Chapter 29: Dungeon delving, part 7

Jar and Yar came back, at the same time, from the same fork in the road. Both adventurers blinked at that. The two slimes were bigger, so, the two figured that they must have found something to eat down the tunnel.

"Karl, ask them what they found," Thomas commanded. Karl opened his mouth, and bubbles began to bubble out of it. Jar opened his mouth as well, and the same happened to him.

"Leads...same cavern...either way," Karl managed to crock out in his broken speech pattern.

"Karl, remind me to make sure you get more language lessons," Thomas said, and he turned to the right fork, from where the two crocodiles had come from.

"Well, let us go," Rina didn't respond. She was still smarting about what had happened.

Thomas and she went behind Karl and Pavos, and Jar and Yar went to take the lead. The walls, upon closer inspection, seemed to be made out of some sort of black stone that seemed to suck out the light from their wisps.

Rina, not being able to rein in her curiosity, went and touched the stone. It was not stone; it was metallic in nature.

"Ebony!" She exclaimed, and then shut her mouth. Thomas turned to stare at her, then shook his head. Dungeons couldn't be robbed from their walls, even if the walls were diamonds. They could come back with pickaxes on a later date and try and get some of the ebony on their own, if they both kept quiet about it being down here.

They continued on, and found a cavern that had the signs of battle clearly to be seen. There were the remains of ebony golems thrown around like they were discarded toys. This time, Rina jogged to Thomas and took his bottomless bag.

"Rina, you could have asked it from me," Thomas grumbled, and she turned around to poke her tongue out at him. The summoner sighed, and let her plunder the golems.

He was more concerned in finding the power generator that created more golems. He did find a crystal, that shone in the darkness, but it was cracked.

"Good job, Yar, Jar," Thomas said. He didn't like his chances against so many golems. The two slimes had probably saved their lives, by dealing with the nest when they stumbled on it. 

Then, Thomas blinked, and went to knock on Jar's scales. They were hard, and looked to be a deeper shade of blue — now.

"Rina, leave some ebony for Karl and Pavos," he asked of her, and she snorted. Deciding that there was no time, Thomas turned to the slime-dragon and the slime-wolf. "Karl, Pavos, eat the golems." 

The two slimes made their way to the nearest pile. They extended their bodies, and engulfed it. Thomas, for a lack of anything else to do, began to walk around the room. He was searching for treasure. Hoping that the first mini-boss was not the only one that had it.

He found a wonderful dagger stuck in a stone. He tried to get it out, but found that he could not. Thomas motioned for Jar to come over.

"Jar, dissolve the stone and get the dagger out," he said, and the crocodile did just that, although the slime did grimace. Jar spat out the dagger, and Thomas poured some water over it to get rid of the acidic slime that clung to it.

Then, he took it up, so the wisp that was hovering over his head could illuminate the dagger. There was something written on the blade.

Wish a single thing, and the dagger will provide.

The brown-eyed adventurer blinked. What could he wish for? He really should speak with Rina about this. They were a team, and they needed to be in agreement about the wish.

"Rina, come and see this dagger," Thomas called to her. This got her attention and she jogged to him. Taking the dagger into her hands, she noticed how well-balanced it was.

"I said I won't talk to you," Rina began, still being stubborn. "But, if I leave this up to you, then, you will waste our wish."

Thomas's brows furrowed. He wouldn't have put it like that.

"Well, I found it. Note that I didn't have to call you over," Thomas said, as Rina sighed and placed a hand on his shoulders.

"You didn't, but you are an ok person, so you did. Let us see, what could help us in the long term?" Rina mused, and Thomas scratched the back of his head.

"Well, maybe, for the slimes to be accepted whenever we go?" He suggested, then, he hastily added when the dagger began to glow. "That was not the wish."

The dagger stopped glowing, and they both breathed a sigh of relief.

"I am not convinced that the dagger is strong enough for that. No, maybe a buff for the both of us?" Rina suggested. She could do with faster reflexes, and Thomas could do with a better metabolism.

The dagger glowed again, and they stared down at it.

"That was not the wish," Rina told it, but it didn't stop glowing. "This is not fair. How come planning for the wish counts as a wish?"

They were both engulfed in light, and Rina didn't see any difference about herself. Thomas also flexed his limbs, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

The dagger disappeared, leaving behind a handful of gems. The same that had been encrusted on it.

"Well, I'll be," Thomas said, his voice melodic. So much so, that Rina had to blink.

"Say something else," she urged.

"Say what?" Thomas was confused. Was Rina trying to get him back for the prank he had played on her earlier? "Sorry for earlier, Rina."

"I think I know what your gift is. A siren's voice," she smiled. Then, she took her bow, and aimed an arrow at the door to the ninth level. Her arrow came easier than it had, all the other times when she had done so. When she let it loose, she felt a small amount of mana leave her. But it was like the drop in a pond. "And, unlimited mana is mine."