Part 16 – A Recommendation, The Dungeons (Adventurer) Party
“If everyone is given a humanoid form then we should have some time until we get to town to practice before things get really difficult and serious. This gives us more chances for passing by others, and more chances for evasion if we need to dodge people. When guards look for people they are not looking for slimes, spiders or worms. Likewise monsters are not let in town but people are. But on the down side some places look down on others if they look too different than the common folk. So that’s what I think.”
Not being convinced Sakura spoke up “While I got a lot from that, I also spent a fair amount just to try and recover from our injuries. Also you are the only one who has an idea about how to deal with human culture. How are we going to pass as human or pass as human like?”
Andrea (the worm), the spider and slime agree and doubt the plan.
“Even for me just walking around like this is a real chore… I still rather just remain a worm.” Andrea complained.
John agreed, “Sure that is true, but you three are servants. In addition in a lot of situations servants are usually overlooked by authorities as being unimportant. Or not being that capable of danger. But monsters are clearly dangerous. This is two perspectives of humans. If you look like a human then they would often just ignore you unless they want something from you. For example monsters don’t carry money like silver and gold. So a thief would look for people to steal from. Anyone who looks like a human, or who might carry coins becomes the target of a thief. But slime is dangerous to children so guards or adventures would look for slimes to kill in order to protect children or the young humanoids while earning a reward. This is the reason why if you look like another person then they would usually not see you as an immediate threat like a monster. It would make you passable as a non-threat.”
After a long discussion everyone started to share some of John’s memories for people and monster, towns with lots of people, and how people live in their own houses. John recommends getting in a town to attempt to pick up the left over energy from what could be hundreds of people in one small section. He shares the idea of expanding their energy reserves by hunting down people who make a living off mass suffering, such as killers, drug dealers, or mobsters. These types of people causing mass harm to the people in town and according to John they rarely change. People of this type are predatory in nature so he accepts hunting them down. In John’s explanation most people would not be troubled if these groups of people called criminals disappear. General public or common folks do not seek to harm others as a life style. They are essentially harmless and should be left alone. John shares much of his memories of how kind and good people can be. He shares the kindness that parents can show to their children, and shares the predatory nature of those that trap innocent people or get them hooked on bad habits. Giving everyone from the dungeon reasons why he believes that people should be left alone for their “good nature or generosity” while approving the dungeons anger at predatory people who cause great suffering.
“This is why I think you all should adopt the form even for a time. I think you could learn a lot from people and their culture. Not all people are so villainous as you think. They can be very good and kind to one another, even with their many failings and faults. Because there are times when people can do such great things, and they can do such terrible things. If we are able to gather energy from a human city just by being around them then we also stand a lot to gain. In addition…”
John points at the spider “You may be able to learn how to use and refine your silk. Doing so could let you make wonderful threads and clothing with silk. It could be amazing to make all sorts of things for Sakura. Wouldn’t you like the opportunity to dress Sakura from head to toe?”
Then directing the next words to the slime, “And you, there are many types of chemicals in the world. There are acids, bases, things that are able to dissolve metal or rock, there are chemicals that when put together with certain metals they can make a battery and help provide energy to your Lady Sakura as a form of energy. It would be far safer than a lightning bolt.”
“But that’s not everything. There is much more to learn and see…” he points at the dwarf. “Wouldn’t it be nice to learn how to craft rock or other materials to make a likeness of Sakura? How about making crafts that could impress or be gifted to Sakura? Just look at her face and the way her hair falls around her face, beauty of her eyes, roundness of her bust, the fluffiness of her tail, and the wonderful work she’s done on this body. You could even make a miniature template for Sakura to play with as she uses it to work out ideas in making a new dungeon. Make little walls and floors and people to help Sakura plan out a new home. You could even give her help if you understood how to build buildings all the way up to something the size of a town. How much energy would a town full of people provide to Sakura if she had people that lived eagerly and paid her to stay in such a nice place? Lots of extra energy and countless coins… Could you imagine it?”
Everyone but John was speechless and stood there in stunned silence. Sakura was the first one to grin in excitement. And then the dam broke and the lot started to chatter. Everyone was eager to agree to the ideas that John shared. The spider was first to discuss a new form and wanted to do something to help. So John shared ideas of what she could look like.
Through a series of yes and no questions and responses the form that the spider eventually decided upon was something like an elf. Sakura gathered the energy and focused it into the spider’s body. It shifted and grew until a form emerged from the purple mist emanating from Sakura. The tallest body yet was formed. The spider grew to more than five and a half feet tall with a light tone of blue/black color. It was like a light cobalt gun metal color. A very large bust was covered over by long dark blue hair that seemed to highlight the skin. The name Knox was chosen for the spider.
Finally the same process was given to the slime. After a series of questions and answers with ideas from John the Slime chose a form. Sakura holding the slime it was covered it in a purple mist, when a figure emerged. An overly short female came forth moments later. Leaning forward on Sakura was a Halfling with shoulder length evergreen colored hair. While naked it was obvious that she was fully developed but due to her height just over three feet tall she could be confused as a human youth with freakish hair color. The slime would be known as Dee – Prudence in human society.
Additional effort was put into the development of the servants in hopes of giving them enough ability to meet at least common people. This means extra mana was given to the slime to help raise the Intelligence, with extra Strength and Physique for the spider Knox. Each servant when permitted to make requests had their own unique ones. And memories were passed to the servants to aid them with the ability to walk, move, and use their limbs properly. By the time night settled in everything was completed. But something started to bother John.
“Sakura, why is everyone once they have a body clearly female? Not one person in our group is male… did something happen? Or did you deliberately do this for some reason?”
“Well kind of… You did say you wanted me, and you didn’t want me to spend time with other men. So in agreement we are yours. No one here wants to give up on your words. I don’t want anyone to go against your words either so in compliance with that they never will either. There is much we can learn by following your directions. You are the Dungeon Master, in addition to the way we can grow. So why wouldn’t we chose the most optimal way to serve you in the best forms we could as your followers.” Sakura seemed like she was willing to continue with much more when John stopped her.
“Ok, I get it… So this is because I didn’t want strange men around you. And you three chose female because I like to see females? Is that basically it?”
They all agreed enthusiastically. It was also pointed out there are many races and types of people so they all should chose something to try and blend in.
John gave up on any kind of reprimand and instead called Sakura over. John gave the lot of them 4 chocolate covered strawberries, then one more for himself. This also gave them a reason to practice handling something gently with fingers and eating. They were also taught how to use a shower brush and given a chance to practice doing things with fingers.
The Dungeons Party stayed the night in the cave while learning how to stoke a fire and keep guard. John chose to instead focus on passing on the skills he learned in the Boy Scouts. Things that should help everyone learn what they can expect with a camp out, or as an adventurer that is traveling. Hours pass that night as he related tales of his experiences while camping and hiking. He also tried to give answers to all their questions. If they asked something he didn’t know he would tell them everything he could and detailed the things he didn’t know about. But he tried to give a direction of research to find an answer to their question.
The whole night John was rather concerned about a party of abnormal females approaching a humanoid town. How exactly could he pass this off?
