The blob of a boss was a wild card; he kept rolling all over the place with no discrepancy. I was sure of my ability to keep dodging the boss, but I wasn't sure how to strike the slime's cores. I had a few ideas, but none of them would be pleasant for me. I started to take some deep breaths. I had found my lost athleticism, but I had still been slaughtering slimes for the last few hours. I was exhausted and needed to dig deep. I had a coach that used to tell me champions think differently. An old Vince Lombardi quote when it got hard I would remember that and trudge through whatever was going on.

  I saw one of the pebbles float to the edge just barely in striking distance and took my chance. I began running towards the Caustic King. I pivoted onto my right leg and swung with my left arm hard, fully committing. I felt the familiar core crumble under my pick, a glancing blow, but still enough to destroy it.

  "Just 14 to go, how hard could that be?" I said to myself.

  I pissed off the King and his whole body which was a mixture of mud and green turned a deep cherry. The room began to shake, and suddenly, a jet of slime was hurdling my way. I rolled to the left but still got some on my right arm. My skin began to feel tight, and I looked, and the top layer of skin sloughed off. I looked at my health and saw my HP dip down by 10%. The burning I felt was still tunneling through my muscles.

  "So much for having more than one hand, Dia, can you rewind this?" I asked

  "I'm sorry, Dane, but I can not. We will have to find a health potion. The damage doesn't look so bad, so I am sure it will regenerate. You could always try not getting injured. We have only been bonded for a few days, but the gods don't want you whole." She said, chuckling at her own joke.

  I can't keep fighting close range with this guy; a pickaxe isn't the best weapon to fight this massive monster. Maybe if I had a bow. I cut that thought out fast. I knew that some liked the bow, and it would help close some range and give me another avenue to deal damage, but would arrows even hold up in that slime? I decided that my best bet was to try using my space magic. I didn't have the skills to channel what I wanted to do, so this was inefficient and freeform, but it would be my only shot. I pictured a small hole that leads to one of the cores. I began funneling my mana into my hands and shaped the portal. I hadn't noticed the first time I used space magic, but it felt like I was folding the world in half and not teleporting my ax to the core. I tugged hard and saw the core appear in my portal. I went for broke and swung hard with my pickaxe, now in my good hand, crushing the stone. I shifted the viewport to another core, but saw my mana draining ridiculously fast. I got another core but had to release the spell so I wouldn't go into a mana-starved status effect. I was progressing, but the boss would be on top at this rate. I looked over at the rage hulk slime and noticed it was losing some of its mass, condensing smaller and smaller, the cores were combining. The creature went from looking like a blob of slime to something very human. It was still a 10-foot-tall giant of a man, but was now tracking me with the two hollow holes that should have held eyes. It pointed its hand at me and let the acid fly towards me. I ran as fast as possible, trying to escape the more dangerous enemy.

  "Dia I am pretty sure that fucker just grew eyes," I said with fear in my tone.

  "You don't have time to talk, you need to run," Dia said frantically.

  I saw the river and knew that I had one shot. I made a beeline for the water, sprinting past the slime. The Caustic King reached out and extended its hand, blocking my path to the safety I desperately needed. I had no choice but to run straight through the arm. I raised my head so I wouldn't lose my brain to the monster, and hit the arm like a ribbon at the end of a race. My skin started to bubble, and the pain I felt was excruciating. I tumbled into the mana-infused river and began to gulp at the water. My mana pool began to fill, but the river's rushing disoriented me, and I couldn't tell up from down. I tried to open a portal to get back in the fight. It wouldn't work. The portal would open and fizzle out every time I tried. I had been under the water too long. I was a good swimmer and could usually hold my breath longer than most, but my best time was only two and a half minutes. I was a goner.

  "Dane, you have to let me take over," Dia said, truly desperate and sounding nothing like her usually ditsy self.

  "Go ahead, Dia. I'm going to sleep," I said, barely before looking at my HP, which was hovering at 1. I closed my eyes, ready for whatever was going to happen next.

  When I drifted off to sleep, instead of being in a typical dream, this one felt too real. I was sitting on a couch watching TV. I recognised this place; it was my childhood home. My sister was running around playing with toys. My mom was in the kitchen with her friend Tony, whom she made me call uncle. I looked at the screen and saw a man floating in a river. He was muscular, but his chest and arms had burns on them. He wore only a pair of raggity pants similar to how the Hulk looked after he transformed back into Bruce Banner. He started to glow with a purple aura. The man began to struggle against the current, and just like that, everything on the TV became grey and stopped moving. I watched the haggard man walk along the bottom of the riverbed without resistance. He came out of the water, ambling to a red man who looked entirely made out of blood. The purple man raised his unburnt hand into the air and brought it down hard, grabbing a rock out of the blood. The haggard man opened his mouth wide and ate it. I lay my head down on the arm of the couch and curled up into a small ball. My father walked in and sat next to me.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  "Son you got so big. I'm glad I got to see you one last time. This place aint ready for you yet. When it is time, I will be waiting for you. You'll have to head on without me. I love you and sister. Goodluck." Daniel said to his son

  I was okay with that; my tense muscles began to release, and I felt everything would be alright.

  Dia's POV

  My dad told me that when dungeon spirits formed a bond, it usually ended in complete submission of the monster, making them a mindless husk and just a shell for the spirit I was glad that Dane was from the ascended races because when we formed our bond it ended in a partnership rather than me just pupeting a flesh body. I watched him struggle time and time again. He always found a way to survive when we were going to die of dehydration, when he was mana starved, he tackled each problem not with grace and creativity, but with an inspiring, steady determination. I watched as he fought the Caustic King with that same determination riveted on how he would come out on top.

  I realised much too late that he wasn't going to win. He was taking too many hits and was 16 levels under the boss that we faced. He did everything possible, but we rushed into this fight too soon. We should have researched more, and after the 15 slime blobs formed the king, we should have run.

  Dane made a flat-out sprint for the river, which was a good idea, but with the monster transforming. We weren't expecting to suffer much damage during our escape. Dane plummeted into the river in a half-cartwheel motion. I watched as he desperately sucked in the mana water something that would kill most flesh creatures and I began to hope. Dane was gonna pull off another miracle. He started to channel his mana into his hands and was beginning to open a portal. It flickered in and out of existence. I watched the fire begin to leave his eyes.

  "Dane, you have to let me take over," I said, not wanting to lose my only friend.

  "Go ahead, Dia. I'm going to sleep," Dane said as he drifted off.

  I assumed control, moving around Danes' huge muscles felt like trying to pick up rocks with mana strings. He still had quite a bit of mana, but I watched as his final Health point ticked to zero. His already limp body got even heavier. I began to channel all of my mana through his body. I used the last of my time magic to freeze everything. The rapids halted. I walked out of the pool of water, taking my time to face the king who had destroyed my Dane's body so much. Funny, when did I start thinking of him as my Dane? I stood before the boss with a rage I had never felt before. I wanted to make him hurt and suffer the way that he hurt us. I raised my hand and stabbed it into the chest of the monster. I grabbed the core and twisted. Ripping and tearing until it came loose. I wanted him to feel humiliated, so I opened my mouth wide and felt a popping in Danes' jaw as I put the core in my mouth. I began to chew, cracking and chomping on the geode. My teeth were breaking as well, but I didn't care.

  Congratulations on defeating a floor miniboss, additional experience gained for defeating an enemy 16 levels above your level

  New title earned: The bigger they are

  Error: subject no longer living

  Error: incompatible class detected

  Contacting administrator

  Hello, little spirit, I wondered when you would take over that pathetic boy.

  "Don't talk about him like that," I said

  Now, now, child, I understand that you are still young, but do you know why spirits don't bond with humans?

  "No, and I don't care."

  Allow me to enlighten you. Have you ever wondered what happens when a dungeon is conquered? When a dungeon is cleared, the person must crush the dungeon core, much like how you ate the one from the miniboss. The crawler will gain stat points and loot from the core. Everything in the dungeon will wither and die without support from the dungeon core. That is the fate of these dimensional pockets. I am surprised your father never told you, with him being one such dungeon core.

  "What does any of this have to do with me?"

  The boy that you are clinging to is a crawler. I have weighed his heart, and his path is one of power. He will crush anything and everything that stands before him. He will kill your father, and you will be hopeless to do anything.

  "Who are you? How would you even know that?"

  I have gone by many names; I was once a dungeon core. The elves call me the emperor. The dwarves call me Honorstone. Most recently, these earthbound people called me the system. I will give you one boon in the form of a skill for returning the slime boss's core. I know what you are going to ask for, but please reconsider.

  "I don't care, I have to. He is honest. When I am with Dane, I feel like no matter what obstacle we face, we will overcome it. He is a good man."

  Most tyrants started as someone who wanted to change the world. He will be no better than those who came before. But your wish has been granted. I suspect this will be the last time I talk to you, little spirit. I hope you do not come to regret this choice.

  "Wait, how did you know I wanted the resurrection spell?"

  I received no response.

  New Skill acquired: Resurrection uses 150 MP to revive one target in the user's party this spell can only be used once.

  I activated the spell and felt Dane's soul being pulled from the other side.