Floor 2: Choices

"Nope." I start walking back the way I came. No way was I going to fight some queen.

"Fern. We could just walk out remember?" The devil whispered in my ear.

I pause. There was no way was skill was that OP, right? Tempted, I look between the party's direction and the dome.

"If it works. We abandon them, and then what?"

"We take an easy win." He replies.

"We make enemies of our party." I snip back.

We're silent for a few moments debating pros and cons. He slips in his last point.

"They won't survive. We won't survive if we join them to fight whatever is in there."

Logic, reasoning leads to success. I tilt my head back, eyes closed. If I take this step, the outcome is uncertain, and so is betrayal. I offer a counter.

"Let's take a look inside. If it's out of our league." I pause, hesitating. "We'll book it."

"Works for me." He sounds content enough to feel like a real devil.

I walk up to an opening of the dome, its small, small rats crawl in and out of it. Carrying food, or dragging pups out. Gulping away my anxiety, I crawl through.

The other side is a bit overwhelming. Rat pups of various stages of development crying out to be fed. Adult rats scurrying about to feed the hungry brood. An absurd loud cocoughany of squeaks and squeals. At its center an overbloated, pup producing machine. A massive sausage shaped rat, covering half the length of the dome. Lying at its side, it sported a lack of fur, and numerous teats. It snored peacefully.

Rather than a threat the lazy looking beast seemed oblivious of the world. I walked around to the other side of the dome, finding a solid wooden door. The exit of the maze.

The queen wasn't the problem for the rest of the party, but her numerous children. The village had on site several hundred adult rats.

"We can't help them." My shadow noticed me thinking too deeply about a simple solution. "Let's go."

There had to be something. Something to weaken or distract the colony. Treat an infestation with extermination.

"Do you have anything poisonous?"

I didn't receive an answer for a while.

"No, but I have a slime culture."

I blink at his response.

"How did you get that?"

"Bonus quest."

If rewards matched up with the quest then…

"You fed someone to a slime."

It wasn't a question, I felt the shudder run up my spine.

He killed someone.

It was terrifying the lure I was feeling to this man. This kinship to do anything to survive, to succeed.

"Okay. Well infect the floor and clear them out." I said as calmly as ever, automatically heading back to the party.

"You're not going to ask why I did it?"

"Does it matter?" My voice even. "I assume it was logical, benefit you."

My life at home. Constant competition, trickery, and lies. For survival. I understood that more than anyone.

He didn't speak again. I reached back to the group. Ren shifted out of my shadow.

I offered up my plan. Ren would hand over the culture to me, and I would spread it as far as I could in the village. I'd target the wood of the dome. Since slimes preferred trees, it was the closest thing I could offer.

"The culture needs a living creature to spread." Ren spoke up. "I think it's a slime varient."

"Should we really let those things reproduce?" Reaver looked apprehensive. "There is no water source to kill them here."

Ren's lips curled up. His smug face a good sign for once.

"The slimes will leave us alone. The description says it's loyal to the sinner it's bound to."

I narrow my eyes at his phrasing. Something definitely off about what he just said. The others are too excited to notice.

Heading off once more, this time to spread a nasty plague to the rats. Ren dives into my shadow without permission again. What a clingy guy.

The culture is a dry red paste. I decide the best starting point is the queen herself. I move as close as possible without touching her back. She sleeps away totally unaware of her new companion. I follow Ren's instructions and dip a finger into the powder and tap the queen's backside.

The red powder comes to life in a tiny drop of red slime. It burrows its way inside. Noticing no change in the queen's breathing I infect others in the colony, from nearby pupsitters, to random villagers.

"What exactly counts as provoked for that skill?" Ren asks rather astonished that I still wasn't noticed.

"I think I have to directly hurt them, so using the slime didn't count."

I hear a snort from behind me. He was clearly amused by the cheat. We left the rat village to take a break with the rest of the group.

I was beyond grateful to have my shadow to myself again. I stretched and relaxed to a nice dinner of whatever meat this is ration. Finishing it off with a chug of water. I snuggled up against the cold stone wall, and did my best to curl into myself for warmth.

"You could just ask for the blanket at this point." A smug ass looked down at me.

"Then I'll have to share it again." I lean back, eyes closed, trying to avoid him.

"Hmm." I hear from above.

Plop. I feel the familiar weight of the blanket. My eyes snap open to chase off the clingy one. Only to spot him at the opposite side of the room.

I blink away my social dilemma to get some shut eye. He could be cold if he wants to. Content with that thought, I got some sleep.

…

Only my guilt ridden conscience couldn't get past that thought. An hour later and I had enough. I quietly slipped in next to Ren, wrapping the blanket around us. Ready for some guilt free sleep.

Only for an arm to reach around my shoulders, pulling me closer.