With full bellies and almost a hundred cookies in our inventories, I was now a level 3 culinary mage with even more new skills available. I was too tired to look at them yet though since cooking in such small batches on a portable stove took way longer than using a full oven. Especially since I had to keep waiting for my mana to refill even after upgrading it to 6.

That ingredient efficiency skill just ate up too much mana for my liking, but at least we'd have monster treats for a while and that was too important to pass up.

Getting to the safe zone had to be my next priority, because that was the only place I'd be able to bake in peace with a potentially full kitchen. The idea was pretty exciting actually, so I packed up all my stuff and got to my feet.

“You ready?” I asked Fiona, who groaned and held her stomach.

“Let me lie here for a bit longer.”

She’d eaten way more cookies than I expected, but I took it as a compliment that my food was worth eating too much of. Even the slime looked like he was full as cookies hovered in his translucent body.

The idea of a cafe called to me and the more I baked, the more real it felt. Memories tugged at my mind about a cozy place where people could gather and enjoy good food and drinks. It felt like a dream I’d had for a long time, something deep-rooted that wouldn’t be so easy to erase. Was something like that really possible in a dungeon though?

I fed the slime one last cookie, which was a [Chocolate Chip Cookie Level 4] after all my hard work and repetition. Turns out the system gave out mastery bonuses for things you repeated enough times, so my cookies were now baking one level higher than my own level. That would come in handy for sure when facing tougher monsters like those crispy cluckers from earlier.

It seemed like everything I did put XP toward something, which was honestly a little hard to keep track of. Making progress and being rewarded for things felt so satisfying though. I bet everyone who got to the final floor of the dungeon felt like they'd accomplished the biggest thing in their entire lives. A goal worth working toward, even if I was planning a roundabout way of getting there.

“So, how do we get to the next floor?” I asked.

“You need one of these.” Fiona pulled an ancient-looking bronze key out of her inventory. “Hold it out like you’re unlocking a door and one will just sort of appear for you.”

“Sounds easy enough, but where did you get the key from?”

She winced. “They’re given out randomly from monster drops, so I don’t know how you’ll find any without fighting.”

This dungeon really was set up for fighting and nothing else. It’s like the whole concept revolved around fight, kill, repeat. It didn’t sit right with me.

“You can use mine for now,” Fiona said. “This one's a mystery key though, so it could take us one, two, or three floors down. We won't know until we use it."

"So we could end up pretty much at the safe zone if we're lucky?"

Fiona shook her head. "There's a floor boss we'll have to beat before we get there. Even the keys won't skip that."

"A floor boss?" She hadn't mentioned that fun little detail before, but how bad could it be? We were still on the starter floors and I had delicious cookies. "I'm sure we can handle it."

She laughed. "Look at you all cocky after leveling up a bit. If we end up at the floor boss, we're screwed though. Level 3 is not high enough, unless you're okay with me killing it for you."

I reached over to pet the slime, remembering why I was doing all this. I didn't want to hurt anyone. "Okay, we'll level more first then so my baking will be good enough to win the boss over."

"That's the spirit." Fiona stood up, stretching her arms high. "Now, you’ll want to hold onto that slime tight. Just in case.”

“Just in case of what?”

“You’ll see.” She held the key out, summoning an old wooden door with intricate carvings on it. “Remember to hold onto the slime.”

That warning felt far too ominous, but she opened the door and stepped inside before I could ask again. I picked up Jellybean, holding him close. The other side of the door was so dark I couldn’t see anything. Logically there should be stairs or something since we were going down a floor, right?

Jellybean chirped in my arms, but didn’t quiver in fear or anything, so this must be fine. I took a deep breath and stepped through.

The floor was slick and angled down so much that I slipped, almost falling forward. My instinct was to reach out and catch myself, but the slime pushed back against me, knocking me safely onto my backside. Then we started sliding, faster and faster down a chute that bent and curved making my head spin.

The dungeon floors were connected by slides??

Before I could think about that too long, I was shooting out the other door into open air. My stomach dropped as we plummeted toward a massive blue slime fighting against what looked like a group of adventurers. I clutched Jellybean tight, preparing for the worst. Even if we survived the fall, how would we win over something like that?

[Colossos Slime: Level 10]

I glared at the message box. It was three times my level? Really? I clamped my eyes shut as we continued to fall even though we seemed to be moving slower than before. Almost like we had a parachute or the air had thickened.

"You'll be fine!" Fiona shouted. "Just relax."

Like that was ever going to happen. I curled up into a ball as we gently hit the slime's jiggly body and bounced off it, landing on the ground safe and sound. I opened my eyes in awe as the slime towered over me.

"Thanks," I said, my heartbeat pounding in my ears. "You saved us."

The big slime stared down at me, but I wasn't afraid like when those crispy cluckers had chased me. Slimes were different. There was just something comforting about them, even when they were twice my height.

I reached out, running my hand across the slime's side. "You're a good slime."

Jellybean leaned forward to brush against the colossos slime too, which seemed to be a deciding factor because the giant slime nuzzled us back, rubbing against my hand warmly.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Awww...." A smile spread across my face as I wrapped both arms around the big guy in a hug. "You're adorable."

A man gasped behind me. "What the hell is she doing? Is she trying to get eaten?"

"No," Fiona said in an amused voice. "She's just...a slime friend."

My cheek pressed against the big slime as I gave him one last squeeze. It felt like hugging a giant tree when your arms couldn't wrap all the way around it. Then I stood back and glanced at Fiona to make sure she was fine too.

"Guess we have bad luck with floor keys, huh?"

She grinned. "Or good luck. Depending on how much that slime friend title helps you."

The other two adventurers glared at me, one of them stepping forward, hand clenched on his sword. "I don't care who you are, but we were in the middle of a boss battle. Step aside."

The big slime whimpered and the sound tugged at my heart. How could they attack something so sweet?

I stood firm, putting myself between him and the adventurers. "No way. You'll have to go through me."

"That's fine with us," the angry one said. "You'll just respawn on the first floor, far away from here."

My eyes widened. So that's what happened when you died in the dungeon? You respawned? That was actually very reassuring. I'd risk a respawn if it meant protecting this big boss slime.

I glanced back, trying to see if it had a health bar.

[20/500 HP]

No! It was so close to death.

"Will the slime respawn too?" I asked Fiona.

She frowned. "I've never asked, but I think so? Nothing truly dies in the dungeon."

I couldn't take that risk, not if she wasn't absolutely sure. The small slime had somehow hopped on top of the larger one like a little slime hat. They were honestly just too adorable. I'd protect them with everything I had.

"Just listen," I said, facing the new adventurers, "you don't have to fight him. I can help you win the boss over in a way that everyone wins."

The one in back frowned. "How would you do that?"

I pulled out my secret weapon: the delicious chocolate chip cookies we'd made earlier. "With these!"

They stared at me, hard, before breaking down laughing. "She's crazy. Let's get this fight over with."

Then they charged at us. My feet felt like lead, unable to move. I wanted to protect the slimes, but I also didn't want to die even if there was a respawn. Would I still be the same person after that? Would I--

"Knock it off," Fiona shouted before barreling into the men and shoving them out of the way. "The lady said she'd win the slime over. So you're going to let her try."

She clenched her hammer in her hands as a gleeful smile spread across her face, reminding me of when she scared the chickens off. The adventurers cowered, scooting back just a bit, and I couldn't help but smile.

Fiona had saved me once again.

"How'd I get so lucky meeting you?" I asked.

She gripped her hammer tighter, keeping an eye on the adventurers. "Just feed the slime a cookie, okay?"

"No problem." I turned my back on the adventurers, certain that Fiona would keep them away, and faced the boss slime again. "I can't heal you, but I do have some cookies if you want them."

They were only level 4 cookies, but hopefully my slime friend skills would help and maybe the slime being low on health would affect things too. There was so much I didn't know about my abilities, but I prayed this would work. I didn't want anyone to hurt him again.

I held a handful of cookies out to the boss slime and waited to see what he would do. The little slime on top chirped and wiggled, as if urging the colossos slime to take them.

The big boss opened his mouth wide enough to gobble me up, but just took the cookies instead. The feel of a slimy mouth on my skin tickled and I couldn't help but laugh. As the slime munched on the cookies, he perked up, swaying side to side.

"Do you like them?" I asked, reaching for more out of my inventory. "You can have as many as you want. If we run out, I'll bake more."

After eating every cookie I had, message boxes started appearing in the air.

[Slime Friend title upgraded to Slime Guardian, because you are far too impressive to be anything less.]

[New Skills Available]

A warm fuzzy feeling settled in my chest as I read that, grateful that the system thought a simple baker like me was impressive. If it hadn't changed to let me bake for these creatures instead of fight them, I'd have been miserable.

[Colossos Slime Defeated]

[Rewards: Slime Jelly, Sugar, a New Recipe for Slime Pudding, and a Boss Slime Bracelet]

The ingredients rained down on us, disappearing with a soft chime as they got close to each person. The bracelet only fell for me though, sliding over my wrist perfectly. It glowed a soft blue and felt like it was made of slime material, elastic and smooth just like they were. What was it for?

[Boss Slime Bracelet is a cosmetic item that adds a passive boost to all slime guardian skills. If the boss slime trusts you, so will the others]

The boss slime nudged me, staring at me expectantly. I smiled, hugging the slime tight.

"Thank you for the bracelet," I said, admiring how its color matched the slime perfectly. "It's beautiful."

The slime wiggled happily in my arms.

"What the hell is this reward?" the angry adventurer asked. "Food? We got rewarded with food??"

Fiona shrugged. "If you knew how good that food could taste, you wouldn't be complaining."

As they grumbled, the boss slime bounced out of the way, revealing a beautiful metal door behind him.

"Is that the way to the safe zone?" I asked.

Fiona nodded. "Yup, you can only find it once the slime's been defeated. Guess the dungeon uses that term pretty loosely with you though, huh?"

The other adventurers pushed past us, shaking their heads.

"We didn't even get any XP for that," one of them said. "Next time, stay out of our way, slime lover."

"Yeah yeah," I said, rolling my eyes as I leaned against the boss slime and whispered, "I'll save you every time if I need to."

He pressed up against me, almost knocking me over. I laughed and hugged him again.

"We should get going," Fiona said. "The door usually stays open until the boss respawns, but since the boss never died..."

"You have no idea what'll happen, right?"

"Exactly."

I patted the boss slime one more time. "We've gotta go. It was nice to meet you."

The slime's body drooped and Jellybean fell off. I caught him in my arms, feeling horrible that I was taking one of them with me and leaving the other. He was the boss for this floor though. I couldn't really take him with me...could I?

Fiona led me toward the door, but when I turned back and saw the boss slime all by himself on this big empty floor, I couldn't help myself.

"Do you want to come with us?" I asked hopefully.

The giant slime bounced in excitement, but paused, blinking slowly. Then he shook his body and moved back. Jellybean chirped at him as an ache spread through my chest. He didn't think he should come with us? Was that because he didn't want to or because he wasn't allowed to?

"I'll take care of you," I promised. "I'm not really sure how, but I'll figure it out. You don't deserve to be killed by adventurers day after day, respawning just to fight again. You deserve to relax and eat all the cookies you want."

"Are you sure about this?" Fiona asked. "The town won't like it. They'll probably kick you out."

"Then they'll kick me out," I said with a shrug. "If they're that cold-hearted, they don't deserve my food anyway."

At that, the boss slime hopped closer, following me to the door that was far too small for his huge body. The boss slime changed his shape into more of a rectangle, just barely squeeeezzinnng through the door.

That silly little squeeze made my heart soar. I saved another adorable slime today, which was the best feeling. Protecting them had started off as a way to keep my mind busy, focusing on one objective at a time to stay sane. But now? Protecting them meant something more. They were innocents in a violent world that didn't even give them a chance.

I'd protect as many of them as I could and hopefully one day, this dungeon would be a safer place for them. Everyone deserved to feel safe.