A Slightly Serious Secret

A tinge of worry tugs at the back of the barbarian’s brain.

Darkness looms around Krvavy and her two girls as they make their way into the depths of this large cave they call home. The soft sunlight spilling into the grotto grows weaker and weaker as they walk further from that plant filled paradise, having to compete with the gentle glow emanating from the water that flows from the many clusters of hot springs.

The crystalline lantern held in Inanna’s left hand shines brighter. Long shadows stretch out from around the three of them, dancing behind each small rock or bit of debris.

Krvavy gently bites the inside of her cheek. Her heart isn’t beating fast or loud, but its constant thump thumping is... hard to ignore. The faint bit of anxiousness hanging at the edge of her awareness only seems to grow with each step she takes.

Much to her annoyance.

There is no reason for Krvavy to be concerned. Because, if there was, then her girls would have told her about... whatever it is that they’ve been hiding... far sooner than this. The very fact that they’ve been pushing this off since before she even returned from Raseyne tells her that it really isn’t anything to worry about.

But that isn’t stopping her mind from wandering into those more paranoid places.

“Rrmmmghhn...” Khalia quietly grumbles, sounding a little frustrated by her inability to entirely cuddle against Krvavy’s side. Her strong fingers dig into the Drakling’s wrist, holding her Mate’s right arm in place as she squishes her big green-skinned breasts, and nearly her whole torso, into it. But that obviously isn’t enough for the Orc.

The corners of Krvavy’s lips twitch upwards just a bit.

“Mm.”

That light hum draws her gaze down towards the wonderful Dwarf walking by her side.

Inanna gives the barbarian’s much bigger hand a squeeze as she holds it at the height of her own shoulder. Any lower and Krvavy would have to stoop down to accommodate the Dwarf. Which is something that she would do without hesitation, if asked. “This way.” The grey-skinned shortstack steps off the simple path, leading them beyond even where her workshop stands.

Krvavy’s eyes narrow slightly.

It is a struggle to not glare down at the Dwarf. And the only reason Krvavy resists that urge is because Inanna is as naked as she and Khalia are. Which means that those gigantic grey-skinned globes that this shortstack calls her tits are on full display, jiggling and bouncing despite her fairly steady gait. The plump and puffy nipples that crown those far more than merely bountiful breasts are just so... eye-catching... the areola of each one is the size of a saucer, large enough to fill up a small bowl, and such a wonderful shade of dark grey... So pebbly, yet still soft...

The Drakling’s dick throbs, threatening to swell up to its full size.

With absolutely no subtlety, Krvavy forcibly tears her gaze away from the short and immensely stacked woman that she is lucky enough to love and be loved by. Heat fills her pale cheeks, which is promptly ignored. “What is this secret that you’ve been keeping?” The barbarian blurts out, both looking for a distraction and simply because she can’t hold her tongue any longer.

“You recall the incident we had in the kitchen while the two of you were away, yes?” Inanna returns Krvavy’s question with one of her own. Though she doesn’t wait for a response before continuing on. “The vague ‘spill’ that required you to restock some of our cooking supplies, specifically a few bags of grain and flour, was not caused by any of us. It was the result of... an intruder of sorts.”

Hearing that immediately causes Krvavy to tense up. She forces herself to take a deep breath and then slowly exhale. If someone, an actual person, got in here... then she would have heard about it before now. Plus, no one got hurt and all that was lost was some very basic foodstuffs, so... “Was it an animal?”

“By some definition.” The Dwarf nods her head, before seeming to realize just how cryptic that response was. “It will be easier to explain once you see it for yourself, my Ushumgal.”

“Rrrghnh...” Khalia growls softly, pulling her gaze away from her Mate’s swaying semi-stiff shaft to glare at the busty shortstack instead. “Speak straight.”

Copper-orange eyes meet amber-gold as Inanna casually lifts the mana-powered lantern held in her left hand. The light spilling forth from its crystalline bulb shines further into the cave, illuminating the mostly flat expanse near the furthest and most isolated cluster of hot springs. An unnaturally square block looms out of the darkness ahead, one that is no more than half this Dwarf’s height. “We have been keeping it over here ever since the incident.”

Krvavy blinks, raising a single eyebrow as the lantern’s cold light gleams off that cube. It is metal. Dull and unpolished, but metal all the same. Copper, if she had to guess by the colour alone. “You put it in a box?” The faintest bit of disbelief tinges her voice. “And it has been in there for a week?”

“Yes.”

Great... Guess they killed the thing already... Because that box is not particularly large and there is no way that Beryl would tolerate trapping a live animal in there, leaving it to suffocate or starve to **** while all alone and in the dark. But that just raises more questions. What is so important about it that Krvavy’s girl’s want to show her a carcass? A week old, and almost certainly rotting, carcass?

“Rrrrghhhnn...” Khalia grumbles a little, her plump lips curling in disgust as she seems to assume the same thing that her Mate does.

“This ‘box’ was made in relative haste.” Inanna frowns as she makes that admission, letting go of Krvavy’s hand and walking ahead to that copper cube. Its crude construction becomes all the more obvious as the light of her lantern washes over it. Slight scratches cover each uneven face, the irregular edges curled and quite clearly hammered together. “I did not have the time to make hinges and a proper latch. So you may need to bring out your Soulbound Weapon to help crack it open.”

The Were-Beast reluctantly releases her grip on Krvavy’s arm, keeping quite the distance between herself and the copper crate that contains some presumably noxious contents. She pushes her hesitant Mate forwards. And ignores the weak glare that earns her.

Krvavy grimaces, not looking forward to what will come next. But there is no point in delaying it either. And so, the Drakling promptly lowers herself to the ground, Soulbound weapon manifesting in her right hand. Her left palm presses down atop that relatively small copper box, holding it in place while lining up the edge of her trusty weapon’s large axehead, digging it in just beneath the crudely curled lip.

She takes a very deep breath, expecting to have to hold it for quite some time, and twists her axe.

A hiss of air escapes past the broken seal.

Much to Krvavy’s surprise, her eyes don’t suddenly start to sting. She tentatively breathes out then back in again. The scent of copper fills the air without a hint of anything putrid. Her axe flashes and fades away, returning to its place within her soul.

The barbarian grabs onto the now slightly bent top of this metallic box, cautiously peeling it back. A soft glow spills free from that growing gap. Dozens upon dozens of individual runes have been carved into each interior face, their light dimming as they flicker and die out one by one now that the complex lattice of lines that connected them all has been disrupted and partially severed.

“Huh...?”

Sitting atop a bed of fading runes is a single object. Round, though not perfectly spherical, and roughly the size of Krvavy’s fist. An iridescent shimmer dances across its smooth white-blue surface, like an aurora reflected off a sheet of ice. It... is warm to the touch.

“Mm?” Inanna quirks her thick brow. “You saw what was required to seal that away, yet still grabbed onto it without a thought? You are lucky to have never come across a cursed artifact before, my Ushumgal.”

Resting comfortably in the palm of Krvavy’s hand is a fairly large pearl. Beautiful and familiar. It is, without a doubt, the very same one that she found in the underground ruins. Which needed to be cut out of a gooey cocoon. Which has been stored in her modest horde ever since. And which is somehow responsible for destroying a few sacks of food.

“Right...” The barbarian blinks, realizing that her Dwarf has a rather good point. “I prob–”

Before Krvavy can finish that thought, the pearl in her hand begins to pulse. Almost as if it were a beating heart. Like waves crashing against the shore, a purple-blue liquid gushes out of its smooth surface, phasing through that solid object in a blatant disregard for physics. That sudden surge swells and swells, gooey fluids flooding free to utterly engulf the Drakling’s scaled hand and forearm in a matter of moments, only stopping once that dripping mass has grown to roughly the same size as both of Inanna’s tits squished together.

Which may not be the best comparison, but it’s the first that comes to Krvavy’s mind. Inanna is standing on the other side of this opened box from her, after all, and those beautifully big breasts are hard to ignore.

A tingling sensation tickles at Krvavy’s skin and scales. It feels... oddly pleasant. Different from the slimes that tried to dissolve and eat her despite being incapable of overcoming her base armour. It is more like... the hot spring water. If it were... carbonated...?

Despite her distracted thoughts, the Drakling’s fingers tighten around that large pearl, keeping it from floating up and out of her palm. Her nearly claw-like nails just barely poke past the equator of that almost spherical orb. So if this slime really wanted to pull that pearl out of her grip... it probably could.

“RRRRGHH!” Khalia heatedly growls, baring her sharp teeth and four little tusks as she quickly steps forwards.

Only to stop as the Dwarf holds up a hand.

“It is alright.” Inanna calmly states, meeting the protective Were-Beast’s intense gaze. “This slime is not hostile, for the most part.”

The barbarian’s brow furrows. “‘For the most part’?”

“Mhm.” The Dwarf’s dense mane of coal-black hair bobs as she nods her head. “It isn’t aggressive, just hungry. And it seems to have the bare minimum amount of intelligence to know what is and isn’t meant to be eaten, for it ignored all but the actual foodstuffs. It didn’t consume the wooden cupboards nor the fabric sacks that it ate out of. But its ‘knowledge’ isn’t perfect. Mainly in that it appears to view me, specifically, as nothing more than food. See?”

The slime clinging to Krvavy suddenly lunges towards Inanna’s outstretched hand, and –

“Hey!” Protective anger flares up within Krvavy as she abruptly jerks her arm to the side, dragging the purple-blue slime away by ****. Her grip tightens around the pearl, fingers clenching around it with enough **** to –

⟨!!!⟩

A sharp, crystalline note pierces through Krvavy’s mind. Pained and surprised. Sad. Like the yelp of a puppy who just had its tail accidentally stepped on. Without thinking, Krvavy suddenly lets go of the pearl, instinctively giving her arm a shake and freeing it from this gooey things grip.

The slime splats onto the ground, sinking into a fairly flat mound. As if it were cowering.

“My Ushumgal...?” A faint tinge of concern fills Inanna’s normally neutral tone, accompanied by a hind of remorse. “Apologies. I did not mean to alarm you. This slime caused a negligible amount of damage when it previously tried to consume me, so I felt that this would be a safe way to demonstra–”

“Did you not hear that...?” The Drakling incredulously cuts her Dwarf off. She doesn’t, not even for a second, take her gaze off that translucent lump of goo sitting in front of her. The large pearl at its center is blurry, though not quite to the point of being indistinct, but the ground directly beneath this slime is almost completely obscured, only faintly visible near the edges where its mass thins out a bit.

“Rrrrgh... It screamed.” Khalia supports her Mate, still snarling as she stares down at the unusual slime. Which just continues to tremble and jiggle.

“Really?” Inanna’s interest is immediately piqued. “I heard no sound beyond its... wet sloshing. How interesting... Perhaps...?” She slowly nods to herself, looking increasingly certain of her thoughts. “Mm, yes. I suspect I may know why the two of you heard a noise while I did not. It is, of course, related to this slime believing me to be nothing more than food. But there is more to it than that. The reason for all of this, even for why we elected to imprison rather than slay it, is likely one and the same. So please, my Ushumgal, use Inspect on it. See for yourself why we let this slime live.”

Krvavy’s brow furrows as she continues to glare down at that suspicious, shuddering blob. She slowly leans in towards the thing and, after a moment, does as her Dwarf suggests.

The barbarian bites her bottom lip. There isn’t much in front of her, but what is there is...

“Indeed, my Ushumgal.” Inanna slowly steps around the empty box, moving to stand behind Krvavy. Her titanic tits press into the still seated barbarian’s back as she shines the light of her lantern over Krvavy’s shoulder. “This slime is quite special. It has a portion of your soul.”

“And it only sees you as food? Not the others?”

“Mhm.” The Dwarf hums in affirmation. “Adeline was the one who first stumbled upon it, yet this slime didn’t even react to her frightened scream, simply continuing to gorge itself on a sack of grains. Likewise, it completely ignored both Thea and Beryl as well. But as soon as I got near...” She pauses for a moment, perhaps not wanting to worry Krvavy with the fine details of what exactly happened. They don’t matter anyway. She is here right now, completely fine and healthy. “I am sure that you have come to the same conclusion as I did once we scryed it. This slime sees itself the same as it sees you and the others. But it views me differently, for I am the only one of us who does not share in your soul, my Ushumgal.”

“Rrrghhmmmghh...” A rumbling grumble emerges from Khalia’s throat as she gently pokes her bestial pawed foot into that the purple-blue blob. It jiggles slightly from that light ‘kick’, but the slime doesn’t actually react, simply continuing to cower on the ground as motionlessly as it can.

Krvavy’s lips press together into a thin line. “The sound it made...”

“Was likely transmitted through the connection it has with your soul, yes.” Inanna finishes what she assumes to be her lover’s thought. “Hence why I did not hear it. That said, I should point out that none of the others mentioned hearing such a noise in our initial encounter with it. Though that does not mean much. Perhaps this slime simply did not try to ‘speak’ before, not even as Beryl cut large swathes of its mass away? Or perhaps it only developed that ability during its captivity?”

“No, that’s not what I...” the Drakling trails off, lightly shaking her head. “The sound that it made wasn’t just a noise. It had emotion to it. I almost felt it more than I heard it.”

More of Inanna’s weight presses into her Draconic lover’s back. The large, puffy mounds of her areola are... incredibly noticeable and quite distracting, so soft and warm... “Were this a completely ordinary slime, that would be surprising. But as is... Mm.” She pauses for just a moment. “Can you still ‘feel’ its emotions, my Ushumgal, or could you only do so when it made that ‘noise’?”

Krvavy’s brow knits together. The slime quivers as her emerald eyes harshly pierce into its gooey purple-blue mass. A faint... tremble... echoes at the back of her mind. Fearful, but... not quite. Almost... remorseful...? Like a child shocked as their parents suddenly started berating and admonishing them, one who doesn’t know what they did wrong but is now certain that they messed up and that they are the problem.

“Y...yeah...”

The barbarian slowly reaches out towards that sad, flattened ball of goo. Her hand gently pats the jelly-like blob. It is faintly warm, though not quite as much as the pearl was.

Those trembling echoes of stress and anxiety slowly fade away. A calm stillness lingers at the back of Krvavy’s mind. Like the unbroken surface of a pond. The ooze leaks between her fingers. The pond ripples. A soft, tinkling chime begins to sing. Gentle and melodic. ⟨♪♪♪⟩ Happy. Content.

Khalia squats down beside the barbarian. “Hrrghmmph.” She grunts out a rather Thea-like huff, focusing her intense amber-gold gaze towards her Mate. “Hnnhhhhhh...”

Left with ****, Krvavy brings her other hand up to give her precious puppy a pat on the head, needing to awkwardly cross her arms in the process.

“I take it that the slime’s ‘emotions’ have changed?” Inanna correctly assumes, keenly watching the undulating blob as it seems to dance side to side.

“Yeah its, uh, happy now...?” Krvavy lightly shrugs. Waves of joy lap at her mind, but that isn’t changing how she herself feels. This slime still tried to eat her Inanna. And she can’t just forgive and forget that.

“Mm.” A hum reverberates through the barbarian’s body. Inanna suddenly takes a step back, pulling her warmth away from Krvavy. “If it is not a problem, I would like to test something.”

“And what would that ‘something’ be...?” Krvavy cautiously asks, tensing up as the Dwarf doesn’t wait for permission and simply begins walking around her.

“Is this slime intelligent enough to know that you do not want it to harm me?”

The slime in question trembles and shakes. As if excited. Like a dog about to be given a treat. Its mass condenses slightly before suddenly surging out towards the approaching Dwarf and –

Krvavy’s hand sinks through the purple-blue goo, grabbing onto the pearl floating within it, ready to drag the thing away from Inanna once more. But that isn’t necessary.

⟨!!!⟩ That sharp chime isn’t quite like the first. It isn’t pained. Just surprised. The slime halts its attack, slowly pulling its gooey mass back into one rather round blob.

“Mm... Please let go of its pearl, my Ushumgal.” Inanna politely requests, meeting her Draconic lover’s resistant gaze with her steady copper-orange eyes. “I will not be in any true danger. The slime was larger than this when we first found it, when it first tried to consume me, and it was unable to harm me then. And I suspect that you will have an easier time getting it off of me than Beryl did, if it comes to that.”

The Drakling grits her teeth and... reluctantly releases her grip on that large pearl. Her hand slowly lifts up and out of the slime, dripping a little but not truly feeling wet. Moisturized, sure, but not wet. If her heart wasn’t beating so loudly, drowning out her idle thoughts, then she may have found that rather odd.

Khalia frowns as her Mate’s other hand drops away, no longer patting and petting her head.

Inanna carefully lowers herself down to one knee. Her titanic tits loom above the motionless slime, nearly close enough for it to touch. But it makes no attempt to do so. “Mm...” She reaches forwards, just barely pressing her palm into that things still surface. And immediately recoils.

That sight lights an inferno inside of Krvavy’s mind, protective and furious.

In response to that, and almost as if copying Inanna, the slime recoils into itself. The purple-blue goo is sucked inside of the pearl, slurping like water swirling down a drain, leaving just a shallow layer around that iridescent orb.

“Krvavy. I am alright.” The Dwarf quickly reassures her Draconic lover. “I was simply... surprised. It felt as if I had touched a hot stove, without any of the heat. And without as much pain. Here, let me try again.”

Before Krvavy can give the expected ‘no’ to that, her stubborn Dwarf has already grabbed onto the slime-covered pearl.

“Mm.” The grey-skinned shortstack nods, causing her voluminous mass of coal-black hair to bob. “There. That is better.” She holds up the large slime-covered pearl, shifting it from one hand to the other. “It still tingles quite a bit, but not unpleasantly so. Congratulations, my Ushumgal,” a hint of a smile plays at her dark-grey lips, “you’ve somehow tamed a slime.”

+3 Divine Favour, for taming this slime, if unintentionally and through unconventional means.

“Mm?” Inanna raises a single thick eyebrow as Krvavy focuses on a notification that she cannot see. “Did you earn Favour for that?”

“Yeah... Three points.”

“Wonderful.” The grey-skinned shortstack openly smiles at that. “Now...” she holds the slime and its pearl out for Krvavy to take. “That was quite the distraction. Have you read its traits yet, my Ushumgal?”

Krvavy simply shakes her head as she brings the slime’s stat sheet back into focus, not paying much attention to the thing as it’s mass swells out and engulfs her hand and forearm again.

There are quite a few interesting things here... Might as well start with what is almost certainly the most familiar one.

Tainted Essence: This essence of this slime has become intertwined with an aspect of your soul. Over time this connection may grow, further shaping its being.

As expected, that is basically just Tainted Soul. Only with a slightly different name, for some reason. Maybe the influence of her soul has spread a little further due to this slime being, well, a living puddle of purple-blue goo and not a person? Either way, might as well check out what her soul has actually done to this thing.

Ceaseless Cravings: Gluttonous energies saturate this slime’s being, making it perfectly fit to devour all. Increases the Life that this slime gains from consuming what you would consider to be food in proportion with how delicious you would find said food. The magical energies contained within whatever this slime consumes can now be converted into experience that, if not shared with others via consuming a portion of its mass, will seep into its being and go directly towards increasing its level.

“Huh.”

“Mm. You found the ‘gluttony’ trait, I presume?” The Dwarf doesn’t wait for Krvavy to respond, seeing the answer in her Draconic lover’s eyes. “Quite curious, is it not? I suspect that it is, at least in part, the reason why this slime focused its efforts on consuming actual food over other biological matter that it could have otherwise eaten. It simply gains more ‘Life’ that way. Though I do need to wonder why it is still so intent on eating me... You do not consider me to be food, not in more than a sexual sense at least, and I am aware that my ‘flavour’, as you call it, is not the best amongst your girls either. Perhaps it is merely because I am, in essence, meat? And you do quite enjoy eating meat.”

“I was more focused on the experience portion.” Krvavy plainly states, shooting her Dwarf a rather dry look. Despite that, her lips still twitch upwards a little.

“Mmn.” An almost bored hum accompanies Inanna’s dismissive shrug. “That is interesting, yes, but not the most relevant at the moment. Even if it were not for Superior Stud providing experience in a much more convenient manner, we simply do not have an excess of magical items to feed to this slime. Though perhaps it would be worth sacrificing a single, fully charged quartz battery? Purely to see how effective this slime is at converting mana to experience. But I highly doubt much would be gained from it. Certainly not enough to justify the effort it would take to gather and prepare more crystals for that purpose.”

The barbarian lightly bites the inside of her cheek. A rather hopeful thought flits through her head, only to quickly get dismissed. This slime might be able to destroy a certain magical collar, but there is no way it could do so safely. So trying to dispose of it that way would just... it would just be like setting off a nuke in the middle of her home...

“Rrmmgh...” A quiet, rumbling growl emerges from deep within Khalia’s chest. Her amber-gold eyes glare at the slightly jiggling blob of goo clinging onto her Mate’s hand.

Without a word, Inanna reaches out and rests a hand atop the squatting Were-Beast’s head, lazily ruffling the Orc’s black-brown hair.

Krvavy softly exhales, turning her attention back to the stat sheet hovering in front of her.

Amorphous Origins: As creatures composed entirely of magic, slimes are rather resilient to physical harm yet uniquely **** to exhaustion due to their health, stamina, & mana reserves being one and the same.

Suppose that explains the ‘Life’ bar? Though that wasn’t exactly a mystery. ‘Life’ is rather self-explanatory, after all. Still, a bit of clarification doesn’t hurt.

Communal Compassion II: The concept of ‘individuality’ is near alien to slimes, for even the rare few intelligent enough to understand the word struggle to put that knowledge into practice. Increases Social attributes by 20%, moderately strengthens its effect on Life, and further bolsters this Slime’s ability to assimilate & digest physical matter. Associated attributes = Social.

Formless Physique III: The non-solid nature of slimes allows for them to freely alter their shape, only restrained by how much mass they have and how thinly they spread themselves out. Increases Physical attributes by 40%, significantly strengthens its effect on Life, and further bolsters Resistances. Associated attributes = Physical.

Mindful Mass I: The gelatinous liquid that makes up each and every slime serves as a singular, all-encompassing organ that performs all of the biological functions required of more advanced and intelligent life. Increases Mental attributes by 10%, slightly strengthens its effect on Life, and improves this Slime’s ability to Absorb Mana, both ambient & channelled. Associated attributes = Mental.

It is kind of interesting that this slime doesn’t have individual stats, just the three categories, but at the same time it isn’t exactly surprising either. This is a purely magical... creature? Monster? Thing? Whatever it counts as, this slime isn’t a person. It works by (slightly) different rules.

Which just leaves one last trait to look over.

Pearlescent Core: Under rare circumstances, a slime’s essence can condense into a solid and physical core which functions as both a hub for its nervous system and an anchor for its burgeoning soul. Such a process vastly increases the slime’s potential for growth and allows for it to develop as an individual being, all at the cost of gaining a new vulnerability; if this core is destroyed, the slime will perish alongside it. This particular core has formed an iridescent shell not unlike that of a pearl, affording it greater durability.

“How common are slimes with cores?” Krvavy curiously asks, looking past her precious puppy to meet her shortstack’s copper-orange eyes. The gooey blob clinging onto her arm ripples slightly as her fingers idly stretch out, brushing their tips against the pearl floating in that mass.

⟨♪♪♪⟩ A gentle, happy chiming soon rings out through her soul.

“Mm... Not particularly common, I don’t think.” Inanna answers with uncharacteristic uncertainty. “The core-less variety are of course more plentiful, but I am unsure by how much. Do they outnumber the cored slimes ten to one? A hundred to one? A thousand to one?” Her thick brow knits together as she momentarily pauses the patting of Khalia’s head. Much to the Were-Beast’s frustration. “I simply cannot say.”

“But you knew about them before?” There is no accusation in the Drakling’s voice. She is simply asking a question.

“To some degree, yes. Though I had not considered, even for a moment, that the pearl you found could have been a slime core. In hindsight, I perhaps should have thought of that possibility...” The Dwarf’s dark-grey lips twitch down into the faintest frown. “But, as far as I was aware, a slime’s core is meant to have the appearance of a rough, calcified rock. Which I suppose would still be the case here, albeit beneath that outer layer...”

“To be fair, Inspect also didn’t mention any of this. And we didn’t have any reason to not take that at face value.”

“Mm.” Inanna simply hums and shrugs her stocky shoulders.

“Well...” Krvavy shifts the slime – her slime – from one hand to the other. “How much do you know about slimes? The ones with cores, I mean? Just how different are they from core-less ones?” She pauses for a moment, watching the pearl as it rubs itself into her palm, before softly shaking her head. “I’m just wondering what to expect from this thing, and how much of its weirdness is ‘normal’ or is just because it has a part of my soul.”

“I am sorry to disappoint, my Ushumgal, but I know nothing beyond what is said in its traits.” The grey-skinned shortstack actually seems a little annoyed about that. “My knowledge of slimes is mostly academic in nature, with the practical aspects being quite focused on the potential methods used to prevent them from damaging or otherwise interfering with infrastructure. And, unfortunately, that largely excludes the varieties of slimes that have a core as they are quite easy to deter: a grate with gaps smaller than said core is all it takes to keep them from entering any pipes. Rune are still required to prevent said grates from being worn down and destroyed, of course, but that would be true regardless of if these slimes were an issue or not.”

The purple-blue blob happily jiggles around Krvavy’s hand, completely oblivious to it being the topic of this conversation.

“That said...” The grey-skinned Dwarf seems to grow tired of petting the taller Were-Beast’s head, as she suddenly stops doing that. Much to Khalia’s disappointment. “I do not believe the difference between a slime with a core and one without to be particularly large. I suspect it to be much like what separates a slug and a snail. They are, in essence, the same kind of creature. Yet not entirely so.”

A mostly comfortable silence hangs in the air. It seems like that is all Inanna has to say about this.

“Rrgh... We done here?” Khalia impatiently grumbles out, not so subtly shifting closer to her Mate.

Krvavy’s emerald eyes glance back towards her slime’s stat sheet one last time.

Dissolving Digestion: The liquid that makes up this slime’s mass is capable of dissolving matter into nutrients and energy to sustain its own life. Associated attributes = Physical.

That is just about what she was expecting from that skill. And Communication is even more straight forward. So...

“Yeah. I guess we are.” The Drakling weakly shrugs. “But what exactly are we going to do with this thing?” She gives the slime a bit of a wiggle. Which it apparently enjoys, if the mentally projected chiming is anything to go by.

“Mm. I suppose that we should see if it can be trained to not raid the kitchen. Or the pantry.” Inanna pulls away from her much larger lover, taking a step back. “You were able to get it to stop trying to eat me, at least for the moment, so such a task should be possible...”