The Dungeon of Eternal Ember''s Point of View


    Warmth surrounded the Dungeon, but something was different.  It felt the softness of a blanket against its skin and the weight of slimes sitting on top of it.  It opened its eyes, blinking in the soft light of the cafe.  Everything was so bright and colorful with these new eyes.


    His new eyes.  He was a human now, or as close to one as he''d ever get, so he should use their words.


    A fire slime cuddled closer and the Dungeon frowned.  These slimes had almost given his identity away.  Fire chasing fire.  He shook his head at them, all squishy and smiley.  What exactly did Hazel see in them anyway?  They were cute, he supposed, but they weren''t anything amazing.  Not like a dragon or a hydra or anything cool like that.  They were just slimes.


    And yet, they''d captured her attention just as much as she''d captured his.


    He held a hand out to the fire slime, marveling at the way his new limbs moved so smoothly.  He patted the creature, letting the slime''s warmth seep into his skin.  The slime cooed, rubbing against his palm as his flames blazed just a bit brighter.  Getting warmth from another felt better than he''d expected, and it made him want to curl back in the blankets and sleep some more.  But a curious scent was filling the air and his body was making a loud grumbling noise.


    He clutched his stomach.  What was that?  Was he sick?  Or...was this hunger?


    The Dungeon had never been hungry before.  He leapt out of the blankets, causing a few slimes to tumble across the cafe''s floor.  He rushed to put them back on the blanket, giving them an apologetic pat, then followed the scent.


    Hazel stood in the kitchen leaning over a stove filled with fire slimes, mixing what looked like a pot of soup.  Her long brown hair was in a braid over her shoulder and her eyes were closed as she inhaled the scent of the soup, a smile on her lips.  Her clothing was different than before, with a flowing green skirt and a loose white shirt.


    As she moved, the shirt tugged down on her shoulder a bit, revealing more of her fair skin than she''d ever shown before.


    Something fluttered in the Dungeon''s chest.


    He pressed a hand against it, feeling his heartbeat thundering under his palm.  He backed away, not wanting Hazel to see him in such a state.  What was going on?  First he fainted and now he was feeling light-headed?  He''d rushed to make this body, too excited to even test it out before coming here.  Maybe he''d made a mistake somewhere in its creation.


    Thankfully the feeling subsided in a few moments.  He took a deep breath.  Everything was fine.


    That delicious scent was getting stronger though, filling the air with smells he couldn''t identify.  He''d never needed to know what things smelled like before, just like he didn''t need to know what they tasted like.  But now, now he could experience both.


    A smile tugged at his lips.  He was going to get to taste Hazel''s cooking!


    "Hazel?" He called out, pretending like he had just woken up.  "Am I in the cafe?  And what''s that smell?"


    He dared to walk back to the kitchen, pretending to be just a regular adventurer.  He wasn''t in control of any systems or tasked with looking out for an entire dungeon''s worth of inhabitants.  No, today he was just a man standing in front of a woman cooking soup.


    Her eyes widened when she saw him.  "Oh, good, you''re up."


    "Sorry about that, I just," he paused, not really sure what to say.  Sorry he just created a human avatar and didn''t wait long enough to figure out how it worked?  No, that was definitely not something a "normal adventurer" would say.  "I, uh, just was really tired!  Yeah, tired, that''s it."


    "Okay."  She frowned, but nodded.  "I thought you might be sick, so I made soup with a healing buff."


    Sick.  That made way more sense.  Come on, Dungeon, get it together.


    "Wait, that soup is for me?" he asked, suddenly very interested in the vegetables swimming in the golden broth.  "Can I...try some?"


    "Let''s start with your name first." She crossed her arms, letting the soup bubble away without her attention.  "You passed out before you could tell me."


    Ummmm....what was his name???


    How could he be so shortsighted to not even think of a name for himself?  Every human had one, so if he was going to be a good human, he needed one too.  The closest he''d come was the name she''d given him, but he couldn''t exactly call himself Sweet Potato right to her face.  That would definitely blow his cover and he could already feel his face warming at the idea.


    No, he needed a human name.  An adventurer''s name.  Something worthy of his flames.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Hazel tilted her head, frowning at him again.  "That was supposed to be an easy question, you know.  What are you trying to hide?"


    "Nothing." He shook his head, getting his long black hair in his eyes.  Black was a color he knew well, giving him an idea.  "My name''s Cole."


    He waited to see how she''d react, hoping the name met her approval, but she just kept staring at him.  He started to squirm.  She''d given him so many options when she named him, but this one was his own creation.  Did she dislike it?


    "Nice to meet you, Cole, and welcome to the Slime Serenitea Cafe."  She grabbed a bowl and started spooning soup into it.  "Now eat this, get better, and tell me what the hell you''re doing here.  Because if we''re going to get along, you need to convince me that you''re not a stalker first."


    There was that word again: stalker.  His nose crinkled, but he couldn''t really refute it.  He had spent day after day watching her, but it was his job!  He watched everyone, not just Hazel.  He had a feeling that wouldn''t work in his favor though.


    He needed to seem trustworthy and the most trustworthy person he knew was Dave.  He was a guide, so bringing him up should ease her worries a bit and give Cole a plausible reason for his so-called stalking.


    "Dave sent me."


    Hazel frowned.  "Really?  Do you work with him or something?"


    "Yeah, something like that.  He can''t leave the training meadow very often, so I check up on other things for him."  I winced as the lies kept tumbling out of my mouth.  "Like this cafe.  He was wondering if you''d started serving guests or not yet, since he said that was a deal you made when you took the key."


    There.  A true answer.  That would hopefully bring this back around to trust.  He wished he could just tell her who he was, but that would cause all sorts of issues for her.  He wanted to keep her life as simple and happy as possible, not complicate it.


    "Huh, I did say that, didn''t I?"  She shrugged, handing him a bowl of soup.  "Well, I haven''t officially opened yet, but I made food for you.  Does that count?"  She smiled, pouring a bowl of soup for herself as well.  "Let''s eat before it gets cold."


    That smile tugging at her lips changed everything.  Her eyes no longer frowned at him suspiciously and her body was more relaxed.  Bringing up Dave had really worked!


    Cole wanted to leap with joy at her acceptance, but didn''t dare spill a single drop of soup.  This soup was made by her beautiful hands to heal him when he was sick.  He''d made so many things over the years, from traps to treasure chambers, but never had anyone made something for him.


    Something wet made his eyelashes heavy.  He blinked, realizing his eyes were tearing up.  This human body was so strange, doing things of its own accord with no care for what the person wanted.


    "Why don''t we go sit down?" Hazel led him back into the front room of the cafe where there was a single table set up for dining.  She eased herself into a creaky chair and motioned for him to do the same.  "So how''s Dave doing anyway?  He was supposed to stop back so I could make him a new sandwich."


    "He''s stressed out, like usual, but doing well."  Or at least, he would be until he realized Cole had left his post.  He winced, hoping the satyr wouldn''t be too upset.  "I''ll make sure he comes for that sandwich soon."


    "Thanks."


    Hazel dipped her spoon into the bowl, blowing on the soup.  Cole mimicked her movements.  Steam curled around his face as he finally ate his first bite of soup.  Warmth traveled from his spoon, down his throat, and spread through his entire body like he was being enveloped by something cozy and comforting.  The broth was rich, full of flavors he didn''t recognize, but it paired perfectly with the chunks of vegetables.


    He couldn''t describe it, but he wanted more.  He ate spoonful after spoonful, eventually giving up and drinking straight from the bowl.  This soup was absolutely delicious!  How had he been missing something so wonderful this whole time?  It was like a door to flavor had been opened and now no amount of coal or wood would satisfy his flames.  He wanted food, real food, and as much of it as he could get.


    His body seemed to relax, as if the soup was unraveling tension he didn''t even know he had.  If this was the power of a good meal, then he had done the adventurers a horrible disservice by making food tasteless.  If only somebody had told him...


    A soft laugh pulled him from his thoughts as Hazel smiled at him.  "There''s more, if you want."


    "Absolutely," he said, rushing to pour more of this golden soup into his bowl.  "Thank you for making such a fine meal.  I will cherish it forever."


    "Well, you look better at least," she mumbled, hiding behind her bowl.  "That''s good."


    Her cheeks had a pretty pink hue to them.  Was that...a blush?


    That fluttering in his chest was back again.  It always happened at the worst times!  He busied himself with eating until his stomach felt nice and full.  It was a satisfying feeling, one he hoped to feel again soon.  He sighed, setting his empty bowl down.


    "That was wonderful," he said as a fire slime started nudging his leg.  He tried to shoo it away, but that only drew another slime his way.  "What do you want?"


    "They probably just want attention." Hazel stood up, moving toward the slimes.  Her fingers hovered over one of their flames.  "How can they be hot enough to cook soup one minute and then cool enough to touch the next?"


    She set her hand down on the slime''s head, petting it cautiously, eyes full of wonder.  Her entire face lit up when she was curious about something and it was so much nicer seeing it in person like this.  Cole leaned forward, petting a slime as well.


    "You really love these slimes, don''t you?" he asked.  "What drew you to them?"


    She sat down cross-legged on the floor, drawing a slime into her lap as she pet him.  "Well, the easy answer is that they''re adorable, but I think there''s more to it."  Her voice was soft, like she was sharing a secret.  "They remind me of something, or someone.  They''re small and seem insignificant to most people here, but they''re full of potential if you take the time to really see them."


    He frowned, studying the little wiggly balls of fire.  He''d obviously overlooked how important good-tasting food was to humans, but had he also overlooked the monsters?  He''d put them in place to give adventurers something to fight against, but maybe there was more to them than that.  More to everything than what he''d thought.


    That made his head hurt and he didn''t like that feeling.  He''d have to talk to Dave about it later, but for right now, he just wanted to enjoy the time he had with Hazel.  He wasn''t sure how often he''d be able to come visit like this.  The dungeon couldn''t run on autopilot for too long, not without chaos breaking out.  Or worse, Dave catching him.


    Hazel stood up, stretching her arms high to the ceiling as she let out a breath.  "Okay, time to get back to work.  I have a whole cart of goods outside.  Mind helping me carry them in?"


    "Do I mind?" He leapt out of his chair.  "Not at all!  Show me the way."


    She shook her head, smiling.  "You''re an odd one, but I kind of like it."


    A grin swept across his face so wide it hurt.  She liked his oddness.