The Crystal Mines and the Super Slimes - Wizard Craft 3.0 #16 - A Video Game Bedtime Story

0:04 Hello friends from across the nation and around the world. I'm Martin, and you are listening to Dad's Bedtime Stories. And tonight, we're headed back into the world of Wizardcraft for, uh, well, this suggestion.

0:22 Hi, Martin.

0:23 I'm Eleanor, and I would like a WizzyCraft 3.0 story idea where you get a new mine area where all types of crystals are, and each one has a different power it gives you, and there's slimes involved, but instead of fighting you, they help you. And if you find a girl... called Eleanor made them and she got lost in the mines at a young age and survived ever since then and you bring take her back to the village with you and she's great help with the village she even named it she calls it Royal Hillsville and you agree I love your podcast.

1:14 Thank you for the awesome suggestion, Eleanor. Oh, and speaking of wizard craft, since we're doing that tonight, I completely forgot, because I hadn't checked my comments in a while, but I am told that Willa was the original person who suggested the No World. So shout out to Willa. Thank you for coming up with that idea. I know I'm a couple episodes late figuring it out. But again, I just forgot to check the comments, so I'm sorry. If you like the podcast, don't forget to rate it and review it wherever it is you're listening. If you want to support us, you can do that on Patreon, or by, you know, purchasing one of the products we have available, including the brand new Cards of Power card game. Including

2:06 Cards of Power cards. It's available through print-on-demand from Game Crafter. It does take quite a while to get the game, so if you're hoping to have it any time in the near future, you might want to think about doing it soon. Mine's not coming until November 3rd, for example, and I ordered it earlier in September. A couple important notes on the game. Number one, we did use AI to do the artwork, because we didn't have a resident artist, but I think it turned out pretty cool. And number two, it's not made for super little kids because there are little pieces and stuff like that in it as well as cards, you know, just to make the game work.

2:51 So just keep that in mind if you're deciding to buy it or not, parents. I have just added all the links to dadsbedtimestories.com so you have an easy way to find them and link to GameCrafter. And while I was at it, I put all of my books up there, including the latest one, my first graphic novel attempt, Kid Spaceship, which is the first ten chapters of my spaceship book.

3:21 But enough about me. I think it's time to move on to the story, after a possible word from a possible sponsor, of course. Time to close your eyes. Get as comfy as you can in that bed and imagine yourself doing what the kid in the story does. You wake up to a familiar set of words floating in front of your eyes. Wake up? You mentally select yes and the world slowly forms around you. You're lying in your bed inside your house in the still somehow. unnamed mountain village. Beside the bed, your emerald cat golem is curled up in a little green ball. Outside, you hear the familiar sounds of the village waking up. Golems marching through the streets, hammers striking wood, people talking, and somewhere

4:25 in the distance, a whoosh sound as Something rattles against your window. That can't be good, you say. But before you can investigate, the all-knowing voice speaks. Congratulations! Character progress summary available. Current player level. Level 10. Unused skill points. 1. Current skills unlocked. Lockpicking. Level 3. Ninjutsu combat. Level 2.

5:02 Arcane Engineer. Level 3. Cyborg. Animal Control Skill. Level 3. Dominance Breaker. Current Wizard Abilities. Advanced Wizard. Current Spells Unlocked. Stone Golem. Copper Golem. Iron Golem. Golden Golem. Diamond Golem. Laser Golem. Emerald Cad Golem, Netherite Golem, Cloud Golem, Fire Magic, Level 4, Telekinesis, Level 3, Earth Magic, Level 2, Lightning Magic, Level 2, Animal Control, Level 2, Current Equipment, Iron Sword, Sword of Stolen Skills, Flying Diamond Golem Mech Suit. Upgraded Armored Car. Current Mounts. Giant Hawk. Young Void Dragon. Flying Nimbus.

6:11 Current Active Settlement. Unnamed Mountain Village. Current Known Enemy. Gary the Golem King. The screen flashes again and the voice appears again. Congratulations! Your continued magical development, exploration, and the growth of your settlement have increased your level. You have reached level 11. New skill point awarded. You now have two unused skill points. Two, you say? For a moment you consider spending them, but then you remember the dinosaur and all those other times it became way more useful to keep them. You dismiss the menu, deciding to leave them for a time you actually need them. Come on, you say to your emerald cat golem. It opens its eyes. Yes, master.

7:13 The cat stretches and follows you outside. Immediately, whoosh! A blast of wind tears through the street. The hat flies past your face. My hat! Someone yells. A villager runs past, chasing it. You turn toward the town square. Your cloud golem is floating happily above several buildings, spinning slowly in the air. Another gust blows through. A sheet flies off a clothesline. Someone carrying a basket of bread grabs it with both hands before it can tip over. You head toward the town hall. Gus is standing outside. His hair is blown almost completely to one side. Good morning, you say.

8:09 Gus stares at you. Is it? Another gust blows past. Gus's coat flaps wildly. You look up at the cloud golem. Ah, yes, Gus says.

8:25 Ah, yes.

8:28 Has he been doing that all morning? Most of the morning. Yesterday as well, actually. The baker opened his door approximately twenty minutes ago and covered half of the street in flour. You try not to laugh. Apparently, one of the villagers has chased the same hat across town three times now. The man from before runs past again. Four times, he yells. Okay, I'll deal with it. You mentally call your cloud golem.

9:09 A moment later, it floats down in front of you. What are your orders? Could you maybe stop making giant gusts of wind unless somebody specifically asks you to? The cloud golem pauses. Yes. Great. I believed the wind was pleasant. It probably is when you're made of clouds, but not to the other people. The golem thinks about this for a minute. Understood. Then it floats away. Gus smooths his hair back into place. Thank you? No problem. He gestures toward the town hall. Now, unfortunately, here is... weather conditions are not our only concern. You follow him inside. J.D.

10:08 is already sitting at the large table. So, you say, Gary? Not specifically, Gus answers. But we would be foolish to assume the Golem King has abandoned his ambitions simply because we defeated him once. I agree. You mentioned discovering additional islands in the sky yesterday. Yeah, there's one that I got trapped on, plus that giant floating castle. There could definitely be more, and, well, come to think of it, even more stuff in that giant floating castle. Perhaps, Gus says, and I think they are worth exploring. He pauses. Eventually. Eventually? Well, yes.

11:03 You see, I believe something considerably closer to home has been ignored for far too long. JD smiles. The mines. You look at him. The mines. The mines. Gus nods. You explored the diamond level. You found the dungeon realm portal. You fell into that strange netherite cavern, but we still haven't properly explored the mine level below diamond. And frankly, none of the workers are going to go down there without you. You think about it. He's right. Every major level of the mine has produced something useful. Copper, iron, gold, diamond, spells, golems, weapons, and probably a whole bunch of problems. All right, you say. JD?

12:04 Already ready. The two of you go and collect your mech suits, pulling them into your inventories for now. No point walking around in giant mechanical bodies through narrow tunnels if you don't have to. The two of you make your way up the winding stairs at the back of the village and enter the mine. You take the elevator down, through the copper levels, the iron levels, the gold levels, all the way to the last level of diamond. Finally...

12:41 The elevator doors open onto the lowest level you've officially unlocked. You step into the enormous diamond cavern. The old dungeon realm portal still swirls on one side. The staircase leading deeper into the mountain waits on the other. Alright, let's see what's next. You and JD descend. At first, the walls are ordinary dark stone, but soon something begins to glow. Blue.

13:17 A little further down, red, then green, purple, white. By the time you reach the bottom, you're surrounded by light. Wow, JD says. The staircase opens into a gigantic cavern unlike anything you've seen in the mines before. Massive crystals grow from the floor. Others hang from the ceiling like glowing icicles.

13:49 Some are taller than buildings. Crystal bridges stretch over deep openings. Whole clusters of tiny crystals cover the walls like glowing flowers. Red crystals radiate heat. Blue ones drip tiny streams of water. Green crystals have vines and moss growing around them. White crystals seem to have little spirals of air constantly moving around their surfaces. This might be the coolest level yet, JD says. I was thinking the same thing. Then something moves behind a crystal. You summon your sword. A blob slides into view. A slime. But unlike the copper, iron, gold, and diamond slimes you've encountered before, this one is bright blue and almost completely transparent. Of course. Another one appears.

14:57 A red one. Then a green one, a brown one, a white one. A purple one. Soon, dozens of differently colored slimes are slowly moving out from behind the crystals. JD forms a fireball in his hand. Same plan as always? Same plan as always, you respond. The blue slime attacks first. It opens its mouth, and a blast of water shoots towards you with enough force to knock you backward. Water slime.

15:34 The red one launches itself into the air. Its entire body catches fire. Fire slime. You roll aside as it crashes into the ground. A brown slime hardens into something that looks almost like rock and then charges at JD. He barely jumps aside in time. Earth slime. Do we really have to yell all of their names? You ask. No, but it helps. A white slime compresses its body and releases a blast of wind that sends both of you sliding across the crystal floor. Air slime, you mutter. See, you're doing it too. The battle explodes around you. You blast the fire slime backward with water pulled from one of the blue crystals using telekinesis. The water slime lunges.

16:33 You answer with lightning. There's a crack and electricity flashes through its transparent body. Then, pop, the slime disappears. A green slime slams itself against the ground. Vines explode from cracks in the cavern floor and wrap around your legs. Nature slime. You slice through the vines with your sword.

17:00 Immediately pulling it from your inventory, JD sends a fireball into the green slime and, pop, it disappears. You turn just in time to see three crystal slimes launching sharp purple crystal spikes through the air. You raise a telekinetic shield. The spikes freeze inches from your face. Okay, that's new.

17:28 You reverse the force and the crystal shards shoot backward. The slimes dodge in different directions. The air slime attacks again. You get blown halfway across the cavern. Enough. You gather mana in both hands. Fire blooms between your palms. But instead of forming an ordinary fireball, you slam the flame into the ground. Inferno. Fire spreads across the stone, a huge wall of heat rises in front of you, and the air slimes scatter. The nature slimes retreat from the flames.

18:12 JD blasts a crystal slime with lightning. You use earth magic to launch a pillar beneath another and send it slamming into the ceiling of the cavern, instantly causing it to despawn.

18:27 Then.

18:28 Your shoulder suddenly gets hit by a blast of water, causing you to spin around. Alright, blue guy. You grab the slime with telekinesis. It floats helplessly in front of you. You pull back your sword, and then... You freeze.

18:47 JD freezes.

18:55 The slime continues floating in the air and, well, crying. You slowly lower your sword and look at JD. JD looks at you. Is... is it crying? I think the slime is crying. The slime sniffles. You.

19:21 you scared me.

19:23 You stare at it. then a JD, then back at the slime. You can talk? Of course I can talk. The slime's body jiggles as it cries. You came into our home and you started exploding everybody. You release your telekinesis. The slime drops gently onto the ground. Oh, JD looks around at all of the floating loot. Ah, yeah. You suddenly feel considerably less heroic. Ah, you put your sword away. Sorry, I didn't know you were sentient or whatever. We just kind of thought you were attacking us. Every slime we've ever encountered in these mines has immediately tried to destroy us.

20:21 We were just trying to protect ourselves. Yeah, you glance at JD. That makes sense. We're nice slimes. I'm starting to gather that. The slime looks toward the pile of loot left behind by the slimes you've already defeated. You wince. And, uh, I'm really sorry about your friends. The slime stops crying. Oh, them? Yeah, that's no problem. You blink. No problem? Problem? They've probably already respawned at their place of creation. The slime turns.

21:10 You follow its gaze. Several familiar slimes are slowly approaching from behind a giant green crystal, including the water slime that you recently electrocuted, the nature slime JD exploded, and the crystal slime you launched into the ceiling. Every single one of them is staring at you, and none of them look particularly impressed. The water slime narrows its eyes.

21:43 You raise one hand. I, sorry about the, uh, despotting thing. It makes an angry bubbling sound. JD leans toward you. I don't think they accepted the apology. Yeah, I'm Getting that impression, you respond. The crying slime brightens. Come on, you should meet our mother. You look at JD. Their mother? The slime begins bouncing deeper into the crystal cavern. Her name is Eleanor. You and JD follow, and as you pass the group of recently respawned slimes, Every single one turns to keep staring at you. You clear your throat. Again, very, very sorry. The fire slime bursts into flames. You walk a little faster. The little blue slime bounces ahead of you through the crystal cavern. You and JD follow, still

22:55 getting occasional suspicious looks from the slimes you recently, uh, well, accidentally exploded. Sort of accidentally anyways. The further you travel, the stranger the cavern becomes. The crystals stop looking random and start looking organized. Green crystals grow in perfect rows beside little gardens. Blue crystals drip water into stone channels.

23:26 Red crystals glow beneath cooking pots. White crystals spin slowly above the ground, pushing air through the cavern like little magical fans. And everywhere, slimes are working, rather than just sliming themselves around. One green slime carries a basket of vegetables. A purple crystal slime rolls past with several glowing shards balanced on top of its head. A water slime fills a stone pool by spraying water into it. JD looks around. Okay, this is actually pretty amazing. Yeah. The blue slime turns around.

24:15 This way. You follow it around a massive crystal column and then you see the settlement. A whole little village has been carved and grown into the crystal cavern. Buildings made from clear and colored crystals surround a wide central area. Crystal lamps glow everywhere. Gardens fill the spaces between the houses.

24:43 Little bridges cross streams of perfectly clear water. And at the center stands something that looks like a small palace made almost entirely out of crystal. Whoa, you say? A woman steps out through the entrance. Several slimes gather around her feet. The blue slime bounces excitedly toward her. Mother! Mother!

25:12 We found people! The woman looks at you, then at JD, then at the group of angry-looking slimes following behind you. Her eyebrow rises.

25:26 I see.

25:28 You point awkwardly behind yourself. So, there was a misunderstanding. The water slime makes an annoyed bubbling sound. I gather that. I'm really sorry. Every slime we've ever encountered in the mines before has just sort of attacked us and we thought they were doing the same thing. The woman smiles.

25:55 No permanent harm done. You glance at the respawned slimes. Apparently. They respawn here, she explains. This is the place of creation. As long as the crystal cores remain intact, they'll eventually return. JD looks relieved. Well, that's good. One of the fire slimes bursts into flames while glaring at him. Although I don't think they've forgiven us yet. Fair enough. The woman extends a hand. My name is Eleanor. You shake it.

26:40 You introduce yourself and JD. So you created all of this? Most of it. She looks around the cavern. The slimes helped, of course. How did you even end up down here? Eleanor pauses. I fell into the mines when I was very young. You stare at her. Like fell down the mine? Unfortunately, nobody came looking for you? They did, at least I assume they did, but The tunnels had collapsed behind me.

27:23 At first, I thought I wasn't going to live down here. Didn't think I'd survive long. She places her hand against the crystal. But then I discovered what these crystals could do. The green crystal begins glowing brighter. A nearby plant suddenly grows several inches. JD's eyes widened. Nature magic? Something like that.

27:53 Eleanor pulls a small crystal from a pouch. These crystals don't work quite like normal spellcasting. You can push mana through them and produce a very specific effect. She holds up the green crystal. Nature crystals encourage growth. Then she points to the blue one. Water crystals create or manipulate water.

28:22 A red one. Fire crystals create heat. White crystals create air. Brown crystals control the earth. Then she gestures toward a transparent crystal growing from the wall. And those can store mana or back up your own. You walk toward it. Your arcane engineer skill seems to almost activate on its own. Suddenly, you can see the thing differently. Energy moves through it.

28:58 Through tiny little magical pathways. A battery. These are like power cells. Eleanor looks at you. Exactly. JD looks impressed. Nope. figured all this out by yourself? I had a lot of time, Eleanor smiles. At first, I used the nature crystals to grow food. Then, I learned to combine water crystals with channels like these. She points toward the small streams running through the settlement. Eventually, I learn that crystals could be encouraged to grow into certain shapes. She touches the wall of one of the houses. The crystal's surface shifts slightly, so I built a home. You look toward the crystal palace. A pretty nice one. It took some time, but I didn't have much else to do. A slime bounces past, and then I got lonely. I discovered that

30:10 if I push mana through certain crystals while adding a tiny amount of my own life force, something happened. She reaches down and pats the blue slime. The crystal energy mixed with the slime materials naturally present in the caves. You mean, you created slimes? Yes. The blue slime grins. Mother made us all. Well, the first one was an accident, Eleanor says. But after that, I learned how to do it intentionally. She gestures around. Different crystals create different kinds of slimes. A fire slime bounces toward her. Fire crystals produce fire slimes. Green ones nature, and, well, you probably get the picture. The more you look around, the more impressed you become. Eleanor hasn't just survived, she's built an

31:17 entire little world. Then you notice something familiar. A purple crystal. Not exactly the same as the one in the mysterious machine beneath the mountains, but close. Wait, you point. What's that one? Eleanor looks toward it. A portal crystal. You stop. Portal crystal? Yes, very rare, I'm told, but I've found a bunch of them. Your mind immediately jumps back to the day before. We found a machine inside the mountain, and it had something like that in it. Eleanor looks interested.

32:04 What kind of machine? It was like a block with a button, and one of those crystals was in it. When I pressed it, it teleported me into the sky. JD stares at you. You still haven't explained that entire story, by the way. Oh, yeah, later. Eleanor walks closer. A machine using a portal crystal could certainly do that. Did you build it? No. Do you know who did? No.

32:38 She examines the crystal thoughtfully. But whoever built a stable teleportation device using one of these... Must understand crystals far better than I do. You look at JD. Great, another mystery. At least this one isn't trying to eat us, JD says. Yet, you reply. You look back at Eleanor. You know, you don't have to stay down here anymore. The elevator works now, the mine levels above this have been cleared. Eleanor says nothing for a moment. You could come back to the village.

33:21 The village? The one built into the mountain. Her eyes widen. There's still a village there? More than still, we rebuilt it. Eleanor slowly smiles. I haven't seen Royal Hill in years. You blink. Royal Hill? Royal Hill Village. JD stares at you. You look at JD. A familiar screen suddenly appears. Settlement information discovered. Original settlement name. Royal Hill Village. Would you like to officially name your settlement Royal Hill Village? You mentally select yes. Congratulations. Congratulations. UNNAMED MOUNTAIN VILLAGE HAS BEEN RENAMED TO ROYAL HILL VILLAGE. YOU GRIN. WELL, APPARENTLY THAT'S WHAT IT'S CALLED AGAIN NOW. ELENOR LAUGHS. GOOD. IT ALWAYS WAS.

34:31 YOU SPEND A LITTLE MORE TIME HELPING ELENOR GATHER A FEW THINGS, NOT THAT SHE HAS MUCH TO BRING OTHER THAN CRYSTALS AND SLIMES AND STUFF. MOST OF WHAT SHE OWNS SHE GREW WITH THE CRYSTALS ANYWAYS. Then, the whole group heads toward the elevator. You, JD, Eleanor, and about 20 slimes. You look at the crowded elevator. Are all of them coming? The blue slime answers, yes. Of course, of course, don't worry about it. The elevator groans and rises through the mine. Finally, the doors open. Eleanor steps outside.

35:16 Sunlight hits her face and she freezes. For a long moment she doesn't say anything. Then she slowly walks toward the village. Royal Hill Village. People stop to watch as Eleanor and her small army of colorful slimes emerge from the mine. Gus comes hurrying towards you. You're back. Yep. He looks at Eleanor, then the slimes, then you. I assume there's a story here? A pretty long one. You introduce Eleanor. When Gus hears who she is, his expression changes.

36:02 I remember your family, and I remember when you went missing in the mines. It was just before the village fell. We couldn't do anything to find you. Oh, please tell me you're coming to stay. We'll find you a nice place. Eleanor looks uncertain. I'd like to stay, but... Well, this all doesn't feel like home. You think about her crystal settlement.

36:39 Then build something that does. Eleanor looks at you. You're sure? Absolutely. We'll find you a place you can build whatever you want. As you approach the bottom of the stairs, you point in front of you.

36:56 See?

36:57 There's a huge open space there. Why not take that? Everyone, she says to the slimes, let's build. The slimes immediately spring into action. Eleanor pushes a crystal into the ground. Mana flashes through it, and crystals begin spreading outward. A foundation grows directly from the earth. More crystals rise and walls form, windows, columns, a roof. The crystal slimes help shape the structure. Earth slimes pack and level the ground.

37:38 Water slimes create a little pond beside the house, then the nature slimes bounce around behind it. Every time one touches the ground, green crystal energy spreads through the dirt and plants start to sprout. Vegetables and flowers start to grow. Within minutes, Eleanor has a beautiful little crystal palace standing beside the rest of Royal Hill Village. Not nearly as big as the one underground, but definitely pretty cool. JD stares at it. Okay, that's pretty awesome. Eleanor stands in front of the palace surrounded by her slimes. This feels better.

38:29 You smile.

38:30 Good.

38:32 Oh, one more question. Eleanor looks at you. Have you ever explored below the crystal caverns? She simply laughs. Not even close. You look toward the mine. What's below? I don't even know. You never went down? No. She looks slightly more serious. The crystal caverns gave me everything I needed. Food, water, shelter, friends...

39:06 The blue slime bounces happily. I never had a reason to go deeper and, well, I was kind of scared too. Well, I guess that leaves more places to explore, you say, looking over at JD. He nods in agreement. But for now, I think it's time to head to bed. You all part ways, Eleanor waving goodbye and heading into her crystal palace, JD and Gus heading back to their respective houses, and you opening the door to your own. You immediately collapse into bed. A familiar prompt appears. Sleep? You mentally select yes and your body relaxes. Your arms and legs sink into the mattress. With each breath, you let go of a little more tension in your body. Your arms sink into the mattress. Your shoulders sink into the mattress. Your

40:18 legs sink into the mattress. Your neck relaxes and your face softens into a nice half smile. With each breath, you sink a little deeper and the deeper you go, the better you feel and the better you feel, the deeper you go. until your mind begins to wander off to thoughts of new dreams, new levels of the mind, and new adventures to come. Good night, everyone.

41:27 Thank you. Thank you.

43:28 Thank you.

44:18 Thank you.

45:00 Thank you.

45:54 You Thank you. Thank you.

49:27 Thank you.

51:26 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

55:40 Thank you.

56:34 Thank you. Thank you.

59:13 Thank you.