With the forest of Living Trees trailing slowly behind us, we didn't run into any trouble on our way back to the cafe, but there was a soft buzzing in the background that made me think at least a few of the Sugar Stingers were following us. A giant hive dangled from one of the trees, which made me hopeful for honey if the bees liked their new home enough. Mmmm tea with honey. I bet Matcha would love it.

"You really are strange," Camellya said. "You're looking at that beehive like it's delicious instead of dangerous."

"Well honey's good for a lot of things!" I tapped my chin. "I could make honey cake, baklava, toffee, all sorts of pies, you name it."

Dahlia moaned. "All of them. Make all of them and invite me over."

I laughed as we walked up to the cafe. The fire slimes were all cuddled together sleeping in their new firepit, but the rest must have been in the backyard or inside. Which was probably for the best until I figured out what to do with the trees. They towered over the cafe by at least ten feet, casting huge shadows that would probably concern any adventurer who came by. And Marvin. Possibly the slimes too. Wait, did slimes and tree monsters even get along?

Suddenly this whole plan felt a little haphazard.

I turned around, smiling at the trees. "Welcome to the Slime Serenitea Cafe! Feel free to look around and see where you might want to settle in." A soft breeze rustled through their leaves as if they were debating before one walked straight up to the cafe's front door. "Wait! I don't think you'll fit inside, I'm sorry. Maybe we could go out back?"

The tree creaked as it leaned over, touching the ground with one of its branches. Leaves and twigs sprouted from it, twisting and curling into a cozy little bench beside the door.

"Ohhh, that's amazing!" Dahlia exclaimed as she stared up at the tree, patting its bark affectionately. "You're such a good tree monster."

"I agree. That bench looks wonderful!" I hurried over to try it out, sitting down with a sigh of contentment. It was perfectly shaped and much smoother than I'd imagined. "Thank you for the gift."

The tree patted my head with its soft leaves before rumbling off to rejoin the others who were wandering around the yard. The fire slimes had woken up and were currently trying to use one of the other trees as fuel. I raced over, snatching them away from the poor tree.

"I'm so sorry!" I held the fire slime tight, patting the spot where her flames had touched the tree. It was warm, but not charred at all. "The fire slimes just love to play, that's all."

The tree swayed, lifting its branches over the firepit. Chunks of wood rained down, filling the firepit to the brim. The fire slimes cheered as they climbed the giant pile of wood, bouncing and wiggling like they were the happiest little slimes ever. I smiled, glad the trees were fitting right in and didn't seem to mind sharing wood with us.

"Hey, Hazel?" Fiona called out. "Is it okay if we hang those lanterns up for you?"

"Unless you're busy hugging trees," Camellya said. "I thought you'd be more excited about my gift, but no, you're just trying out furniture and building bonfires."

I winced. "Sorry, but I don't actually know what they do. I'm guessing it's something travel related?"

Dahlia grinned. "See? I told you she probably didn't know. You can't just expect every mage to be an expert in magical relics."

"They should be." Camellya marched over, holding her hand out for the lanterns. "Give them here. We'll attach them to each side of the cafe's front door, anchoring them to it. As long as the flames are lit, we can create a portal to your door from any other door we link our lanterns to."

"That's amazing!" My eyes widened as I grabbed them out of my inventory. "Are you sure you want to just give them to me? They sound pretty useful."

Camellya nodded. "Keep feeding us good food and we'll call it even."

"And," Dahlia joined in, "if you could make us a huge batch of cookies, I'd really appreciate it."

"Deal. Do you want any buffs on them?" I asked.

Garrik raised an eyebrow. "You can buff food?"

I hadn't been doing that for anyone at the cafe so far, but maybe it was time to put my skills to good use. These adventurers had stood by and let me handle things my way, protected me while I was doing it, and had given me a great gift. Plus, they were so powerful that there was no reason for them to be picking fights with weaker monsters like slimes anymore.

"I can buff any one stat per batch of cookies," I said, nodding. "I can even make them stay fresh for longer." He stared at me for so long I started to get uncomfortable and decided to hold the lantern up next to the door for Camellya. "Like this?"

"Yeah, we've just gotta find something to hold it up with." She started going through her inventory, but before she could grab anything, a large tree branch leaned in over her shoulder. It tapped the wall of my cafe, letting the wood grow and curl around the handle of the lantern, securing it in place. "Oh, well, that works too, I guess."

Camellya shuffled over to the other side, motioning for me to hold a lantern there too. I did as she asked, waiting to see if the tree would help us out here as well. A branch slowly moved over my hand, bringing the cafe's exterior to life as the wood grew around the lantern as if it was designed that way.

"That is so cool," I whispered, smiling at the tree. "Thank you for your help."

Its leaves fluttered and I could have sworn I heard a happy little chirp. Wait, no, that was one of the slimes. Matcha rolled out of the cafe, bouncing against the tree's trunk as a stopping point. The tree reached out one of its leaves to touch the tea leaves on Matcha's head. The slime froze, then giggled as if the tree had tickled him. He bounced happily as the tree carefully picked him up, setting the slime in its branches.

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"Glad you approve of our new guests," I said with a smile. But something was still bothering me. Garrik's stare was burning a hole in my back. I took a deep breath, turning to the burly adventurer. "Is something wrong?"

He tilted his head, frowning. "I just don't get it. You can cook food that not only tastes good, but gives people buffs too. Is that how you get XP?"

"Yes?" Based on how hard he was staring at me, it felt like I should be keeping that information secret in the future. I didn't want to attract unnecessary attention. I just wanted to bake, level up, and play with as many slimes as possible. "That's how the culinary mage class works. I level up through baking and get drops from feeding monsters."

Camellya's eyes widened. "So that's why all that wood and honey dropped even though you hadn't killed anything. That's insane."

"How'd you do it?" Dahlia whispered, moving closer. "How'd you get a new class?"

All eyes were on me, like I had the secrets of the dungeon locked away somewhere. I searched for Fiona, but she must have wandered off somewhere. So it was up to me to answer them.

"Ummm...I'm not really sure." I shrugged. "I just got to the dungeon and picked up a sandwich instead of a weapon."

It sounded kind of ridiculous saying it out loud, but it's what happened. Honestly, me getting this class probably had more to do with the system than anything I did. It had never really explained why it gave me the class, but it felt like it was bored. Like it wanted to try new things. Maybe it would be open to other new classes if somebody opened its mind to the idea.

Matcha bounced in the tree, making a few leaves rain down on me. The tree moved, walking over to the others with Matcha chirping out noises like he was directing them somewhere.

"Matcha?" I called out, but they were on the move already. I turned to the adventurers. "Sorry, but I should probably see what they're up to."

Dahlia nodded. "We'll just wait inside with Fiona and discuss a few things."

That sounded a little ominous, but I didn't have time to think about it while the trees were heading towards the backyard. Was Matcha bringing them to the garden? They'd probably enjoy all the plants back there, so it was a good idea. Maybe they'd want to settle in around it, like living guardians of the garden. I bet the dirt slimes would love having new friends to play with too. Just as long as they didn't mess up the garden with their root attacks or something.

I picked up the pace, catching up to the trees in no time. "This is our garden. Mossy, the big dirt slime in the middle, takes care of everything with his dirt slimes." A few slimes bounced over, eying the trees like they weren't sure what to do. I patted their heads, smiling. "Slimes, these are our new friends the Living Trees. They're going to stay with us for a while."

Matcha rolled down a branch, dropping out of the tree like a rock. I rushed to catch him as he giggled up a storm, wiggling like this was a new game. I shook my head, laughing. He was adorable, but such a handful sometimes. When I set him on the ground, he hopped on an empty patch of dirt, nodding at the trees. They dug their roots into the ground, ripping up the soil and flinging dirt everywhere. I took a few steps back, but the dirt slimes literally dove in.

They leapt under and over the tree roots like they were running an obstacle course and the trees obliged by moving into different positions to keep it interesting. All wariness left the slimes as they sank into the freshly turned soil the trees had opened up for them. I picked up the watering can, drizzling not only the dirt slimes but the trees too. Their leaves perked up and one of them patted me on the head again.

"You're kind of adorable," I said, realizing it was the same tree who'd knocked me down at first. It was the first one to drink the sleepy time tea too. "Hmmm...do you mind if I name you? It would be easier to tell everyone apart with names."

The tree tapped a branch against its bark before bending forward slightly like it was nodding. Which meant I now had to think of a bunch of tree names that they'd be happy with.

"Ummm, what about Barkley?" I shook my head, already disliking it. "Or Leafie? Maybe Rootbert?"

None of them really fit this tree's vibes. Sure, it had attacked me, but it had also been willing to try my tea right away. After that, the tree had been nothing but sweet, giving me headpats and hugs with its twiggy branches ever since. It had even gifted me that new bench and helped with the lanterns. It deserved a good name, something sweet and kind so nobody thought of it as a monster anymore.

"What do you think of Sappy? Because you're sweet as syrup?" I frowned. "Syrup is actually kind of nice too, but you're not a maple tree so maybe it wouldn't make sense."

The tree held up a branch and it reminded me so much of a person holding up their finger to say wait that I couldn't help but smile. The tree started shaking, all of its leaves falling to the ground in a torrent of greenery. My eyes widened.

"Are you okay?" I asked, but it kept holding out its branch to keep me away. "If something's wrong, maybe I can help."

The tree trembled, shaking until every single branch was bare. My chest ached as the other trees watched on in silence. Weren't they going to help their friend? Unless trees didn't think of each other like that or maybe this tree wasn't actually in pain? It looked like new buds were forming on its branches. New leaves sprouted, even bigger and healthier than the old ones and they were shaped almost like a star. Or a maple leaf...

My mouth dropped open as the entire coloring of the tree changed. "Are you a maple tree now?" The tree bobbed in a nod. "You didn't need to do that just for me. Honestly, you never need to change for somebody else. You were perfect just like you were." The tree patted me on the head so softly that tears pricked my eyes. I rubbed them away, smiling. "Well, if this is what you want, then okay. I'll call you Syrup from now on."

It threw its branches in the air and swayed in a happy dance. The other trees turned to each other, wind rustling through their leaves as they discussed something. Then they all started trembling, shaking off their old leaves and growing new ones too. Some became maple trees like Syrup, but others grew glowing leaves like I'd never seen before, illuminating the garden in cool blue light. Others turned white like birch trees and still others morphed into fruit-bearing trees full of apples, pears, and cherries.

"Sweet Potato," I whispered, marveling at the beautiful myriad of trees in front of me, "what’s happening to them?"

[They're evolving beyond the jungle limitations of this floor...]

"Evolving?" I frowned. "Like the slimes?"

[Not quite. More like they're choosing who they want to be for now. Living Trees can change with the seasons, but it takes a lot of energy, so they only do it when they feel safe. They'll need to rest and recharge if you want them to stay healthy]

I nodded. "I can do that. Thank you."

The trees were a dazzling array of colors now, some I recognized and some that felt completely fictional like the ones growing glowing berries like lanterns. It was all so overwhelming, but I was happy that they felt safe enough to become who they really wanted to be here. It was beautiful and magical. They started moving around the perimeter of the garden, creating a beautiful barrier between the dirt slimes and the rest of the dungeon.

They slowed down, rooting into the soil at a snail's pace, as if it would be their last time moving for a while. I walked over to Syrup, patting its bark softly as the tree settled into its new home.

"You're safe here," I said. "I'll make sure you get all the rest you need."

The tree patted my head one last time before going dormant. No matter how long I was here, this dungeon kept surprising me. I put my hand to my chest, appreciating my cafe more and more. It not only let me level up, but it gave others a safe place to call home too.

I wanted to keep providing that sense of safety in the middle of this crazy dungeon, so I'd work hard to make this cafe the best it could be. This was my own little sanctuary in the dungeon, the one place that I could help anyone I wanted and meet all sorts of new friends. I loved it with all my heart.