of way, whether I might have made an error.
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Cut to an hour later and I'm three contextual explanations deep in a conversation regarding the cost-benefit ratio of senbon in guerrilla warfare.
The second I explained what ninjas were, the clear slime and that lot were in love, asking question after question, taxing my knowledge of Naruto and, likely inaccurate, Japanese history to their limits. Once I introduced the concept of 'ninja tools', it was game over, so to speak. The scouts who didn't immediately run off to make little wooden stabby needles explained that they only ever used the Slime Shot skill for causing distractions- an inventive use of the Skill, I must admit -but that the slime coating required to use it effectively meant they might run low on mass if they get stuck hiding in enemy territory for long periods of time. As such, they never saw the use in developing it for offensive purposes, since mass = health.
"I understand that they're really cool," I strain, already resigned to the fact that my words are falling on the blind, "but you need to conserve your mass if you're out for long periods of time. You can't rely on running into an easy food source to replenish your health, that's half the issue the fort is facing right now!" Unfortunately, I can see I've already lost these four scouts, the group breaking off to practice shooting sharpened pieces of wood at each other, having whittled some down with their digestive molecules.
Now that I've given them the idea to use small, sharp weapons instead of rocks that require more mass expenditure, the ninja-enthusiasts are lost in the sauce, having a grand old time using each other as target practice.
For their part, the clear slime, who the others refer to as {See Through}, is restraining themselves, having agreed to answer more of my questions in thanks for introducing them to the concept of ninjas. I managed to get a good deal of general information about the area immediately surrounding the fort from the slimes who weren't taken in by the way of the shinobi, though I've ended up paying for it with a roaring headache. Holding two conversations at once is doable by splitting my 'talking space' between the two groups, but damn if it isn't a workout on the ol' noggin. I wouldn't have attempted it at all if I had any chance of getting a word through the voracious curiosity of these slimes.
"You want to know outside. Want to be scout," {See Through} asks, circling me like a child inspecting a colourful insect. "Are infant, yet have Mana Heart. Strange."
Eyeing the slime nervously, I get the strangest impression that {See Through} is seeing more of me than I'm comfortable with. "I don't necessarily want to be a scout, per se, I just thought the scouts would be the best slimes to ask about what's out there. How do you know I have a Mana Heart?" I shiver, an uncomfortable possibility occurring to me. "Can you see my status?"
I ripple with relief when they flash to the contrary, continuing their inspection of me. "Can't see 'status'. Can see mana inside you, same as Big. Same as me."
Instantly intrigued, I look at them real hard, straining my senses to their limit, but I'm unable to see any amount of mana inside them that might set them apart from the other scouts here. They must have some kind of adaptation, or Skill, or something. "You have a Mana Heart? Wait, Big does too?" I mean, it makes sense; these two are way more advanced than the other slimes in the fort, but why didn't I bump into it when I was inside their body? The only other one I've found was the Vine Parasite's, and that was hard as a rock. I'd begun to think it was only visible on my status screen, but there must be something weirder going on.
"Yes. Only ones in fort. Now you as well!" Finishing their circuit, {See Through} wobbles excitedly, watching the other slimes play with needles, before visibly reaffirming their resolve and looking back, near on stopping my heart with their innocently serious glow. So adorable! "Am best scout. Will answer questions."
"Alright," I begin, collecting myself. Time to ask what may be the most important questions I'll ever voice- or paint, whatever. "How do Mana Hearts work? And how," I stress, the intensity of my focus sending a wave of unease rippling through the six remaining individuals, "do the slimes in the fort become adults if they aren't going out to fight?"