With a colorful swirl the group appeared at the back of a small circular cavern that was only about ten feet in diameter. A dwarf stood by the only exit of the cavern. "Quickly move along before the next group shows up." The dwarf said loudly when Garrett and his group didn't move fast enough for his liking. "We don't want any mishaps like last month." The group quickly moved out of the cavern and were greeted by a view of a large building with several symbols of gods carved upon its facade.

An elf quickly stepped toward them. "If you need healing, we have plenty of clerics on hand at the temple of all gods. The best healing for the best prices." He said in a professional tone.

"We're good. Thanks." Garrett said quickly and moved away toward what was a market set down the road from the exit. The dungeon's exit was only a few streets away from the adventurer's guild and the market had been setup to buy the various items adventurers found in the dungeon or sell items to restock before the adventurers dove through the dungeon again. "Let's get to the guild and drop of these quests really quick and then we can see if there are any other quests we can do before the day is out."

"I need to pick up some more ore to help repair my armor in future dives." April said. Kyle waived his tentacles and pointed to himself as if to ask if they could find something for him as well.

"Thats fine." Garrett replied. "But I don't know if we can find anything for you Ky-ugh Squishy. I've never seen slimes use anything like equipment before." Kyle formed the top of his blob into a rough facsimile of a classic wizard's hat. "A hat could work." Garrett nodded. "At least you would be fashionable."

"And finally, not naked." Blixie chuckled. Kyle put his tentacles on, what would be, his hips in a slime's version of a huff. Garrett and April chuckled.

The group wandered from stall to stall to see if there was anything they could use. They found a few chunks of low-grade ore that April could use, and even a classic pointy black wizard hat that they bought for Kyle, though the hat slowly melted as they wandered the rest of the market. They made it back to the guild as the last of the hat dissolved into the depths of Kyle's body.

"I guess that's why slimes don't use equipment. Sorry buddy." Garrett said to Kyle. "Maybe if we ever find some clothes specifically made to withstand acid, we can try again."

"Or there might be a skill that would let you change the color and texture of your slime." Blixie said, trying to cheer Kyle up. "Kind of like a kraken, but I was only trained on the skills of dungeons. Sorry."

Kyle slumped a little and waved his tentacle in a 'don't worry about it' sort of gesture.

"Let's get these quests turned in and then we can check our stats to see what skill gains we got out of that dive." Garrett said. The group turned in the quests and went up to their room to wait for the next day of quests to avoid suspicions.

******************************************************************************************************

"How am I still level two?!" Garrett groaned. "We even made sure that I got the killing blow on that mole."

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"That's pretty weird." Kyle said while he walked around looking like a child's drawing of a cat. April just merrily muched on her iron ore. "Maybe it just wasn't enough to push you over in experience. When was the last time you killed something up close?"

"Since the bandits I rescued you from maybe? or the goblins? I'm not sure." Garrett said in frustration. "But the experience on my status window hasn't even changed since we went into the dungeon. I don't even think it changed when I killed the bandits now that I think about it. have you heard of anything like this Blixie?"

"I don't think so." Blixie responded as she sat in the air, her wings fluttering quickly behind her. "I can ask one of my old mentors from the academy if you want."

"How long would that take?"

"I will have to leave for a bit, but I should have the answer by the morning." Blixie said with a smile.

"I would appreciate that, Blixie. I don't want to be wandering the world cursed to never again gain a level or new skills." Garrett said with a sigh.

"To be fair, Garrett, you are probably the strongest person at your level since you really don't need to worry about getting hurt."

"I guess so, but getting to figure out how to use new abilities was so fun."

"I know. Anyway, I should get going. You guys rest up and I will be back in the morning." Blixie quickly flew through the window and out into the city.

"I wonder how far she will have to go?" April said still popping small nuggets of ore into the giant mouth on her stomach. "Hopefully not back into the dungeon."

*************************************************************************************************

Blixie quickly flew through the glittering lights of the dwarven city. She whizzed past cats laying on roofs and wove through chimneys. "Ah, it feels so nice to just go for a nighttime flight by yourself sometimes." She said to herself. She watched the people that still wondered around even at this late hour. "I guess when you live underground, the time of day doesn't really matter." She observed.

Soon enough she had zipped through the short entrance tunnel and out into the night sky. Free from the confines of the mountain she inhaled deeply savoring the cool night air. "Right, time to figure out this problem." She looked around and quickly found what she needed. A puddle from a rainstorm earlier that day had formed behind a house near the edge of the town. The puddle was large enough that if she laid down in it, she wouldn't be able to touch both sides at once. She landed and walked around the outside of the puddle until she could see a complete reflection of one of the moons overhead. "Perfect"

She closed her eyes and started to hum. Softly at first, followed by lightly swaying from side to side. She slowly increased the volume of her humming, and her swaying flowed into a series of moves that made her look as if she was fighting invisible enemies. Jabs and kicks flowed smoothly into leaps and ducks. The moonlight reflected in the puddle slowly grew brighter as small symbols formed and swirled through the water.

After half an hour Blixie slowed her movements and came to a stop. Sweat glistened on her form, reflecting the light shining from the puddle. "I wish there was an easier way to do this." She huffed. She pulled the small dagger from her belt and watched as the light shone brighter and brighter. The symbols swirled and coalesced into the center of the moon's reflection. She drew the dagger across her palm and held her hand over the symbols. A few drops of her blood splashed into the water and mixed with the swirling symbols. The symbols swirled faster and faster blurring into a solid ring that started at the center of the moons reflection and slowly expanded, stopping at the edges of the moon. The reflection of the moon was now an inky darkness, deeper even than the shadows around her. Blixie took a deep breath, flew into the air, and dove into what was once the reflection of the moon without even a splash. As soon as she fully disappeared the ring of light snapped closed and vanished, the puddle once again just reflecting the light of the moon above.