Asari paced back and forth in the corridor, gliding over his own slime trail as he tried to decide what to do. In the nearby chamber, a female Delver sat in one corner, her back against the wall, facing both entrances to her stronghold. There would be no sneaking up on her. She was also a level 6 Witch, the most powerful Delver he’d encountered yet, possibly with ranged magic, meaning she could fry him with a fireball before he even got close to her.

He considered concealing himself in the passage and waiting, hoping she’d walk into his trap, but he found it hard to think of himself as an ambush predator. He preferred to be more aggressive, stalking his prey. But how do you stalk something that won’t move?

He tried making noises to lure her in to investigate, slapping his tentacles against the floor with a wet smacking sound, creating air pockets within his body and then squeezing the air out, making squeaky fart noises, but the woman remained uninterested.

Asari peered down the corridor at her, her pale eyes staring at the wall, her lips moving slightly. It was like she was seeing something he couldn’t, reading invisible words—Of course! Asari wanted to smack himself. She was looking at her own Menu, perhaps even trying to decide where to allocate her skill points. He was very familiar with that particular dilemma, and with how oblivious it made him. If she was busy staring at her menu, he might have a chance of sneaking up on her.

Flattening his body against the stone floor, he crept out of the passage, oozing slowly into the chamber. It was working! She gazed into the middle distance, her eyes flicking back and forth. Asari was nearly to the center of the room when she glanced down, just for a moment. He froze, his gelatinous form tensing. Had she seen him? She must have, she looked right at him, but did she realize what she was seeing?

Perhaps not. She continued reading whatever she was looking at. Asari relaxed and inched closer. He was almost close enough. He began to extrude a handful of tendrils, reaching for her ankles as she sat, legs stretched out in front of her, her dark skirt pooling across her knees. She glanced down again, but this time, something must have clicked. With a startled scream, …