Syl: Diffusion

A Slime Monster Evolution LitRPG

Lunadea

Mango Media LLC

Copyright © Lunadea 2025 produced by Mango Media LLC

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact the publisher at admin@mangomediapublishing.com.

The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

Book cover by Tsuu. Typesetting by Miblart.

Contents

Recap

1. Returning

2. Gold Interface

3. Travel Arrangements

4. Dhoggurum

5. A Feast

6. Cavern Questing

7. Metal Urchin

8. Ant Assault

9. Playground

10. Exploratory Mining

11. Worms

12. Eating Rocks

13. Obsidianite

14. Saber-Rattling

15. Glyph Mage

16. Kobolds and Dwarves

17. Politics

18. Meetings

19. Scoundrels

20. Anti-Mages

21. Derived Dwarves

22. Trapping the Trapper

23. The Terror

24. The Spider and the Elf

25. The Spider and the Slime

26. Bigger on the Inside

27. Exchanging Stories and Offers

28. Vee

29. Bonding Threads

30. Spider Pageant

31. Spider Classes

32. Explaining and Introducing

33. Core Deals

34. Dungeon and Mirror

35. Acid Magic 101

36. Companion Casting

37. Training Experiments

38. Sharing is Caring

39. Combat Trials

40. Kobold Outpost

41. Self-Destructing Worm

42. Shadowy Elf Assassin

43. Tangled Web

44. Report

45. Ring Shopping

46. Pocket Magic

47. Pixie Chaos

48. Three Gluttons

49. Luminous

50. Essence Sludge

51. Tea Slime

52. Looking for Trouble

53. Sneaky Slime

54. Infiltration

55. Smelting

56. Routine Progress

57. Siren

58. Artillery

59. Salamander Squad

60. Strange Monsters

61. Even Stranger

62. Squires

63. Healers First

64. Spider Time

65. Black Sun

66. Sacrificial Summoning

67. Demon

68. Inevitable Betrayal

69. Slimy Results

70. Some Answers

71. Elven Embassy

Epilogue

Thank You

Recap

Book 1: Nucleus

Reborn as a simple blue slime, Syl sought to escape the confines of being farmed. Heading into the forest, Syl caused all sorts of mayhem and began defeating the monsters that ruled the forest. After evolving, Syl ran into a dying elf, who bonded and commanded Syl to kill her. Feeling confused and violated, Syl fled the forest as quickly as possible.

Syl then got involved with a tribe of goblins bearing a grudge against humans and decided to join them in hopes of finding someone who would accept a monster. While with the goblins, the human adventurers attacked, leading to Syl eventually pretending to be a captured elf and securing safe passage into the human town.

Syl ended up joining the Adventurer’s Guild and picking up the Mage class to get access to the wonders of magic. Shenanigans ensued, and Syl defeated a dungeon, killed a noble out for blood, and was then transferred to the next city over.

In Kaerlin, Syl was promoted and immediately sought out, completing quests to earn income for slime cores and for rare monsters to eat. Syl killed a salamander, stopped a large orc raid, and took part in an emergency quest to stop a monster stampede.

Now, Syl has set sights on the nearby floating island, intending to obtain a yellow slime for new slime traits and lightning magic!

Book 2: Osmosis

Even the sky wasn’t the limit for Syl, as Glimmerock was found and conquered. On the floating island, Syl fought magical equines, ghouls, and harpies and even made a friend, Trixie the Pixie.

Trixie, a knowledgeable guide in the world of magic, taught Syl some magical tricks while also unlocking the prestigious Elementalist class. In return, she promised to help Syl obtain the elusive yellow slime if Syl helped defeat another powerful spirit, an undine. With determination and newfound skills, Syl emerged victorious in the battle and later secured the yellow slime core, claiming the power of lightning!

However, Syl’s journey was not without its challenges. Always one to experiment, Syl inadvertently caused a fatal glitch, forcing an early evolution. This unexpected turn of events resulted in a hefty experience-level debt, but it also transformed Syl into a powerful Cluster Slime, granting the lovable [Sub-Cores] even more utility.

Eventually, it was time to say goodbye, and Syl and Trixie, their bond stronger than ever, parted ways, promising to reunite at the Dwarven Empire.

While Syl was excited to complete the tasks required to be promoted to Gold rank, there was still enough time for a side quest—professions!

Syl became Sylvester, a human cryomancer, and returned to Kaerlin intending to join the Merchants Guild. Sylvester received direct tutelage under Greg, a seasoned Enchanter who could grant a powerful apprentice Emblem at the behest of his noble employers.

Sylvester blazed through Enchanting, thanks to an excellent teacher and the unfair advantage of being a slime prodigy with near infinite Mana and being unnaturally indefatigable.

With training complete and the final enchanting task complete, Sylvester returned to Syl, but not before doing one final set of enchantments directly on each and every core!

Syl’s official return was later than expected, but thankfully, Thern had patiently waited. After reporting the island escapades, Syl was given the dungeon’s location and the final task required for the promotion to Gold rank.

Initially, Syl struggled to find a team but eventually joined a ramshackle adventuring squad called The Misfits. Together with The Misfits, they ventured into the Mutation Dungeon, a lair of three floors with a differing mutation theme that applied to all its inhabitants.

After a relatively easy first floor, the dungeon stepped up its game for the second and third floors, throwing some obscure mutations on its monster minions. But Syl still came out on top and managed to secure an orange slime by convincing the dungeon to spawn one in a pseudo-truce with the Dungeon Master.

After conquering the dungeon and receiving a positive evaluation, Syl had no remaining roadblocks toward being promoted to Gold and accompanying Thern to the Dwarven Empire. Syl also finally paid off the level debt and received a juicy list of slimes, furthering Syl’s ever-growing desire to consume more and more slime cores!

Chapter one

Returning

I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the day, but my mind was still relatively buzzing with the information I had received from Gramps. While I was eager to capitalize on seeking out the other types of slime, that would have to wait until after the dwarves and I got my tendrils all over that delicious silver slime core. Reluctantly crawling out of my bathtub, I stored it away and began to exit safely to the surface.

I’m sure Thern will want to leave almost immediately. However, there’s a brief stop I want to take before I head back to Kaerlin…

I was about to [Thunder Step] away when I realized I’d probably be waking up a bunch of hungover adventurers—it was barely sunrise, after all—and decided to shift into a griffin and soar into the air. [Aerial Finesse] combined with [Enchanted Wings] was a blessed way to travel, and I happily soared through the sky.

Man, I missed flying… I must figure out a good excuse for my persona to fly.

I abruptly realized that I still had my giant hat to worry about, which would be detrimental to my monstrous disguises. However, when I looked at it, I noticed it had already transformed into a very subtle, small hairclip, barely visible and clipped securely behind one of my ears.

I keep forgetting this hat exists… I definitely didn’t change it myself, but if it responds to my intent, then it’s a little more useful than I realized. Although other than being transforming headwear, I still don’t know if it has a beneficial effect.

Once sufficiently away, I started to add [Thunder Step] while in flight. My top speed was significantly improved, although the backlash was fierce when I chained one too many jumps.

I really wish [Voltaic Slime] was a higher level…

I consulted my [Mapping] and saw that Glimmerock was, regrettably, a great distance away. Trying to take a small detour to attempt another yellow slime hunt just wasn’t feasible unless I wanted to further risk Thern leaving me behind. Sighing to myself, I continued my journey toward Stantondale, ensuring that any large multi-chain jumps were safely discharged into the ground.

Combining flying with [Thunder Step] shaved off almost two days of travel time despite the greater distance to Stantondale than Kaerlin. However, that was also with a higher level [Thunder Step] skill, which meant I could do far longer chains, so my rough mental calculation was a guesstimate at best.

I also caught and ate a few wild monsters I spotted on the way. While it felt like bullying, and the experience was clearly not worth mentioning, I wanted to build up a bit of a reserve of slime mass. My latest acquisition, [Nitro Slime], was simply amazing, and I wanted to try it out in various ways and see what it was capable of. However, I would require sufficient slime mass to do this, as the trait utterly destroyed the slime when it detonated.

It was a fascinatingly powerful trait, and a few monsters on the way fell victim to my experiments. One of my most nefarious experiments was when I made a tiny bunny and primed it to hold its form, then left it on the ground near an unsuspecting wolf. I would have thought the bunny’s utterly lifeless and frozen state would have made the wolf suspicious, but it wasted no time in savagely biting on the fake bunny, which then detonated.

While leaving explosive traps behind is one thing, my ability to mimic and disguise the bombs as something else is frighteningly powerful. Gods… Imagine if I could move them? I could make homing bombs, like tiny pigeons, to fly at a target before detonating.

During the evenings, I spent some time looking into [Stunvolt]; the obvious application would be to see if I could add the stunning concept to my other spells or create a greater affliction effect like I had with [Frostbite]. I wasn’t exactly sure how that would work because of the short duration of the stunned ailment. Freezing something was basically a finisher; not much could survive the final stage of the ailment, whereas stunning was rather easy to apply but extremely short-lived.

Perhaps rather than a build-up, I could work on it by applying the condition periodically. Then it would stun the target briefly every few seconds? Would that work?

It was definitely something worth exploring.

When I neared Stantondale, I halted all [Thunder Step] usage and stuck to flying high in the sky, trying my best to blend into the background by maximizing my transparency. By the time I had officially arrived, it was late afternoon, so I spent some time casually waiting and practicing my sustained flight and [Eagle Vision]. I patiently waited until the evening approached, watching the people go about their final day activities from the sky.

It’s slightly horrifying to think they have no idea I’m here… If I were a crazy monster, what would be able to stop me from flying over the town and dropping [Nitro Slime] bombs on them? Which… is what dragons apparently do to kill anyone who awakens their bloodline… Yikes.

Once sufficiently dark, I shifted into a small blue slime form and slowly descended as stealthily as possible. Once I landed, I hid my wings away and threw my magic hat into storage. The fact that it could be easily thrown into storage gave me comfort over the strange item supposedly soulbound to me.

To think I’m back here again… I thought, feeling slightly nostalgic as I watched the slimes bouncing around me.

Their numbers had greatly replenished since my last feast, and it seemed the humans had grown tired of them being feasted on. There was also now a rudimentary fence surrounding their extremely large enclosure. The fence wouldn’t stop any slimes from escaping, but evidently, the hope was that it would keep any predators out.

Looking through my profiles, I borrowed the [Telepathy (Lesser)] and attempted to contact one of the blue slimes.

Silence.

I tried reaching out to others, but there was nothing. Not even a hint of a thought. I even tried keeping contact with one while I produced some food for it, but other than greedily devouring it from my hand, there was not even a hint of a thought.

I’m really beginning to understand why Trixie couldn’t believe I was a slime…

Focusing on [Companion Bond], I tried to see if I could establish a link that way. I had never used the skill before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, and in a way, it felt like I was reaching out to make a mental handshake with the creature in front of me. I had a brief moment of hope, but my mental hand grew cold, and the slime showed no hint of acknowledgment of my offer.

I didn’t even get a rejection notification, which I assume I would have gotten if it said no… Are slimes just incapable of it?

I felt quite bitter, as one of my solutions was to try to appear as a slime tamer, but if it was impossible, I was in a bad situation.

I can’t handwave something as cut and dry as this. There’s only so much bullshit people are willing to believe as elf things.

With that bitter confirmation, I moved on to the final activity I wanted to try. I wanted to know if eating a few more slimes could further improve my [Mana Slime] trait. I reached out with a tendril and engulfed an unsuspecting blue slime whole, devouring its slime and core entirely.

<Slime (Blue) LV 2 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Slime (Blue) Core absorbed. Trait [Mana Slime] gained.>

Hmm… I gained the trait but no level-up. Perhaps I just need to eat a few more…

<Slime (Blue) LV 1 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Slime (Blue) Core absorbed. Trait [Mana Slime] gained.>

…

It’s shocking how uncompressed their slime is… Was I really this weak back in the day?

…

…

<Slime (Blue) LV 1 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Slime (Blue) Core absorbed. Trait [Mana Slime] gained.>

<Existing Trait [Mana Slime LV 11] improved to [Mana Slime LV 12].>

Ha! It worked! I cheered happily.

It had taken far more slimes than I thought it would have. I had eaten six slimes for a single level.

And I had to assume that it was only six due to me partially leveling up the skill…

I had to know. My tendrils spread out and started to grab more slimes.

<Slime (Blue) LV 1 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Slime (Blue) Core absorbed. Trait [Mana Slime] gained.>

…

…

…

<Slime (Blue) LV 1 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Slime (Blue) Core absorbed. Trait [Mana Slime] gained.>

<Existing Trait [Mana Slime LV 12] improved to [Mana Slime LV 13].>

Eleven slimes! I exclaimed.

It was a shockingly high amount required, and the field was starting to look barren of slime life. My guilty conscience rose as I realized I was eating away the primary income for the town.

Uh… Maybe I can make it up to them? I mean, my slime is far better than this garbage… Although saying that, I still can’t even feel or see a difference between this trait now and when it was still at level ten.

I started pulling out some of the empty vials and containers in my storage, ensuring they were both clean and empty and ready for me to fill them with my own slime. I confirmed it was only [Mana Slime] and filtered it down so it wasn’t ultra-dense. I scattered the containers on the ground, hoping it would be good enough compensation for my meal.

It’s a good thing I have quite a few canteens and the vials I took from that ghoul lab.

Feeling slightly less burdened by my conscience, I sprouted wings and flew straight up. While flying high up in the sky, I also flew over Stantondale, seeing the few windows illuminated by the lights within. I also pulled out the adventurer tags I had taken back when I was with the goblins and dropped them inside the town one by one.

Hopefully, someone finds these… I should have returned them ages ago, but I kept forgetting I had them.

Part of me wanted to drop in and say hi to Roderick, Tabitha, and Kurt, while my stomach desperately wanted me to visit Trevor’s Inn for some, no doubt, high-quality food. Sadly, I had to give up on either idea; it was far too risky, and I didn’t want the disappearing slimes linked back to me even if I gave some compensation. I soared into the night sky with the stars and moon guiding me while I headed toward Kaerlin. I briefly glanced at the mountain deep in the forest and wondered if the goblins had survived… Something to look into when I didn’t have obligations.

When I neared Kaerlin, I shifted my trajectory toward the dungeon so that my arrival would make more sense. Landing down stealthily, I shifted back to my elven persona, stretching and confirming my profile, and everything was in order. Then, after a bit of stretching, I grinned as I began my thunderous arrival.

I couldn’t help but chuckle as the guards and citizens waiting in line were startled when I arrived. I even overheard some muttering from the older guards bemoaning Lisa.

Sounds like Jet wasn’t joking when he said she was a bit of a prankster back in the day…

Thankfully, there seemed to be no resentment, and I was let inside the city with minimal interaction. Despite not getting told to head straight to the Adventurer’s Guild, I still made my way there, seeing no reason not to report in and see if Thern hadn’t grown tired of waiting.

I wonder how the dwarven city will compare… Hopefully, I won’t have as many eyes always staring at me.

Arriving at the guild without issue, I politely waited until Luke had finished dealing with his current client. While waiting, a few other parties asked me if I was interested in joining them for a quest, which I had to politely decline, saying I had prior obligations. Unlike the fiasco at the dungeon, there was no outburst of anger or insults thrown at me.

That situation still really bugged me… I wonder what that guy’s problem was? My paranoia can’t help but feel like it was somewhat staged.

Finally, Luke arrived, smiling brightly. “Good to see you again, Miss Syl.”

“Pleasure to see you as well, Luke. I’m back from a successful dungeon run.”

“I did receive Sir Jet’s communication and gave it directly to Master Lisa. She told me to send you to her office as soon as you reappeared.” Luke paused and chuckled. “Some bets were going on if you were going to be gone for months again.”

“As fun as that would’ve been, I don’t think I could keep poor Thern waiting any longer. Assuming he hasn’t left me behind already?”

“No. He’s still waiting and mentioned that he wants to drag you off as soon as you get your new tag. By force if necessary.”

I couldn’t help but wince, feeling remorse for leaving him waiting for so long. I made a mental note to expedite giving him some more alcohol slime. We exchanged a few more pleasantries before I headed to Lisa’s office.

Gold rank, here I come!

Chapter two

Gold Interface

“I’m glad you didn’t bring an army of angry horses this time,” Lisa joked when she first saw me. “Have fun in the dungeon?”

“Aside from some issues getting started, it went pretty well. Thanks for sending Jet,” I answered honestly.

“No problem. He was just sitting around gathering dust. I hope he didn’t spook you with his shadows?”

“Just some mild jealousy; it certainly looked useful.”

“Yeah, I wish I could send my shadow to fetch snacks for me,” Lisa admitted.

We reviewed Jet’s report, and she confirmed some of the oddities we experienced in the dungeon. I also gave a report on [Thunder Step] and how I found it. I couldn’t stop singing the skill’s praise, and Lisa seemed thrilled that I had no buyer’s remorse.

I also asked how things were in the city, and that was how I found out that, unfortunately, I had missed Whitney, who ended up taking her assignment in the capital to further hunt down the smugglers. I pulled out the enchanted dagger and showed it to Lisa.

“Is there any way I could have this sent to her?” I asked, lightly tossing the dagger into the air before it poofed and reappeared in my hand. “I found it in the dungeon, and I think it’s perfect for her.”

“Oh! A returning weapon. Those are pretty nifty. We once found a javelin that had that enchantment,” Lisa said rather enthusiastically.

“It’s also got an enchantment that causes bleeding and then a combination of self-repair and sharpening,” I added.

“Wow… I had no idea you could give advanced appraisals,” Lisa said, looking genuinely surprised. “I must remember to add it to your guild profile when I update its rank.”

“So I’m Gold?” I asked. “Cause otherwise, I think Thern will kill me.”

“So, I think it’s safe to say you’ve passed,” Lisa said proudly. “Now, normally, for Gold rank and above, we would have a ceremony…”

“Oh no…”

“But!” Lisa interrupted, holding up a single finger. “I know you’d hate that, so we will skip the big presentation.”

I sighed in relief. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Besides, Thern would kill me if I held you up with a big ceremony. He’d leave with you right this moment if he had his way.”

“That reminds me, I need to do some shopping…”

“Yes. Please bribe the very grumpy dwarf, especially if you have more of that crazy alcohol he loves so much,” Lisa said, chuckling.

“Sorry… I’m guessing that’s my fault.”

“Heavens no. His enchanting buddy has apparently been an insufferable braggart,” Lisa responded. “His words, not mine.”

“Oh…”

As if summoned, Lisa’s door slammed open, and a grumpy-looking dwarf entered.

“There you are!” Thern grunted, pointing a meaty finger at me. “Finally crawled out of the dungeon, I see… Good! We leave tomorrow morning, bright and early. Meet you at the guild reception.”

Before either of us could say anything, he stormed out.

“And that, Syl, is why you never want to meet a sober dwarf.” Lisa chuckled.

“I’ll get him some emergency alcohol pronto.”

“The guild thanks you for your sacrifice,” Lisa joked. “Anyway, we can get this over and done with if you hand over your old tag.”

I pulled it off my neck and placed it on her desk. She unlocked a small safe in her desk drawer and pulled a golden chain with an absolutely massive crystal. I had to hide a wince of pain when I tried to use [Rune Reading] on the new tag; even my old one was beyond my comprehension.

They did say this was something put in place as a wish from the gods, so I guess it makes sense that I can’t understand it at all. Still, I didn’t expect to take mental damage just from glancing at it.

She put it next to my old tag, and with a casual wave, both crystals shone brightly.

“Poof. It’s done.” Lisa smiled and gestured for me to take it.

I picked it up and placed it over my neck.

“You can now take up to five quests at once. You now also have the guild vouching for entry into foreign allied nations, so yes, you can access the Dwarven Empire now. Your access to guild-managed dungeons has also increased, which I’m sure you’ll enjoy,” Lisa began explaining.

I nodded along.

“Finally, it’s time for the big reveal…” Lisa said, pausing for dramatic effect. “Say or think Interface, like you would your profile.”

Interface.

Suddenly, strange objects appeared in my vision; what looked like a tiny map was in the corner of my sight. Red and blue bars appeared above Lisa’s head, while another two nearly identical bars were at the bottom of my vision. The red bar above Lisa’s head absolutely dwarfed the one at the bottom of my vision, while the opposite was true for the blue ones and to a much larger extent.

I couldn’t handle the shocking amount of information and surprise at what was now being presented, and Lisa must have been waiting to see my reaction as she couldn’t help but start laughing.

“Welcome to one of the most controversial features someone asked the gods for. Some love it, others hate it and refuse to use it.”

“What… is all this?” I said, trying to look around, but the things followed my vision.

“Well. That depends on what traits or skills you have available to you, and I’m not entirely sure what you have,” Lisa answered. “I know you have [Mapping], so you should have a minimap. You’re also a spellcaster, so you undoubtedly have [Mana Sense], if not better, and so, you should have a Mana bar.”

“So this… blue bar is my Mana?” I asked.

“Yes, your own is quite accurate, while the bar on others is a comparative estimate to your own amount combined with your corresponding trait or skill level,” Lisa explained. “For example, I can tell you have more Mana than me, but I have no idea how much more. It’s mostly a visual translation of your feelings or intuition.”

“I guess the reddish one is lifeforce, then?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s pretty good for healers to see if a party member is injured and needs serious attention at a glance,” Lisa answered. “I guess you could also use it to estimate how close a monster is to death, but personally, that sounds stupid. You keep stabbing until it stops moving.”

Lisa continued explaining this feature to me; it was interesting that everything promptly vanished when I removed my guild tag from my neck. Only the gods could have designed a device linked to one’s skills and traits. Thankfully, it was also customizable, and I could dismiss information I wasn’t interested in. Lisa also mentioned that new features were always being discovered from some obscure trait or skill, especially if it was some form of upgrade or enhancement to the [Identify] skill.

If it worked with [Affliction Tracker], then that might make it quite useful.

“Last thing before I let you go grab your supplies, food, and whatnot,” Lisa said. “As a Gold-rank adventurer, you may be called upon in a time of crisis if you are within the area. Think of that orc raid you stopped, except on a bigger scale. The guild would usually post an emergency notice, and you might be asked to participate. It’s not mandatory per se, but if you reject too many emergencies without a reasonable explanation, you could find yourself getting fined at a minimum and, at worst, face demotion.”

I nodded. It sounded reasonable enough, like almost an impromptu militia for serious threats.

“Oh. I almost forgot,” Lisa said, pointing to the dagger. “We can have that sent to the capital branch for Whitney.”

“Thanks, that sounds perfect,” I said happily. I had already memorized its enchantments, so I had no use for it myself.

“So you got a cloak and a dagger… Not exactly the best dungeon loot for you, all things considered,” Lisa said.

“I also got this hat,” I said, pointing to the giant witch hat.

Lisa looked at me with genuine confusion on her face. “Didn’t you always have that hat?”

“No. I definitely got it in the dungeon. It came from a Cat Sith,” I pointed out, wondering if this was some bad prank.

Lisa frowned and scratched her head. “Are you sure? I genuinely can’t picture you without that hat; it perfectly suits you.”

“I would have absolutely remembered having a shape-changing hat,” I said, demonstrating how to change it into a tiny crown.

Lisa looked startled at first, then smiled. “Okay, that’s a pretty great hat; one of our diamond ranks has a robe that can become any other form of clothing. Although… Her robe actually comes up as magical, whereas your hat looks utterly mundane no matter how much I look at it.”

“We theorized that only I can see its enchantments because it’s soulbound to me,” I answered.

“Fascinating, but other than the convenience of having a hat for every occasion, I can’t say I’m that impressed. Jet mentioned that Eliza got a spell-storing ring with three slots!” Lisa replied, then frowned as she pulled out a sheet of parchment from her desk and quickly read through it.

“Actually… His report doesn’t mention your hat at all…” Lisa said, frowning, and then she burst into laughter. “I get it. You’re both playing a prank on me; Jet pulled you in to get some revenge for old times’ sake?”

I sighed. I felt like we were going around in circles; clearly, something Fey-related was happening. “Sure. It looks like you figured it out.”

“Ha! Brilliant. You almost had me going there.” Lisa chuckled.

When I was leaving, I even overheard Lisa asking her secretary if she liked my new hat. The secretary replied almost instantly, “Didn’t she have that hat when we first met her?”

There’s something funny going on, and I feel like my only hope for an answer is Trixie since the cat is a Fey. Still… What a strange effect. It appears utterly normal to anyone but me, and it somehow convinces them that I always had it.

When I was exiting, I subtly showed Luke my new tag, to which he grinned happily and gave me a thumbs-up. I was glad they knew I didn’t want to make a big deal about it and were happy to keep it hushed for me.

I proceeded to go on a shopping spree, buying a few new flasks and some kegs this time since Thern had previously scolded me for buying barrels. I also purchased some empty chests and food supplies before finally retiring to the inn.

Once in my room, I began to work. I filled the kegs with alcoholic slime, as well as some flasks and canteens for Thern. At the same time, I began enchanting the chests I bought with the storage enchantment. Despite using [Rune Engraving] and the proper tool, the enchantments would only be temporary as I was carving them directly into the chests without a medium such as gold or electrum.

I could have used another method to make them permanent, such as adding a gathering array, but it felt like too much effort when I just wanted disposable chests to store the kegs and barrels. I wanted the chests to make the handover of the alcoholic slime simpler and to also draw less attention to how crazy my storage space was.

As if the ever-growing capacity for my [Core Storage] and its timeless feature wasn’t bad enough, it also seemed to somehow get around one of the biggest restrictions when working with storage enchantments. Putting a dimensional storage into another one.

If you had two storage chests and tried to put the smaller one into the larger one, it would just refuse to enter. No matter how much you wanted to force it. An unbeatable and invisible force would prevent it, and the chest would bend and break sooner than enter. For some reason, I had no restriction on my [Core Storage] and could easily throw any storage chests inside it.

This was part of the explanation I was given when I was learning the storage enchantment from Greg, although he said there were storage artifacts from dungeons that could circumvent this restriction. For example, some Diamond-rank adventurers would find an amulet, ring, or bracelet with a dimensional space feature.

So, I began enchanting chests and throwing barrels and kegs into them once they were filled and sealed with alcoholic slime. The chests could then be put on a wagon or cart.

Actually… Thern never mentioned how we are traveling… I thought curiously. Oh well. Tomorrow will tell. Hopefully, it’s not too long of a journey.

Chapter three

Travel Arrangements

The next morning, I awoke bright and early and hurried to the Adventurer’s Guild. The graveyard shift workers, who were still on duty, were taken aback by my early arrival. When I mentioned that Thern had instructed me to be there early, they couldn’t help but chuckle. However, they also confessed that even Thern’s usual arrival time was still a good hour or two away.

“I can at least take your luggage so long,” one of the staff members offered.

I nodded and placed my various chests on the floor. The man was startled momentarily before giving a firm nod and then rubbing his hands together energetically. He then started lifting the chests one by one, somehow balancing them in a tower formation. Some of the other staff joked about him showing off to pretty girls again as he trundled to deliver the chests.

Despite what the staff had said, Thern did, in fact, arrive sooner than they expected. Before even greeting him, I silently handed him a flask. He stared at it briefly, twisted the cap off, and took a swig. He immediately started coughing, followed by laughter.

“Ah! That’s the stuff!” Thern said, sounding much more pleasant than yesterday.

“It’s good to see you, friend. Again, I’m sorry for the wait.” I apologized and handed him more flasks, which he eagerly accepted.

“It’s not that bad. I’d be taking the long way home if not for you,” Thern admitted.

He pointed to an obsidian-colored chest in his luggage, which was highly locked up with multiple chains and enchantments.

“In here is a brand-spanking new furnace heart, all thanks to that salamander you dealt with,” Thern explained.

“Right… I had wondered who won the bidding war,” I said, recalling my conversation with Luke. “I had hoped the dwarves would win it so I could negotiate for another silver slime core.”

“Ha! Well, you’ll certainly have the money to potentially negotiate. Although you could also sell your services. Many beasties live around us with valuable parts,” Thern said.

“So I could do a bunch of hunting quests and get another core that way?”

“Aye. My pa has already told some of the higher-ups that you were the one to secure the inferno sac,” Thern answered. “Just make sure to do it through the Adventurer’s Guild branch, so you have some diplomatic protection.”

“Diplomatic protection?”

“Just in case some scoundrel tries to renege on a deal. Then the full weight of the guild can be dropped upon them,” Thern said with a hearty chortle.

I followed Thern as he led the way; we stopped off at the library, where he collected a few of his things before heading toward a deeper section of the guild. I hadn’t seen this section before and wondered where we were headed. Did the guild have some sort of staging area for wagons or something? Thern unfortunately refused to answer my query and instead just chuckled with a “wait and see” response.

We had to enter through three locked doors, and my tag briefly glowed as we passed through each one. I turned my head to Thern, showing my concerned curiosity, and he smirked.

“Security. It’s checking that you haven’t stolen that Gold-rank tag. Congrats, by the way! Bring me something fancy to enchant, and I’ll do it for free,” Thern replied, showing a toothy grin.

The final door led to a large room with a massive circular dais. Hundreds of glyphs and sigils decorated the platform engraved in gold, a stark contrast to the almost pitch-black stone the main structure was made of. In the center of the dais was a waist-high column, also fully engraved but made out of pristine marble, and at the tip was a beautiful-looking crystal sphere. I briefly thought it might have been a slime core, but upon further inspection, it seemed to be an artificially made crystal.

Seeing my shock and surprise, Thern couldn’t help but laugh. “First time seeing a teleportation room?”

“I didn’t even know they existed…” I admitted.

“Aye. Most people don’t. They are quite expensive to use and with very strict security,” Thern answered and then patted the black box holding the furnace’s heart. “Our trip is being sponsored by the Empire! They don’t trust such a valuable object being transported by ordinary means.”

“I’m not going to complain… But I’m sure we could handle some bandits between the two of us.”

“No doubt,” Thern admitted confidently. “But I guess all the smuggling going on here in Kaerlin has made some of them worry. Not to mention the pegasi and orc attacks… But look on the bright side; their paranoia gets us a comfy trip!”

“Sounds great. So how does it work?”

“Ha! I don’t blame you for asking. Unfortunately, this is one of the rare occasions that I can’t actually explain something enchanting related,” Thern admitted, almost looking slightly embarrassed. “I’ve spent months staring at these glyphs, trying to decipher them, but it’s like it’s written in multiple bloody foreign languages. All I know is that you place a keystone in two of these and then channel Mana into the orb, and it works.”

“Keystone?”

Thern pulled out a stone disc, cast in marble and engraved with silver. “This here is the keystone. Drew it myself. On the other side is another matching one, and they somehow speak to one another through that monstrosity,” Thern said as he pointed to the dais.

“Can it be anything as long as they match?” I asked curiously.

“Aye. But that’s risky,” Thern answered. “It’s very hard to make two things absolutely identical, so it tries to make the link between the two best matches. If we did something simple like a circle, we could end up in another teleportation room with a circle keystone.”

“I see. That could be a big safety concern.”

“Which is why this room is so heavily monitored. Now help me get your chests onto the platform,” Thern said, pointing to my luggage in the corner.

We moved the chests on the platform, and Thern looked inside them, confirming that the contents were safe and smiling when he saw all the barrels. While we were setting up, Luke and Lisa came to check on us and wish us a good time in the Empire.

“If you plan on bringing back any souvenirs, please get anything other than alcohol. I swear that’s all anyone brings back from the dwarves,” Lisa had joked.

Thern slotted the keystone into an empty slot in the dais, and when he did so, it seemed to complete the framework as the entire thing hummed to life. I tried desperately to understand what I saw, but Thern wasn’t joking or humble when he said he had no idea what it was. I felt I would have no chance if someone as educated as he couldn’t comprehend it.

I could probably get my [Sub-Cores] to recreate this… Although that’s certainly risky. I could end up sending myself to go visit Kappa if I screwed up.

“Right. I think we are ready,” Thern said, looking pleased.

“Anything I should know or be warned about?”

“Keep your arms and legs inside the circle. Seriously,” Thern said sternly. “Other than that, try not to vomit.”

I nodded and stepped up onto the platform to join him. Thern placed his hand on the crystal orb, and it began to slowly build up with a glowing light. The sigils and glyphs on the dais began to shimmer and transform before my eyes, and the entire room began to bend and warp.

“Hold on to your breakfast!” Thern bellowed with laughter.

Then the orb suddenly flickered red, and Thern muttered a dozen curses.

“I thought they charged the bloody thing!” Thern shouted angrily.

He slapped his hand on top of the orb, and I saw the orb pulling vast quantities of Mana from him. Thern started muttering curses and then suddenly fell to his knee.

“Shit! Syl, I’m gonna need you to help dump Mana into this thing! It sucked me dry!” Thern shouted in panic.

I nodded, rushed to the orb, and placed my hand on it. Immediately, I felt the orb start to siphon Mana from me. Thern looked relieved when the dais’s enchantments suddenly became alive, and the room rapidly warped and twisted. There was a popping noise, and abruptly, the room we were in looked completely different. The wooden floors and walls were replaced with pure stonework. Where there might have been a sconce, instead, an engraving was carved directly into the stone, providing an ample light source.

Thern took a swig from his flask before steadily standing up again. “Bloody beards. That could have gone to shit.”

I opened my mouth to ask what had happened when the door to the room slid open. Rather than a wooden door that swings, it was what looked like a stone door that somehow slid into the wall to open a walkway.

A stout female dwarf entered the room, looking absolutely livid. While Thern had an impressive beard that went down past his waist, she, on the other hand, had a massive hairdo that stood tall above her head like a giant beehive. It was heavily braided and well taken care of with its wispy black coloring.

Thern looked at the woman storming toward him, his eyes wide. He looked like he was about to say something when the woman decked him in the face with a massive right hook that sent him crashing off the dais and tumbling to the wall.

Unsure if we were under attack or not, I swiftly cast and held [Stunvolt] in my hand. The bluish-purple energy sparked dangerously on my hand, the buzzing-ticking sound filling the entire room as, unlike in my testing, I held nothing back, and it was fully empowered. The dwarven woman actually flinched in surprise at the loud noise and swiveled to look at me; she glared as if I had challenged her.

<Thessa; Dwarf LV 44; Runesmith LV 83. Elemental Affinity: Earth, Fire, Magma.>

“Syl! No! That’s my ma!” Thern shouted, spitting out some blood.

“What’s wrong, boy? Not gonna let your pointy-eared girlfriend defend your honor?” the woman barked.

“Ma!” Thern shouted, going red in the face. “We’re coworkers!”

“And how many other coworkers have you brought home with ya?” Thern’s mom snorted in response.

Thern facepalmed while fiercely groaning. “Just cause I work with the humans doesn’t mean I’ve adopted their taste in women, Ma! I’m still a dwarf at heart.”

“That’s a relief on a poor mother’s heart,” she responded.

“Bah! The only way to relieve your black heart would be to throw it into a volcano.” Thern spat.

Then, both dwarves abruptly started laughing so hard that tears began forming in their eyes. I dropped my spell and looked at the two, feeling lost and confused.

“I have no idea what’s going on…” I mumbled to myself.

“My son is saying you’re too skinny to be a wife. And I don’t blame him. Are those humans starving you or something? You’re practically skin and bones!” Thern’s mom responded.

“Ma!” Thern shouted.

“Sorry… sorry… Forgive an old bat for being brusque; I haven’t had my morning drink yet.”

I pulled out a flask and handed it to her, immediately making the woman burst out with a devilish grin. “Boy, I think I like this one!”

“Ma!”

“You’re right. Where’s my manners.” The woman chuckled. “Name’s Thessa; pleased to meet ya!”

“Syl. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”

Thessa nodded, then finally took a swig of the canteen. She kept drinking and drinking before finally stopping and letting out a breathy sigh followed by a belch.

“Well, slap my tits; that’s probably the strongest drink I’ve ever had!” Thessa exclaimed happily.

“Did ya think I was fibbing to pa?” Thern questioned.

“I thought maybe you’d lost your gut living out in the sun with the humans,” Thessa admitted. “But I’m happy to be proven wrong. Although you’ve clearly gotten rusty if that teleportation was anything to go by!”

“You can insult me, but never insult my work! I copied the keystone design perfectly!” Thern shouted back.

“Then explain what went wrong with the teleportation? It clearly needed more Mana to compensate for your screw-up.”

Thern reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment with what looked like black markings on it. He stomped over and angrily thrust it toward his mom.

“Good thing I took a rubbing of the finished product,” Thern defended himself.

Thessa examined the piece of parchment with the utmost scrutiny.

“Hmm… I’d give this a less than five percent deviation… Not bad, boy!” she said, scratching her chin. “But then what the hell happened?”

“I thought maybe the guild might not have charged the Mana battery enough,” Thern said.

“Surely they wouldn’t be that stupid,” Thessa said. “Although the only other possibility is too much dimensional weight.”

“Dimensional weight?” I asked.

“It’s not exactly an official term, but we use it to describe the phenomenon. Basically, you can’t cheat teleport costs with dimensional storage,” Thern answered. “But even with the extra chests, it wouldn’t have cost that much more Mana. I mean to explain that you’d need an absolutely massive amount of dimensional space, on par with an artifact storage!”

Oh… shit. It was my [Core Storage], wasn’t it?

Chapter four

Dhoggurum

As if answering his own question, Thern suddenly looked at the pouch on my hip. The bag made out of ornate-looking leaves was still an unresolved mystery. He hummed in thought, perhaps thinking that the bag was potentially an artifact. Honestly, I was beginning to think it may be as well, as despite my advancements in skills and traits, including my profession, I couldn’t make heads or tails of the bag.

I wonder if the bag is soulbound to Sylthaeryn? If it’s at all like my hat, then that would explain a lot. Although… Then why did she ask me to give it to another elf? Is it perhaps soulbound to the elven race specifically?

Thern chuckled. “It’s my fault. I should have asked how much you have stored away personally, especially after what I’ve seen you pull out from harvests.”

“You also should have explained the emergency procedure,” Thessa grumbled. “You bloody nearly drained yourself dry trying to do it yourself…”

Thern looked quite embarrassed as he sighed. “You’re right. Sorry, Syl. I hope it didn’t drain you too much.”

“It didn’t seem that bad…” I answered honestly, which caused both dwarves to stare at me in astonishment.

“I know you brag about your Mana capacity a lot, but even so… It should have been horrible since the conversion ratio is so poor,” Thern said, scratching his beard in thought.

“What would have happened if we didn’t pay the Mana?” I asked.

“Your storage bag would have exploded,” Thessa answered. “The teleportation platform has safety measures that ensure it teleports anything living first.”

I wonder how that works for my [Core Storage]… I couldn’t help but wonder with morbid curiosity.

“But enough of that!” Thessa said cheerfully. “Come, come. Let’s get you unpacked and settled in.”

Before we left, Thessa claimed the keystone from the platform and gave Thern another scolding, saying that the first security measure was to immediately remove it after teleportation. Under his mother’s verbal thrashing, Thern could only sigh and nod. Then, we both followed her out of the room after each grabbing a chest. I got an abrupt notification when I first stepped beyond the door.

<Landmark Discovered: Dhoggurum.>

“Dhoggurum?” I muttered and activated my [Mapping] skill.

Suddenly, the room swayed, and I nearly fell over. As if expecting that Thern caught me before I fell. I could only thank the gods my [Sub-Cores] handled keeping my disguise intact.

“Ha! Lisa owes me a bottle of whiskey!” Thern joked.

My vision stopped spinning, and my [Mapping] skill seemed to finalize what it was trying to do. It zoomed out drastically, and I saw we were to the distant north—absurdly far from Kaerlin.

“What… happened?” I murmured, confused.

“Your [Mapping] skill updated with a new distance. I bet you had never traveled this far before, but Lisa said she was sure you had,” Thern explained. “First-time teleporters usually experience this.”

“Some… warning would’ve been nice,” I grumbled.

“Aye. But then, I wouldn’t have won my bet.” Thern smirked.

Once I had recovered, we continued out through multiple stone doors that slid into their holding like the previous one. The security was very impressive compared to anything I had seen in the human city.

After following her through passageways, we eventually came to an almost familiar sight: an Adventurer’s Guild reception. The layout was eerily similar, except nearly everything was carved from stone, and barely anything was made from wood. And it went without saying that almost everyone present was a dwarf, except for a few humans scattered about.

Thern gestured for me to follow him to one of the reception desks, where we needed to register our arrival. The receptionist was a little surprised to see me hand over a Gold tag.

“Blimey. I thought you were escorting an elf ambassador or something. I can’t believe one actually joined the guild,” the dwarf said as he twirled the tip of his pointed beard.

“Ha! Wait till she starts doing some quests here; then, you’ll be in for a real shock and surprise!” Thern bragged and gave me a big wink.

Then we followed after Thessa again, who was tapping her foot impatiently. One thing I was immediately grateful for was the dwarves’ attitude toward me; I could see they would look a bit surprised at my appearance but then almost immediately pushed it aside and went about their day. On the other hand, the few humans blatantly stared and promptly started gossiping with their companions, as I had grown reluctantly accustomed to.

Exiting the Adventurer’s Guild, I was welcomed to the sight of the city.

“Welcome to Dhoggurum!” Thessa said proudly.

The entire city was carved out of solid stone, showcasing the unmatched dedication of the dwarven people. The walls, buildings, and even the streets were all hewn from the rock, displaying remarkable precision and commitment. I marveled at the underground metropolis’s grand architecture and its sheer scale. The ceilings towered high above, supported by colossal stone pillars that seemed to disappear into the darkness above, creating an almost artificial starry canopy.

The city was organized with practicality and efficiency in mind, with narrow passageways leading to various districts and chambers. Every detail, from the ornate carvings adorning the buildings to the meticulously crafted bridges spanning deep chasms, spoke magnitudes about the dwarven mastery of stonework and engineering. The glow of magical lights illuminated the bustling streets, casting a warm and inviting ambiance throughout the city. Despite being underground, the dwarven city felt vibrant and alive, with shops, taverns, and workshops bustling with activity.

This spectacular view was due to our location on the topmost level. The center of the sprawling city was entirely hollow and carved out, making each level visible from this vantage point and showing its grand majesty. Massive staircases accessing the other floors and even what looked like floating platforms rose and descended through magical or engineered means.

“Is it a giant cube?” I couldn’t help but ask.

Thern burst out laughing while Thessa looked a teensy bit upset.

“Aye! It’s a bloody cube because we dwarves like efficiency, so it’s focused on trying to keep everything as close as possible by using verticality,” Thern explained.

“Doesn’t living on top of everyone get… overwhelming?” I asked.

“Back in the day, that was a small problem, but you’ll find everything enchanted to block out sound or intrusion. No need to worry about a snooping neighbor,” Thessa answered.

“Then that definitely makes a lot more sense. It sounds convenient.”

Thessa liked my agreement as she showed a toothy smile. “Glad you can see our dwarven wisdom. I don’t know how the humans live, so… spread out.”

We continued following her as she showed us around. Seeing so many enchantments in the walls for light or decoration was spectacular. We descended a staircase and eventually headed into what looked like a mostly residential area. Thessa opened the door and welcomed us into her home.

“I see you upgraded from our last home,” Thern said.

“Business has been good. The old one was getting too cramped, and now I have my own personal forge,” Thessa said proudly.

“Soundproofed, I hope,” Thern said.

“And temperature regulated,” Thessa answered. “You know how much Darmod loves his beauty sleep.”

Thern laughed. “Pa was always too sensitive.”

Thessa led each of us to a room. Thern’s was clearly meant for family, while mine was evidently a guest room. It was still well decorated and had a very nice, soft, and fancy-looking human-sized bed.

“You’re lucky we have a human bed. Otherwise, you’d need to fit yourself into a dwarf one.” Thessa chuckled. “I think all your nutrients are going into your height; I swear you elves are far too tall. Now, let’s get some food into you both!”

The food was wonderful and generously portioned, and of course, a keg of alcohol was promptly opened. Thern and his mom caught up, and I let them while trying my best not to pry into their family business. Then, the conversation swayed into talk of adventuring and some of my work.

That was when Thern admitted he wanted me to be on the lookout for any monsters that had parts suitable for enchanting when I eventually left the city on some hunts. He was still clearly very jealous of the unicorn horn I had given Greg.

Thessa couldn’t hide her curiosity, which led to Thern showing her the completed forge heart. Honestly, the thing looked nothing like the original organ, and instead, it almost looked like an encrusted obsidian gem glittering with massive amounts of enchantments. Thessa inspected it with a critical eye and evaluated it as satisfactory.

“This is good, but it’s the finished product.” Thessa sighed. “I was hoping you had some raw materials to show off.”

“Got anything interesting leftover from the dungeon?” Thern asked.

I winced since the Misfits and I had decided to sell everything. However, I still had three parts left over: my alicorn horn, my earthshaker carapace, and the claws from the badger. I withdrew the first two and ignored the claws, as I didn’t want to potentially implicate myself with Bloodrot.

“Sadly, we sold all the dungeon loot, but I still have these,” I answered.

“This would make some mighty fine armor… And you harvested this yourself?” Thessa asked, examining the rocky carapace.

“You should’ve seen it back in the guild. A room full of stuff this good.” Thern chuckled.

“Why the bloody hell are you running around killing monsters then?” Thessa asked, flabbergasted. “You could sit safely in a room and make a fortune.”

I couldn’t help but grin before I answered. “But where would the fun in that be? Where’s the adventure? I get to explore, kill monsters, and level up.”

Thern burst out with laughter. “Aye! Spoken like a true adventurer!”

Thessa sighed deeply. “I really don’t understand you lot. Stick me in a forge all day, and I’d live a happy life.”

“Well… Think of it this way. Without people like me, you wouldn’t get to see and use stuff like this,” I replied.

“Don’t you start using facts and logic to dissuade me now.” Thessa chuckled. “A mother wants her son to stay safe and sound.”

“Ma!” Thern grunted, looking mightily embarrassed.

“Hush you. You’ll always be my baby boy no matter how big of a beard you grow.”

It was a relaxing and pleasant time, and later in the afternoon, Thern’s father arrived home. He looked nearly identical to Thern, except his beard was groomed to perfection and even had some braids and jewelry tied into it. He was almost the spitting image of a well-off merchant and had a bit of a beer belly going on.

While Thern and Thessa were quite boisterous, Darmod was polite and a little reserved. It seemed Thessa wore the pants in the relationship. However, when he saw the barrels I had brought and sampled some, there was a twinkle in his eye, and he suddenly became very enthused and energetic.

“Syl. We are going to make a fortune!” Darmod said enthusiastically.

“Well… I’m honestly more interested in a silver core than money,” I answered.

Thern again couldn’t help bursting out with laughter. “My pa didn’t believe me when I said you wanted that.”

Darmod grumbled a bit at being caught off guard like that but nodded. “Well, it’s a good thing my son convinced me otherwise. I should be able to requisition your silver core by lunchtime tomorrow.”

“Yes! Please do!” I said, unable to hide my excitement. “And please let anyone know I’m willing to work for more, even doing some hunts.” I made sure to point out the rocky carapace I had harvested.

Darmod couldn’t help but blink in surprise. “Yes… I’ll be sure to do it. Just to confirm, this will be a dead slime from a common metal.”

“Yes. Any one is fine. Why would that matter?” I asked.

Darmod fiddled with one of his braids before asking his own question. “How much do you know about slimes eating other slimes?”

“When a slime eats another, it becomes purer,” I answered.

“Alright, that’s good, so I’m not accidentally revealing a dwarven secret.” Darmod chuckled nervously. “Silver slimes, when they eat another, not only become purer, but they also take on any metals the other slime accumulated.”

“Why is that an issue?” I asked.

“Because if you have a slime that can produce gold, why would you want to contaminate it with tin?” Darmod responded. “The slimes are stupid, so they mix all of their absorbed metals together.”

“Ah… So they create unexpected alloys.”

“Yes. That’s why if any slime with a common metal is found, it is usually swiftly disposed of. We dare not risk it being consumed by another and causing a contamination.”

We continued to chat into the evening before finally calling it a night. Despite my glorious bed, I felt like I would struggle to sleep because of my unbridled anticipation.

Chapter five

A Feast

“Roderick!” One of the staff members burst into his office. “We might have a situation.”

Roderick groaned as he stared at the mountain of paperwork on his desk. Harris had certainly kept this aspect of the job in the dark from him, and he was undoubtedly having some second thoughts lately.

“What’s the issue?” Roderick asked, trying to hide his displeasure.

“Old Tom says something happened to the slimes. He’s requesting an urgent meeting with you and Harris at his house.”

“Don’t tell me the goblins are back…” Roderick muttered angrily.

The staff member could only gesture in confusion. He hadn’t received any more details about the situation. Roderick grabbed his coat and briskly left the guild.

I swear if it’s goblins again, I’ll personally shove my shield down their throat…

Roderick arrived at Tom’s house, knocking and hastily entering to escape the cold. Harris had already arrived and was casually chatting with Tom; judging by their relaxed disposition, it appeared the news hadn’t been brought up yet.

“Glad you could make it,” Harris said. “Paperwork keeping you busy?”

Roderick grunted a response while Tom gestured for him to take a chair.

“So, what’s happening, Tom? Is it the bloody goblins again?” Roderick asked.

“I’m not actually sure what it is…” Tom said, frowning deeply and exposing his tanned wrinkles. “Many slimes have gone missing, presumably killed, but it’s not like the last time.”

Old Tom reached under the table and pulled out a bag, which he opened on the table to reveal various flasks, canteens, and potion vials.

“What’s all this?” Roderick asked.

“These were left in the slime field,” Tom answered. “Each one seems to contain slime.”

“So some bastard harvested our slimes and left behind a consolation prize?” Roderick spat, feeling frustrated.

“I don’t think that’s the case,” Tom responded. “I had my alchemist friend look at it, and he nearly lost his mind.”

“What do you mean?” Harris asked curiously.

“He said it’s the purest slime he’s ever seen. Far beyond anything ever recorded,” Tom replied. “He asked me if I knew who refined it.”

Roderick sighed as he massaged his temples in frustration, a headache brewing. “So some mad alchemist experimented on our slimes?”

“Sounds plausible…” Harris muttered, then he picked up one of the vials. “Maybe you’re too young to recognize this, Roderick, but this potion vial is ancient.”

Old Tom actually nodded. “That’s what bugged me too. Vials in that style haven’t been around for decades.”

“So what does this mean?” Roderick sighed. “Do we have to worry about some powerful ancient alchemist wizard?”

“Well, considering he left behind payment. Perhaps not?” Harris responded. “Any idea how much this is worth?”

“My buddy says it’s worth a fortune. Easily more than we’d make a year if not more.” Tom shrugged.

Roderick had mixed feelings, but Harris actually started laughing.

“Sounds like we lucked out. A mysterious alchemist drops by and advances our income by a year?” Harris chuckled cheerily.

“Perhaps…” Roderick admitted. “We need to keep this hushed. We can’t let the Stantons hear about it.”

“No complaints from me. Those bastards would steal all the money.” Tom spat.

“I’m more worried about them using the money to flee before Whitney finishes her investigation,” Roderick said in a hushed tone.

Harris whistled. “Exciting times.”

“At least it’s not goblins.” Tom gave a gap-toothed grin.

The next morning, we had another hearty breakfast and chatted about our plans for the day. Darmod would take one of the chests to his client and arrange for the silver core, and then we would meet up for lunch at one of the nicer establishments.

Meanwhile, Thern and I were going to do some shopping. Thessa would have loved to join us, but she, unfortunately, had to deliver the furnace heart to the forges.

“Bah! Don’t let those crocodile tears fool ya,” Thern barked out. “Ma prefers a forge to any living person. I bet she wants to be the first to test out the new heart.”

Following Thern, we headed toward the merchants district. The hustle and bustle of the crowd were intense, and there were so many people it was a little claustrophobic. Despite literally standing out amongst the dwarves, it was great that they seemed to pay me no extra attention and were much more interested in getting their own business done.

We explored various stores, but none of them really caught my interest until we found a blacksmith. I ended up purchasing the smallest weapon of each different metal or alloy I could find. While I could have saved money by just getting a raw ingot, I decided against that route because it might indicate that I was planning to do something with silver slime.

The mithril rapier I ended up purchasing was the most expensive, and I deeply regretted that I’d be eating it later since it looked magnificent. Thern bought himself a few different hammers, and while he lamented their cost, he said it was worth it to get the dwarven quality assurance.

After our shopping was done, we made our way to the food court, where Thern explored a few breweries while we waited for our appointment.

Lunch finally arrived, and we met up with Darmod, but Thessa was nowhere to be seen.

“I bet Ma won’t be showing up,” Thern said. “She’s probably got herself lost in the forge.”

“Looks like it…” Darmod said with a knowing sigh as we entered the establishment.

While the decor wasn’t on par with the best I’d seen, the food on display far exceeded my expectations. The portions were absolutely massive, and it seemed this restaurant specialized in the strangest steaks available. The meat variety ranged from drakes to basilisks to worms, and I was utterly intrigued and deeply regretful that food on its own wasn’t enough to qualify for a profile.

“Worm meat is soft and juicy. But if you want my recommendation, go for basilisk,” Darmod suggested. “It’s tough, and you’ll need to fight with your teeth, but the taste is worth it!”

It seemed relatively the same to me, so I followed his advice. When Thern and Darmod dug into their meals, you could audibly hear the crunching in their teeth, as if they were chewing on rocks, but the look of bliss on their faces showed how much they enjoyed it.

I had to admit, it did not disappoint, and finally, I could say I had eaten something that surpassed Trevor’s Inn. Best of all, I didn’t need to struggle with my meal since I could easily dissolve my way through it. Clearly, the dwarves had been expecting a reaction, and their disappointment was evident on their faces.

“What the bloody hell are elf teeth made out of,” I overheard Thern muttering to himself in a whisper.

When it came for after-meal drinks, Darmod finally opened a pouch and placed an iron-gray core on the table for me. “Well, Syl. Here’s your silver core.”

I gingerly picked it up and examined it in my hand. A tiny crack and hole in the sphere indicated how they had killed the slime—almost like they had driven a thin nail through it.

“Thank you very much!” I said eagerly.

I pocketed the core but then withdrew it inside myself.

<Compatible core detected. Integrate new core at a penalty?>

Yes!

<Slime (Silver) Core absorbed. Trait [Metal Slime] gained. Trait [Shape Slime] gained.>

<Trait [Metal Slime LV 3] reduced to [Metal Slime LV 2] for integration penalty.>

<Trait [Shape Slime LV 2] integrated into [Morph Slime LV 8].>

Wow, that was a low-level slime. Still, I can work on leveling up the trait myself, and then if I can get some more cores, I can perhaps bypass the slower levels.

I wanted to read the trait and profile but held back while I was still in active conversation.

“Any mention about me doing some hunting work for them?” I asked.

“They were interested but hesitant that you could do the job,” Darmod admitted with a sigh. “Someone said you came from the human lands where the monsters are still relatively weak.”

“That’s a load of hogwash!” Thern disagreed angrily. “She bloody killed an Inferno Salamander! By herself! I’d like to see one of those shitheads even survive in its presence.”

“I know, son. I agree, and I argued as such,” Darmod quickly responded. “They just want her to do a quest or two with the guild, and then we can slap that in their face as proof.”

“Sure. Sounds good to me,” I replied calmly. “I was going to go hunting anyway, regardless of their opinions. I want to see what’s out there!”

“I can’t wait to see the regret on their faces when they didn’t jump on your offer sooner,” Darmod said with a smirk. “And when they run out of that alcohol, we can fleece them good!”

Once we left the restaurant, I finally looked at my new trait.

<[Metal Slime LV 2]

This slime contains the properties of various ores and metals and can harden and transmute itself at will to mimic them; the strength and advantages gained heavily depend on the type of metal chosen.

While the slime’s usual outside factors, such as density, affect this trait’s usage positively, its primary scaling comes from its level, and the strength of its metals will be significantly hindered if they surpass the trait level.

Different metals can be mixed at a reduced strength for each combination except for compatible and proven alloys, which provide a small bonus.

Additional metal types must be acquired through sampling ores, metals, or alloys.

Available metals: [Tin].

Compatible with other slime traits.>

Interesting… Unlike my other traits, it’s heavily dependent on both the trait level and the metals I have available. I’m glad I didn’t pick this as my evolution option. Also, I wonder what hindering metals above the level means?

I secretly started depositing small pieces of various metals inside my stomach to dissolve.

<[Copper] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Silver] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

Also, I just realized the trait only showed tin as available, meaning it wasn’t retroactive. I’m glad I decided to save my metals.

<[Gold] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Bronze] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Steel] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Mana-Enriched Silver] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

Interesting. That silver ore is classified as different.

<[Electrum] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Iron] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Lead] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Lead Silver] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

I’m so going to catch Trixie and prank her when I see her! Assuming my [Metal Slime] level is high enough to mimic this correctly.

Unfortunately, I’d have to wait till I got home to eat my adamantine hammer and mithril rapier. I couldn’t think of a way to sneakily deposit them inside my thin, elven frame.

I was curious about what else I might count as an ore, so I started withdrawing other things and taking a small nibble out of them. Most of my tests were unfruitful, but I did get one shocking revelation.

<[Floatstone] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

Seriously, floatstone is an ore?

While I desperately wanted to start experimenting, I couldn’t leave as Darmod was playing tour guide for me. Although I could swear his tour was just an excuse to go on a city-wide drinking binge.

I looked over the silver slime profile and noticed it had [Shape Slime] and [Pseudopod]. This go-to combo was a blast from my past, and I wondered how different my life would have been if I had started as something other than blue.

When we finally started heading back, we picked up some food from a stall on the way home. I was curious why, but it became quite apparent when we arrived at an empty home.

“Ma’s gonna be stuck in the forge all night.” Thern chuckled.

“I wish you never told her about that new forge heart,” Darmod joked.

Finally, alone in my room, I pulled out my mithril rapier and adamantine hammer. Surprisingly, both took quite a while to dissolve despite the full might of my [Acid Slime]. The adamantine especially seemed to refuse to dissolve until I cast [Erode] on it to assist in my digestion.

<[Mithril] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<[Adamantine] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

<Proficiency gained. [Metal Slime LV 2] improved to [Metal Slime LV 3].>

I gained a level just from sampling metals! Ha! I wonder if the rarity mattered or the quantity I ate?

Eagerly, I formed a [Pseudopod] and then activated [Metal Slime]; I started with iron as I assumed it would work flawlessly despite the low level. A metallic sheen glimmered, and I watched my slime take on the new trait.

I started shifting the tendril into various weapons and couldn’t help but be amazed at the perfection. Previously, my weapon mimicry was as close to real as possible; anyone observing likely could not tell the difference, but now, not even I could tell this wasn’t an iron sword, and I knew it was literally my slime.

Okay! Let’s try out mithril!

I mentally changed the metal selection and watched in real time as it transmuted from gray into silvery blue. It was beautiful; it was magnificent. Then, the sword flopped like a wet noodle, and if I wasn’t keeping tight control over its density and form, I knew it would be falling apart before my very eyes.

So… I’m guessing this is the significant hindering mentioned in the description.

It was a little disheartening to see such a loss of control over my slime; I knew I could have made a stronger sword without the trait at all compared to this result. But I knew it held significant potential, and leveling it up would be one of my highest priorities.

Chapter six

Cavern Questing

After much testing, my current limit with [Metal Slime] seemed to be iron. Copper and lead were both perfectly usable, but iron seemed to be my best option in terms of weapons. I also could predict that the next level would likely give me access to Silver and possibly Bronze.

Despite the momentary disappointment at not being able to immediately use the best metals, the trait itself was fascinating, and it brought me fond memories of my initial testing with my slime when I was first starting out.

It was intriguing that despite my prior work with [Chimeric Mimicry] and [Morph Slime] being what I would call nearly flawless, now armed with [Metal Slime], I couldn’t help but notice that any formed weapons seemed better. I always struggled to mimic sharpness, even with the combination of complete profiles, high trait levels, and plenty of practice, but now it was beyond compare. The inherent compatibility between all my slime traits was simply outstanding; I felt like giving Gramps a standing ovation.

I didn’t even need to make the mental adjustments or anything myself; it’s like my mimicry trait automatically knows what traits to incorporate.

Finally, having exhausted myself, I called it a night. I couldn’t wait to head out and start using [Metal Slime] against monsters.

“I wish I could’ve joined ya for some hunting. But I need to go get Ma out of the forge,” Thern said during breakfast.

“No problem, Thern. Family comes first, and we can go on a hunt next time.”

Thern shook his head. “I’m not worried about Ma. I’m worried about the other dwarves probably stuck there with her. But I’ll definitely take you up on that rain check.”

After breakfast, I left the house, saying farewell to Thern and Darmod. I was extremely thankful for [Mapping]; otherwise, I might not have found my way back.

Sure, it might be efficient. But it’s certainly confusing needing to traverse multiple floors.

While the guild was busy, it didn’t take me long to finally get an available receptionist. She looked cheery enough and had a similar giant beehive hairstyle, except it came with a big single braid hanging over her shoulder.

“Good day. Do you have a quest to post for us?” the dwarf asked with a cheery attitude.

“Ah. No, I’m an adventurer and looking for some quests,” I said, pulling out my tag.

“Ah, shit! Sorry, sorry,” the dwarf apologized nervously. “I heard the rumor but didn’t think it was true. I thought maybe you were one of the elves from the embassy.”

I hid my surprise at him mentioning other elves and decided to ask Darmod about it later. I still had the bag I was tasked with returning, after all.

“Nope. Freshly promoted to Gold and looking to prove myself,” I answered.

“Looking to impress someone? Hmm…” the dwarf responded, tugging at her braid. “Well, I think your first two quests can be the permanent ones for killing worms and kobolds. There’s no penalty for not doing them, and you never know when you will run into either.”

I nodded and accepted both.

<Quest accepted: Exterminate Worms (∞). Silver-Gold rank.>

<Quest accepted: Exterminate Kobolds (∞). Bronze-Gold rank.>

“Now those always earn goodwill, especially if you can kill a worm. Those bastards are always threatening our wards,” the receptionist explained. “As for what else will make people look at you… Let me look at your quest record and what we have available.”

I nodded and waited in silence.

“Okay. Your profile says you’re really good at mass exterminations. That is a lot of orcs you killed there!” the dwarf said excitedly. “An ant princess was spotted forming a new nest nearby. If you can exterminate it before she sets up and becomes a queen, you’d be making a big splash!”

“Any different to dungeon ants?” I asked.

“The regular drones will be on par, maybe even dumber than dungeon minions?” the receptionist said with a shrug. “The ant princess, though, will be smart and is the real threat. She will also try to run away, so make sure to seal the deal.”

“Sounds good to me.” I agreed and accepted the quest.

<Quest accepted: Exterminate Ant Princess. Gold rank.>

<Quest accepted: Exterminate Ants (∞). Bronze-Silver rank.>

“If you kill the princess, that’s quest complete. But any dead ants is good in our books.” The receptionist grinned.

I thanked the receptionist and was given some guidance on which city gate to use. Unfortunately, her verbal guidance wasn’t enough, and I got somewhat lost. I wished I could have gotten a quest marker to the gate as I got a little lost until I found appropriate signage pointing toward the gate.

“That’s a gate? It looks more like a vault door,” I muttered to myself, staring at the massive circular door absolutely buzzing with enchantments.

I wondered if they had to open the gate to exit, but I noticed a much smaller hatch-style door leading out when I neared it. Again, I was mistaken for an elven ambassador, but I got loud laughs and apologies when I showed my guild tag. Then I was outside the city, and it opened up into the mouth of a giant cavern.

“I am so glad I have [Darkvision]…” I chuckled.

I allowed the Ant Princess Quest to guide me since it was the only one with a location. I followed a well-maintained tunnel path with torches, markers, and even some hints of well-worn flooring. I was grateful for the tunnel path as it appeared I was heading off to quite a distant locale. I used the time to try familiarizing myself with [Tremor Sense] since I figured it might be vital to locate the burrowing worms or the ant nest.

When I reached the end of the tunnel, I couldn’t help but gasp at the sight before me. It was like an entirely different biome had opened up. The underground cavern was primarily occupied by towering mushroom trees reaching up toward the unseen ceiling, their gigantic caps casting eerie shadows. The soft glow of bioluminescent fungus carpeted the ground, illuminating the surroundings with an otherworldly light.

As I ventured deeper into the cavern, the air was filled with a faint, earthy scent of damp soil and the gentle rustle of unseen creatures moving through the mushroom grove. It was a mesmerizing and enchanting landscape, unlike anything I had ever seen.

“I swear if you dropped me here, I think I’d struggle to realize I was underground,” I muttered to myself.

Despite my hope of using [Tremor Sense], there was so much activity from all sorts of creepy crawlies in this mushroom biome that I struggled to make heads or tails of where to go or what to pursue. I tried my best to filter it to only larger points of interest, but even then, it was a little overwhelming.

“Let me just head toward the ant sighting rather…” I said, trying to suppress the small headache forming.

Heading deeper into the mushrooms, I noticed that most of the non-monstrous critters seemed to be bugs or invertebrates. Nothing seemed particularly eye-catching as I grabbed and snacked on a few things. Eventually, I sensed something trying to creep up on me, and I thought it might have been a serpent judging by how it moved, but when I turned to face it, it appeared to be some form of living fungus.

<Creeping Fungoid [III] LV 18 Elemental Affinity: Nature.>

“Seriously? You’re a tier-three monster?” I looked at the strange thing with bafflement.

I was about to lob a [Fireball] at it when I paused and decided this was ample opportunity to try out my two latest slime traits extensively.

Forming a shortsword in one hand and a rapier in the other, I took a stab and a swing at the fungus. It didn’t even react, and my attacks seemed to not affect it in the slightest. It counter-attacked by trying to unexpectedly rise up and try to engulf my weapon and use it to crawl toward my arms.

Honestly… I should have seen this coming. It’s literally just iron at this point. I sighed and activated [Nitro Slime] with an instant prime and detonation.

There was a click, and then the sword it was crawling over abruptly detonated, sending bits of fungus scattering. The small remnants of the fungus creature were writhing on the ground, trying to reconstitute itself. Not willing to let it do so, I stabbed into it with my rapier, which I then reverted to a more slime state and engulfed it.

<Creeping Fungoid LV 18 defeated. Experience gained.>

Weren’t plants supposed to fear me? I wondered.

I still had the [Nature’s Bane] Emblem equipped, even though I displayed [Dungeoneer] using [Identity Fabrication].

Perhaps I should swap to the latter in case I discover a hidden dungeon nearby?

I changed my Emblem and then started looking through its profile to find out why it had approached me. The answer was baffling.

It’s a damn slug? Seriously? It basically has fungus in its name?

The traits were also laughably bad. It secreted digestive acids used to eat prey and could even vomit them out. It might have been useful if I didn’t have [Acid Slime]. Its final trait allowed it to morph into the appearance of a fungus it was in contact with. I found it pretty dull and disappointing.

I hope the worms or kobolds have better traits… I already have an ant profile, so there’s not much hope there unless the princess has something… Wait!

I realized I already had an ant profile! I threw everything into storage and shifted into a giant ant, making sure to pick up the various pheromone-related traits.

I’m sure I can use this to find the ant nest! I thought happily as I continued my search.

Sure enough, after exploring a bit more, I began to find many trails left behind, all heading toward a unified direction and previously invisible to my normal senses. Feeling quite happy about a well-executed plan, I started following the trail and saw a few drones meandering about. Unlike the previous ants, they were bright red and busy harvesting what they could.

<Fire Ant Drone [II] LV 15 Elemental Affinity: Fire.>

That’s a bit on the nose, isn’t it?

I crawled up a large mushroom and watched them continue to work. The numbers were quite considerable, but they were all low-level. The nest most likely held some higher-tier ants.

I know [Nitro Slime] is very effective… But could I combine it with [Metal Slime]?

I began thinking of how I could effectively combine the two. One idea that came to mind was to create a shrapnel-style bomb that would explode and cut up the ants. While that would certainly satisfy my inner Dewi, I wondered if there was potentially a more elegant solution. I especially wanted to toy with more cost-efficient ideas. Sure, I could detonate a small lake’s worth of [Nitro Slime] and probably kill nearly anything, but it felt wasteful.

Since [Metal Slime] had made me think of my past tactics, I wondered if I shouldn’t explore that. I could create metal projectiles to shoot like I had once done with tusks and teeth. I thought of the giant frog and the boar I had attacked from the inside and wondered if I could apply that method somehow?

Metal spikes or needles that are primed and detonate from the inside? Could that work? I could even coat the tip with [Acid Slime] for enhanced penetration.

The idea sounded good, and I started experimenting by using both traits to design thin needles. Once I made a few and chose my favorite design, I locked it in, created a few more, and then primed them to hold their shape.

The conditions I can set with [Nitro Slime] will expand with further trait levels. How amazing would it be if I could set the exploding condition for after you are inside? The on-contact explosion is probably too quick. My other option is a five-second delay, but that feels too long. Hell, if a monster is too small, the needle might be outside of it before it detonates!

I was searching for a solution when the obvious one struck me. I could set them as on-trigger and then use a [Sub-Core] to monitor and detonate once the needle had penetrated. Given how high-spec they had become after evolving, I was sure they could easily handle the task.

With a salvo of iron needles formed from [Metal Slime], tipped with [Acid Slime], and primed with [Nitro Slime], I began sneaking about for some good firing angles.

Like an assassin, except with explosive needles rather than poison, I began my assault. Needles fired out unbeknownst to the ant drones going about their business and pierced rather effortlessly through their carapaces. Thanks to the various skills and traits I had accumulated, it was far more accurate than I had realized, and as each needle pierced through, they detonated.

<Fire Ant Drone LV 15 defeated. Experience gained.>

…

<Fire Ant Drone LV 10 defeated. Experience gained.>

Haha! Nice, good, excellent! I cheered as the explosive needles proved their worth. The ant drones were popping before my very eyes.

<Fire Ant Drone LV 12 defeated. Experience gained.>

…

<Fire Ant Drone LV 14 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 5.>

<14 Skill Points are now available.>

<Your class has revealed the following skills: [Earth Magic], [Elemental Harmony].>

<Fire Ant Drone LV 9 defeated. Experience gained.>

…

Chapter seven

Metal Urchin

I was extremely happy with the results; my explosive metal needles were a massive boon to my arsenal. While the [Metal Slime] trait was clearly being carried by [Nitro Slime], I was sure they’d both be pulling their own weight when I had proper access to better metals. Just imagining an adamantine needle exploding gave me chills.

Still… [Nitro Slime] is terrifying. I can understand why they don’t allow orange slimes to spawn outside of dungeons. The only thing stopping it from being my ultimate secret weapon is the fact that it destroys the slime mass. Ugh… If I hadn’t lost [Mana Conversion], I wouldn’t even need to worry about resource costs.

I had a bunch of notifications to go through; I had thought all of them would’ve been ant deaths, but I came across a shocking revelation.

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 5.>

<14 Skill Points are now available.>

Huh… Either I was really close to a level-up, or perhaps the Eyedra had leftover experience after I paid off my debt, I thought, surprised I had gained a level so soon from such low-tier monsters.

Then, I looked at the new skills.

<Your class has revealed the following skills: [Earth Magic], [Elemental Harmony].>

I was so distracted by [Metal Slime] that I completely forgot to check whether I had gained Earth affinity!

<Skill [Earth Magic LV 1] obtained. Skill Points remaining 13.>

<[Earth Magic LV 1] spell [Rock Lob] learned.>

Success! I cheered happily. Although now I’ve gained Earth before Air… Seriously, Trixie, you promised me Air affinity!

The spell it gave me was rather simple. I could pull up a rock, rapidly mold earth into a rock, or even apparate a rock entirely from Mana, although at quite a cost. While it was inherently extremely simple, the fact that it was so variable in its Mana price was at least interesting.

I bet the type of earth affects the cost. Something fine like sand probably costs more compared to something coarse like gravel.

Then, I pulled up my new skill.

<[Elemental Harmony]

Enter a trance to increase your natural Mana flow and Mana regeneration, which is greatly enhanced by the elemental essence of the region and affected by your [Elemental Shift] skill level.

Beneficial effects scale exponentially the longer the trance is maintained.If you are aligned to match a region element, a small portion of these benefits are granted passively if sufficient elemental essence is present.This skill has no levels.>

Oh. This is clearly an upgrade to [Meditate], I realized and pulled up the skill to compare.

<[Meditate]

Enter a trance to increase your natural Mana flow and Mana regeneration.Meditation can be used to stave off the effects of sleep deprivation, but it is not a true substitute.

Beneficial effects scale exponentially the longer the trance is maintained. This skill has no levels.>

Yeah… I never used this at all since I got it. I lost the sleep portion, but passively gaining some of the effects while aligned sounds ideal. Otherwise, when would I ever use this?

<Spend 1 Skill Point to upgrade [Meditate] into [Elemental Harmony]?>

Go for it.

<Skill [Meditate] upgraded into [Elemental Harmony]. Skill Points remaining 12.>

I effectively lost a skill point since I never used [Meditate] once… Or, would I not have been able to grab [Elemental Harmony] without [Meditate] as a prerequisite? I pondered. Then, I looked at my final notification.

<Class Electromancer [II] has been unlocked.

Would you like to swap classes?>.

Nope. I’m a happy Elementalist, thank you very much, I replied, rejecting the class swap.

Now, did I want to buy two more [Sub-Cores]? While I had eight points to spend, part of me wanted to save up for another uncapping or to potentially use them to upgrade [Magic Resistance] from Lesser to Greater.

Yeah… Let’s hold off on spending more. Which means I’ll have to realign my current cores. Sorry, Alpha and Beta, you two will be on Earth duty for now. Although it’s not like you can’t cast [Arcane] or [Corrosion] spells even while aligned.

I tested it out, and while [Corrosion] was definitely unaffected, I did notice trace amounts of elemental contamination in my [Arcane] spells.

Okay. I’ll just keep myself unaligned then and hot-swap as needed. At least until I decide to get more cores. Now, the elephant in the room… Do I start using [Earth Magic] now?

I spent some time grumbling to myself, trying to make a decision. I had just gained a new shiny toy, and I knew bringing it up to my other magic levels would no doubt help me, especially if it contained other spell components. A small part of me acknowledged my poor impulse control as I fluttered from one thing to the next, and so, with great reluctance, I decided I wouldn’t actively pursue [Earth Magic] for now.

I want to level up [Metal Slime] through usage, not to mention testing [Nitro Slime]. I glanced at Alpha and Beta and realized I was also being stupidly greedy for wanting my own hands personally in every project. I could try leaving it to them. I mean, it’s probably stupid that I haven’t already… Just… Would it still be my accomplishment?

I knew I was being weirdly insistent on this subject, but I just struggled to let go. Of course, I didn’t need to rush into crazy [Earth Magic] right away as well.

Okay… Let’s just take a step back. I’ll keep my custom spells to myself for now, no rush, but I’ll set Alpha and Beta on apparating rocks with [Rock Lob]. The Mana cost will be high, as will the initial difficulty compared to using the earth available, so it might train a few of my skills and traits. Meanwhile, I’ll focus on my slime as I originally planned.

Relatively happy with my decisions, I gave them both the order to start grinding away. I set up some conditions that they wouldn’t do while I was actively using stealth to avoid blowing my cover, and if there were no engaged enemies nearby, they would just drop the rocks. Otherwise, they would provide supporting fire. It was a bit of a complex order, but it seemed they were easily fine with accepting such a conditional order. I also gave them a halt order if my Mana dropped below thirty percent.

Then I started gathering and eating the remains of the ants scattered about, using my much neglected [Pseudopod] trait to reach out and collect them. My ant profile was updated, and I found out this subspecies of ant could, in fact, expel fire and also came with a rather high level of innate [Fire Resistance]. The salamander had [Inferno Sac], which was the upgrade of [Flame Sac], while these drones had an even further downgrade called an [Ember Sac].

If the soldier ants have [Flame Sac], I wonder if the princess will have an [Inferno Sac]?

Although it made some logical sense, I somehow doubted that was the case, as otherwise, the dwarves surely would have mentioned it or sought out this ant colony much sooner.

With my meal complete and some slime mass recovered, I started following the scent trails left behind by the fire ants. One unexpected side effect was that incorporating this ant species made me understand their specific scent trails more clearly. They left odd scents of “collect here” or “food here” rather than basic communication.

I guess I shouldn’t judge them too harshly. My slime brethren literally can’t think at all…

I made sure to take out any drones I spotted on the way to the nest, which, by following the trail, I realized was quite a distance away from the initial location given by the quest. Not that I could blame the guild; the original location was evidently just the first point of contact.

When I finally found the nest, I was surprised at the level of camouflage the ants had adopted. The nest was well hidden under some collapsed towering mushrooms, and if I hadn’t had the trail to follow, I wouldn’t have spotted it that easily.

<Proficiency gained. [Tracking LV 2] improved to [Tracking LV 3].>

Can that really be called tracking? I followed a trail directly left behind… I shrugged.

Trying to understand how big the nest was, I activated [Tremor Sense] and saw that it was quite a sprawling network below me as numerous blips appeared through the sense.

Okay, it’s ant extermination time!

As I neared the nest entrance, I saw it wasn’t entirely undefended. Three large ants were hanging from the underside of a mushroom.

<Fire Ant Soldier [III] LV 22 Elemental Affinity: Fire.>

I wonder if I could sneak in and assassinate the princess? I pondered as I quickly shifted into an appropriate fire ant drone disguise and continued forward. At first, it seemed like my plan was perfect, as the ants showed no hints of hostility. But when I neared them, I suddenly caught a new whiff of a scent that clearly meant “intruder.”

Two of the three soldiers immediately tried to seize me with their massive mandibles, which was when I abandoned my ant form and swelled out to a far more impressive, blobby form. I opted to use the silver slime’s natural method of attack as iron spikes protruded from my body, and I formed bladed pseudopods.

The soldier ants had much more robust carapaces, so I had to target weak points to get past their defenses. Meanwhile, a hail of magically formed rocks was lobbed at the third soldier who remained behind.

The strategy executed by these fire ants seemed to be to lock something in place with their mandibles and then unload their [Flame Sac] point-blank. Some drones even appeared from the nest, trying to hold me down. Unfortunately for them, you can’t hold a slime in place, and even if they could, I was so fireproof at this stage that it was a joke.

With much poking and prodding, I managed to stab through into one of the soldier ants and had the invading tendril burst outward like a sea urchin of iron spikes. It was certainly an effective method of attack, and the ant died shortly afterward.

While [Acid Slime] would have made penetrating much simpler, I wasn’t sure how mixing my slime traits affected experience distribution. If the cause of death was acid, I presumed it would gain the lion’s share of experience, which made me hesitant to use the deadly slime.

Ugh. I’m being stupid again, I admitted.

I sent an order to my remaining [Sub-Cores] to cast [Erode] when I was engaging in melee with the ants. This way, I could continue using [Metal Slime] as my offensive.

When my metal-bladed tendrils started cutting through the ant carapace, I grinned maniacally as I formed more weapons, becoming a whirling blender on the poor ant. I gained a newer appreciation of my defense debuff and wondered if this was how Roderick and Ian had felt.

With both soldiers dead, I was prepared to take on the third when I noticed it battered and broken with countless rocks and shards around him. Alpha and Beta had shown no mercy and clearly were having quite some fun with [Rock Lob] as they crushed the ant.

I quickly ate what I could and began my descent into the nest, only to be met with a wall of drones that all unleashed their [Ember Sac] in unison. I wanted to giggle at the tickle of embers, as even Dewi had trained himself on much harsher flames.

Talk about a perfect opportunity to use [Contagion]! I fiendishly thought.

[Erode] was cast on the most central ant, and then a boosted [Contagion] sent out a massive cloud of the debuff, infecting every ant present. While I would have loved to have spread something crazy like [Electrocute] or [Frostbite] and watch the ensuing chaos, I had another fun idea planned.

I opted to morph into a metallic boar and charge forward into the crowd of ants; as I broke through their ranks with my mighty charge, I gave the order to control and erupt into as many spikes of slime as possible to all of my cores.

So much slime mass was being directly manipulated I was forced to withdraw more as an endless sea of spikes, prongs, and drills burst outward. Seeing such well-executed and precise control over my slime mass was so satisfying.

Should I call this the metal urchin of death? Or is that too edgy? I couldn’t help but snort at the terrible joke.

Perhaps driven by instinct, when an ant was killed, it was immediately dragged in by hooked tendrils and promptly eaten and absorbed. It was a little surprising to see that my [Sub-Cores] actually understood my desire to train [Metal Slime], and thus, only my center of mass became the designated eating zone to ensure no kills were made with [Acid Slime].

My last evolution really gave them a boost. I probably haven’t scratched the surface of what’s now possible, I thought as they continued to cull the drones.

Chapter eight

Ant Assault

These ants are worth a pittance of experience. I hope I at least get a level from the princess.

After cleaning up the ant mess, I realized I was slightly on fire. It was not hot enough to cause any real damage, but the rather consistent flame was noticeable. It was nearly identical to my experimentation with creating the flammable adhesive slime.

The profile of the soldier ant revealed the source; they had a fluid gland that created the strange flammable substance. It looked like they could spray it from their rears if they developed the right trait for it, but otherwise, it was flowing throughout their body, and it would likely coat anything that killed or wounded them.

Really brings a whole new meaning to the term sacrificial soldiers.

The fluid also served as a marker, making me realize why so many ants were charging me so suddenly. I must have been like a beacon to them. A simple rotation of my slime cleaned off the residue.

Being underground, the area was likely full of Earth essence, so I swapped my own core over to Earth alignment to hopefully gain some of the new passive benefits from [Elemental Harmony]. At the same time, I wanted to see how Earth affinity affected [Mana Reinforcement] with [Elemental Adaptation]. Although I could hazard a guess that it probably increased my defenses.

I continued my delve deeper into the ant nest. I had to rein in my overconfidence; my near defeat on the floating island was still relatively fresh in my mind. But it was getting hard not to when I saw ant after ant erupting with metallic spiky protrusions after being invaded by a tendril.

It really makes it hard for me to judge these quest ranks; I’m not struggling at all here! I guess the average person might struggle against a swarm? But I think anyone with any decent amount of [Fire Resistance] could have done this.

I watched as another ant failed to penetrate my defenses and then was swiftly torn apart by one of the [Sub-Cores] in retribution. Getting into physical contact with me was already bad enough for most enemies, but seeing jagged spikes of metal burst out in retaliation was quite a sight.

I guess, unlike the adventurers, I don’t need to worry about my body taking wounds. Although even if I did need to worry about my slime body, with [Metal Slime], I’m probably tougher than tanks like Ian and Roderick. Just as long as nothing hits my core… But once I get enough [Metal Slime] levels, I can probably create a coating around them, my own personal armor.

All the activity in the ant tunnels meant that [Tremor Sense] was getting a workout, although I delegated the information to my [Sub-Cores], as trying to process it myself was a little too distracting.

<Proficiency gained. [Tremor Sense LV 2] improved to [Tremor Sense LV 3].>

Likewise, Alpha and Beta kept throwing rocks around, and they didn’t take long to reach the next level in [Earth Magic]. As far as first-level spells went, [Rock Lob] was pretty mediocre, and it would likely have barely threatened the ants at all if not for [Erode] ruining their defense.

<Proficiency gained. [Earth Magic LV 1] improved to [Earth Magic LV 2].>

<[Earth Magic LV 2] spell [Rampart] learned.>

The new spell let you pull up the earth into rough structures; the main use was clearly to make walls, as the name implied. At least that was the base intent, as with enough levels in [Mana Manipulation] and some effort, you could force more elaborate designs.

The more Mana you dumped into the spell, the more refined the result. I sealed off a tunnel behind me as an experiment, and when I threw my entire magical weight into the spell, the resulting wall closely resembled granite in terms of toughness.

Finally, unlike [Rock Lob], this spell wanted you to use existing resources, as the cost to create even the simplest earthen wall from pure Mana alone was astronomical. My self-proclaimed endless supply of Mana was put in its place. Of course, unless I was flying, I couldn’t see a reason to ever need to create it from Mana alone, and I’d be far better off using many more available options in that scenario.

When I’m forced into some non-slime downtime, I must investigate pulling apart this spell and replacing Earth with Ice. It’s my only other Mana type with such a strong physical presence. You can’t exactly make structures out of Fire and Lightning. Arcane is a possibility… But if maintenance cost is anything like [Aegis], then it’s a no-go.

The path I followed was likely the primary shaft, judging by its size and the number of branches it led out to. While I wasn’t too worried about ant reinforcements, I still had some experiments I wanted to try out with [Nitro Slime]. One of my options was to create bombs that would trigger when stepped on, a feature clearly devised with dungeon traps in mind. Borrowing that dungeon-trap inspiration, I trapped the various side tunnels with these slime mines as I progressed deeper into the nest.

The fact that I could customize each bomb’s payload with different combinations of slime traits made me wonder if this was always the plan for it or if Gramps had modified it later with me in mind. I presumed I might get a first-time bonus for each different type of bomb, so I tried to give each tunnel a unique trap.

At first, I covered the basic types: [Acid Slime], [Cryo Slime], and [Blaze Slime] were all deadly payloads entirely on their own. Then, I needed to get creative. I wasn’t sure what to do with [Poison Slime] on its own, but I found a potential winning combination with vaporized Bloodrot.

[Voltaic Slime] was also tricky, as it wasn’t inherently dangerous without some stored charge. It seemed like it might have been a long shot to think I could store charged slime in a primed bomb, but I was wrong, and it worked without a hitch.

I’d almost say Gramps needs to split out the primed state as its own trait; the fact that it was baked into [Nitro Slime] almost seemed too much. Even if it was only frozen and couldn’t be manipulated, the fact that it kept shape, form, and capability with disconnected slime had so much potential.

For the [Metal Slime] bomb, I added shrapnel and hoped for the best. With only iron, it was likely the weakest of my options. If I wasn’t just curious and wanted to focus on only the best result, I probably would have coated the shrapnel in Bloodrot.

I could sense the bombs, but keeping track of when they detonated and then trying to assign the corresponding kill notifications to each bomb sounded impossible, at least alone. I assigned each bomb trap to a [Sub-Core], color-coded for my own convenience, and told them to keep track of the kills with the vague hope it was within their capabilities.

This is probably the most ambiguous instruction I’ve ever given them. Let’s see if they can handle it.

It didn’t take long for notifications to start coming in; I mostly ignored them and simply checked to see if I had received any level-ups. Meanwhile, the ants in front of me were getting much more desperate in attempting to halt my progress.

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 2.>

<9 Trait Points are now available.>

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 6.>

<13 Skill Points are now available.>

Before reaching the princess, I was pleasantly surprised to gain a level in my race and class. Before proceeding further, I asked the [Sub-Core] with the highest kill count to present itself.

Beta and Delta floated closer, representing [Poison Slime] and [Cryo Slime], respectively. I was overjoyed that they had somehow followed that vague order. I had no idea how they did it, but I wouldn’t argue with the results. I had them arrange themselves in order from most to least kills, and I was initially surprised to see Gamma representing [Blaze Slime] at the lowest end.

I guess the ants are fire and heat resistant… Seems a bit unfair considering I nearly boiled alive in my own slime even when I had [Fire Resistance].

I made a few more questions and arrangements and discovered that while Beta and Delta were almost equal in kill count, there was no comparison if we compared time to kill. The [Cryo Slime] bombs were a nearly instant death for the ants.

Good to know. If the princess gives me any trouble, I can throw around some [Ice Magic]. Also, it’s kind of weird that [Voltaic Slime] performed less impressively than I thought it would. Did I not charge the slime enough, or are the ants resistant?

I entered what I assumed was an important chamber due to its sheer size, thanks to [Tremor Sense]. Inside, I was treated to the sight of the princess flanked by two absolutely massive ants. The princess was smaller than I expected, but she did come with wings and an enlarged butt. On the other hand, her protectors were absolutely kitted out with impressive chitin, spiked mandibles, and what looked like the sprayer upgrade on their rear.

<Fire Ant Royal Guard [IV] LV 29 Elemental Affinity: Fire.>

<Fire Ant Princess [IV] LV 11 Elemental Affinity: Fire.>

<Fire Ant Royal Guard [IV] LV 28 Elemental Affinity: Fire.>

Princess, you appear to be slacking off. Your subjects are at a higher level than yourself.

The rest of the room seemed to be a hatchery, as there were white oval-shaped egg things slightly squirming, being grabbed and taken away by some drones.

They immediately spotted me, causing the two bodyguards to snap their mandibles threateningly and flash with a red-hot glow. The princess also seemed to glow, and then I witnessed her release a glowing aura that permeated throughout the entire chamber, and a glow settled onto her two bodyguards.

Is that a buff aura? I’ve never seen another besides my [Glacial Aura] and that cat’s [Jinx Aura]. I hope that’s a trait I can mimic.

The uncharacteristic display of intelligence also gave me a nagging feeling in my mind, so I grabbed [Telepathy (Lesser)] and mentally reached out to the princess. A soft, bubble-like shield surrounded her mind and attempted to prevent my reaching out, but I broke through easily with a small flex of my mental might.

“Hello!” I reached out.

“INTRUDER!” the ant princess screeched out with an almost alien-like mind.

“Are you an [Experiment]?” I questioned.

“LEAVE OR DIE!” she responded and was clearly trying to shove my mental connection away.

I tried a few more times to speak with her, but she kept repeating, “Leave or die.”

I broke the connection because I did not want the alien voice screeching in my head and wrote off the princess’s possibility as a fellow [Experiment].

Not wanting to be outdone by the ant aura, I cast [Glacial Aura]. The icy, ethereal Mana spread out and flooded the entire room. The ants really didn’t like that, and now the two guards started hastily charging at me. Meanwhile, I saw the princess sneaking toward one of the exits.

I had Alpha and Beta, my two personal earth mages, cast [Rampart] to seal the exits. At the same time, I shifted into a more bulky form by shifting into a mostly earthshaker bear body while reinforcing it with [Metal Slime]. And so, as a silvery-gray earthshaker bear, I met the royal guards in a head-on collision.

The impact was audible. The first guard I ran into was sent backward, digging in its heels, while the second guard clamped down on me with its scorching mandibles. A powerful clanging noise echoed throughout the sealed chamber as the ant repeatedly tried and failed to penetrate.

Now that I had Earth affinity, the borrowed [Earthen Carapace LV 7] trait was operating at full defensive capability, and it was reinforced with [Metal Slime] and [Mana Reinforcement]. Not to mention whatever defenses my increased density would provide. There were minor scuffs and scratches, but my metallic rocky carapace was unharmed otherwise.

I guess I’m an ironshaker bear now!

Chapter nine

Playground

I was extremely happy with how tanky I had become. I only wished I had a bigger monster form to mimic. Still, my chimeric evolution added flexibility to my forms, so I started to swell and grow my size far beyond the original earthshaker bear.

It’s disappointing I didn’t manage to get a yeti or ogre profile from the dungeon; those looked really strong. I hope I can find something big and brutish down here.

While I still loved magic, there was something inherently fun about turning into some giant oversized monster and smashing my foes. Speaking of magic, my [Glacial Aura] was clearly building up its effect as the ants started to become noticeably slower, and some of the weaker drones collapsed and began to freeze over.

To counter this, the royal guards started leaking heat from their bodies, a misty haze rising from their carapaces as their bodies began to glow softly. They also started vomiting out flames to try to melt me.

Realizing she was trapped, the princess joined more directly in the fight and started fluttering around the large chamber and lobbing globs of spit at me, which seemed to react harshly with the flames present and further fuel their intensity.

Okay, everyone, metal urchin!

My body rippled and burst outward with hundreds of protruding spikes. The full form of my seven [Pseudopods] formed and began more directly assaulting the two royal guards. Not to be outdone by their mandibles, my tendrils were tipped with fangs, claws, and weapons from various profiles as they started to pierce, crush, and slice into the ants.

Since I was the leader, I delegated full bodily control over the cores and decided to focus on the princess. She was fluttering around a lot more anxiously now, so I started firing my metallic needles at her.

She must have had either a danger sense skill or evasion as she promptly began dodging; unfortunately for her, all my needles were also explosive payloads, and it was easy to catch her off balance by detonating them once they were behind her or when they were glancing past her side.

The two royal guards flared up with even more strength when I attacked the princess and began pushing back. They ignored all wounds and attacks and just mindlessly pushed forward to eliminate the threat to their princess. Their berserker mindset was off-putting, especially when I saw that some of their wounds began congealing and sealing up.

Okay, team, let’s throw in some Bloodrot!

The order was immediately received, and the metallic weaponry glinted with a dark, maroonish tint. When the next batch of wounds was inflicted on the royal guards, their wounds started to fester, and that congealing goop was nowhere to be seen.

While I was happy to have countered their healing, I did start to receive a rather notable complaint from [Dissection]. It appeared these ants were quite valuable. I pushed the objection away and continued my fight; I was having too much fun right now.

I found myself toying with the princess, using the combat to get some thorough practice with [Nitro Slime] and some more advanced attacking maneuvers. By leading her around with needles and explosions, I could lure her into taking hits she really shouldn’t have; I also played around with the idea of leaving needles embedded into the wall and then only detonating them when she dodged closer.

This chamber had become my trapped explosive playground, and I was setting the rules.

The battle continued; the guards must have died at some point, as I noticed the chamber had become quiet except for the sound of explosions. At this point, the princess had stopped trying to attack and was frantically trying to survive the explosive gauntlet. However, my amusement ran out when the princess frantically abandoned reason and charged at a wall, trying to burrow furiously with her superheated mandibles.

I sighed, disappointed, and lashed out with [Cryo Slime] tendrils to drag her back. When the icy slime even grazed her, she violently trembled. Frantically thrashing, my tendrils began to drag her back into the room, but then she died far sooner than I expected.

Huh… I knew [Cryo Slime] was effective… But that effective? I couldn’t help but wonder. Sure, she was damaged, with less than half her lifeforce remaining, according to [Life Sight].

I could have easily conquered this battle if I wasn’t so focused on leveling up and trying out my newer traits. [Dissection] was still giving me some attitude, but I shrugged it off, as the princess was in good enough condition to harvest fully. And while the royal guards looked like moldy sponges with numerous holes and Bloodrot festering, their mandibles were still in adequate condition.

As I ate and harvested, I looked over my notifications.

<Fire Ant Royal Guard LV 28 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Fire Ant Royal Guard LV 29 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Fire Ant Princess LV 11 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Quest complete. Payment has been deposited into your account.>

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 3.>

<10 Trait Points are now available.>

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 7.>

<14 Skill Points are now available.>

Two levels each from defeating basically an entire nest. Not bad. I initially was quite happy, then paused. Wait… That actually seems a bit high, right? If I look at my progress from the dungeon…

I started looking through my profile. Thankfully, it didn’t take me too long to solve this puzzle.

<[Assassinate LV 6]

Adds bonus damage to attacks on unaware or defenseless targets, greatly scaling with skill level.

This bonus damage moderately ignores most forms of mitigation and resistance if executed from stealth.

Once per day per skill level, you can trigger an [Assassination] attack that deals 2x+0.1x per level. If the target is aware of you, the bonus damage is reduced by half.

If you defeat an enemy in a single attack while they are completely unaware, bonus experience will be awarded.>

I bet my traps were triggering [Assassinate]… No wonder they were so effective! And then I gained bonus experience for defeating them in a single attack!

It was an exciting revelation and rapidly elevated [Nitro Slime] to likely be my best trait candidate. Sure, all my slime traits had the tagline “Compatible with other slime traits,” but this flexibility and usability were just so damn good!

I wonder if there are any classes related to traps? While I’m pretty dead-set on seeing what Elementalist offers me at higher levels, and Trixie promised me Air affinity, I’m certainly open to other options. Not to mention what Trixie had said when I gained Elementalist… I pondered and then tried to recall Trixie’s exact wording.

“It’s your first advanced class, more like the start of your journey.” I could almost hear her voice. I missed the damn pixie; I hope she arrived in Dhoggurum soon.

To think I tried to blow her up… I thought grimly. But yeah… If I need multiple advanced classes, assuming there’s something trap-related, I’m putting that high on my list. Not to mention the progression from Shadowcaster, although I’ll likely need a higher level in [Corrosion Magic] and [Vanish] to unlock that.

Then, I looked to see what skills or traits leveled up. Sadly, there weren’t many; it wasn’t like I was triggering [Apex Hunter] or any other form of bonus experience.

<Proficiency gained. [Metal Slime LV 3] improved to [Metal Slime LV 4].>

Excellent! I now have access to silver and bronze. Sadly, there is no level-up for [Nitro Slime].

I quickly tested the new metals; my grayish silver bear became gloriously bronzed. I wasn’t entirely sure if this was better than iron; was it just harder to form because it was an alloy? Moving on, I formed an ornate silver rapier, proving that my previous theory was correct.

<Proficiency gained. [Life Sight LV 4] improved to [Life Sight LV 5].>

Nice… Now, if only I could figure out what other sight trait I’m missing. I’m almost positive there’s a combination between this and [Mana Sight]. Well… [Mana Conception] for me, since I upgraded it.

I had also postulated a potential combination of traits with the name Sense, like [Tremor Sense] and [Electro-Magnetic Sense]. Likewise, I figured there was probably something with Vision, but apparently, [Eagle Vision] didn’t count as a trio with [Darkvision] and [Thermal Vision].

The two new ant profiles were interesting, as they were synergistic evolutions and relied on each other with traits to facilitate that. As long as the royal guards were in the presence of their assigned princess or queen, they would receive quite a stat boost. The princess also somehow took reduced damage as long as her royal guards were present, in a strange linked way, reminding me of Eliza’s damage siphoning.

I guess that might be why she died so easily. No royal guards, no special damage mitigation. Well, and these ants are super weak to Ice.

I tried mimicking both traits at once, but it looked like I couldn’t cheat the system like that. The princess’s aura was from a strange gland, and it would affect any progeny. I tried using it myself, hoping my [Sub-Cores] could’ve been loosely classified as my offspring, but sadly, that was not the case.

The regeneration also came from a gland; while I could use it, it was a little impractical. With [Inferno Sac], I could send Mana into it to generate the flame nearly instantly, and this [Regen Gland] functioned that way, except at a much slower rate. Store and use later, rather than spend and use now. I tested to see if the fluid could be stored outside the gland, but it rapidly faded upon removal, even within my [Core Storage].

An exploit fix? I guessed.

The princess also had egg laying… I ignored it.

Trixie must never find out, I vowed.

The flammable spit was interesting. It was also stored in some gland sac thing, and [Dissection] seemed to be preserving it. I tried sampling it, but it didn’t trigger anything, so I just stored it in some canteens.

I literally just bought these canteens before the teleport, and I’m emptying them already… I need to get more conventional storage.

Then, I saw the final trait in the princess’s profile. I gasped.

<[Essence Sight]

See the natural flow of Essence in the environment.

Higher trait level allows further understanding of Essence concentration, elements, and condition.

Trait level determines detection range.>

I knew another sight trait existed! I celebrated.

I tested to see if I could buy it, and it was compatible with my race! However, I rejected the purchase and instead opted to borrow it and earn it that way. Now that my race levels were more irregular in frequency, I needed some scrimping, especially if I wanted to potentially uncap or uptier a trait.

It shouldn’t take too long to unlock it if I also borrow the human trait [Untapped Potential], I reasoned and shifted into a goblinoid form. Still… why does the ant princess have it? I thought only spirits were involved with Essence.

Thanks to [Chimeric Mimicry], I borrowed and activated the trait at level seven. The room erupted with previously unseen colors and substances; I quickly canceled the trait and recovered from the surprise.

Okay… That was a lot of information…

Instead, I borrowed the trait at level one. It was much more manageable this time, although it didn’t tell me much except that this room had Essence. I began gradually adding more levels to the trait; the slower pace allowed me to become accustomed to it and parse the additional information each level provided.

First, I understood the Essence concentration, then the primary element, and then, as more levels were added, I could tell what the minor elements were present. The final packet of information contained any recent changes to the Essence flow.

Putting this all together, I could tell this room had a high concentration of Essence, which had recently spiked. All the ant deaths explained that. Also, while the primary element was Earth, there was a lot of Fire element originating from below the chamber, and the egg pile was on the closest hotspot.

So… the ant princess has this trait to find a good nest location? I reasoned. But… then why didn’t the harpy queen have the trait? Or do harpies not care about their nest location as much. Or is it because they are monstrous humanoids rather than just plain monsters?

Sadly, neither of the two profiles could answer the question, although, in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t matter other than to feed my growing curiosity.

Speaking of curiosity… I thought as I stared at the Fire Essence source below. I wonder where this goes?

Chapter ten

Exploratory Mining

I briefly considered not exploring the unknown source of Fire Essence. But in the end, I loved a good mystery too much, and perhaps it would hold something interesting to eat, or maybe it would be one of the other quest targets I was supposed to exterminate.

A quick peek, and then I’ll head back. I’m sure I’ll be home in time for supper!

With acidic tendrils as my tools, I began my burrowing descent toward this heated source. It was certainly not the most exciting time, so I kept myself occupied trying to create my Earth debuff.

What would an Earth weakness even be called? Rocked? Soiled? Dirtied?

As I descended deeper, the rock density and the ambient heat increased. Eventually, I reached a layer of blackish rock that was remarkably warm to the touch.

I’m so glad I can’t boil alive anymore. Otherwise, this would’ve been a really stupid idea.

[Tremor Sense] told me that beyond this rock, it opened up into what appeared to be an open cavern. With excited anticipation, I continued through.

As I broke through, a vast and lengthy cavern was revealed, where a river of molten magma flowed with a mesmerizing, fiery glow. The intense heat radiating from the magma river made the air shimmer, and the distant rumbling of the flowing magma echoed throughout the cavern.

Using adhesive tendrils to latch on to my entry hole, I lowered myself near the magma, feeling the heat wash over me and marveling at the raw energy before me. I poked the river a few times; it seemed like my resistances were enough for my slime to not burst into flames on contact, although I wasn’t about to take a dip.

I also tried looking down the river using [Eagle Vision], but the river curved off out of sight on both ends. I wasn’t sure which end of the river to follow, and there didn’t seem to be anything below the surface, at least within range of my current position.

Borrowing a higher level of [Essence Sight] again, I discovered that one path headed toward more Fire Essence. My decision was made. I took on my regular winged blueblin form for its convenient flying size and began to fly carefully down the tunnel.

To my surprise, I wasn’t the only flying creature in these tunnels, and there seemed to be a few fire elemental bats fluttering around. For the most part, they seemed non-hostile and would actually flee from me. Their low numbers, low tier, and inedible status made me defeat only one with [Frost Grasp] before ignoring them.

The magma river, however, was extremely intriguing, and occasionally, I’d see what looked like fish coated in blackish glass. I paused and attempted some fishing experiments by trying to catch some by dipping my [Pseudopods] into the molten river.

It took quite a bit of trial and error, as I was almost fishing blindly. The only vaguely reliable sense or vision I had to use was [Life Sight], as the strange fish didn’t appear with [Mana Conception]. They were clearly the same temperature as the magma itself, so they blended in when I used [Thermal Vision]. The area and creatures were not conductive, so [Electro-Magnetic Sense] was also a bust.

When I eventually caught one, it was quite a nutritious feast despite its lack of levels, which fell more under critter status than a monster. They were called obsidian fish, and when I noticed some other creatures in the magma, they all had obsidian as a prefix to their species.

I was mostly minding my own business when my fishing expedition was interrupted by the sound of some immense rumbling. I flew toward one of the walls and pressed against it to try to get a sense of where it was coming from with [Tremor Sense]. Whatever it was, it was making such powerful vibrations that it was being picked up despite my lack of trait levels.

Is that… two of them? I pondered, trying to decipher what I was feeling.

If I read the trajectory correctly, they would appear farther ahead in this tunnel, closer to the source of fire essence. I hastily flew toward it, hoping to catch sight of whatever it was as it approached.

I spotted the destination up ahead. The magma river opened up into a lake and an absolutely massive cavern. The cavern ceiling was extremely tall and littered with various mineral deposits in a stalactite formation. The magma lake was also not completely unpopulated, and it had its own pillars, creating impromptu platforms or islands.

The ceiling and walls were littered with burrowed holes in varying shapes and sizes as if many creatures had sought out this destination.

The rumbling grew louder, so I flew toward a stalactite to hide behind. Depending on what was approaching, I could flee or attack. I didn’t have to wait long.

A massive tube of rotating teeth burst out of a newly formed hole, revealing itself as a gigantic glassy black worm. The worm dived into the magma lake as if seeking refuge.

<Obsidian Worm [IV] LV 39 Elemental Affinity: Earth, Fire.>

Well… I did ask for something bigger to eat and fight. I can see why the dwarves want these things killed; they could potentially try to tunnel into the city and break their defensive wards.

The rumbling hadn’t stopped, and the previously burrowed-out hole burst open to reveal an even larger worm. It was also mostly black, but unlike the first one, it seemed refined and reforged. Down its entire length were what seemed like carved-out channels into its hide that pulsed like a living furnace with a bright orange glow. Its outer coating alone sent [Dissection] into a frenzy.

<Magma-Tempered Worm [V] LV 1 Elemental Affinity: Earth, Fire, Magma.>

The bigger worm was likely chasing the smaller one, and now the two were wrestling and writhing within the magma lake. I hadn’t often seen members of the same monster species fighting, but perhaps worms were solitary. Were they territorial rivals? The evolution must have been fairly recent, judging by its reset level. Was it trying to take out the competition before it could also evolve?

I borrowed [Telepathy (Lesser)] and tried contacting both to see if there was anything from such high-tier monsters. While I could connect to both, all I got back from either was a deep-rooted desire to kill, eat, and grow. Not even words.

I guess not every monster is as intelligent as the ant princess. A shame she wasn’t willing to talk.

As for the two worms, I wanted to defeat both of them. Just thinking about the massive amount of slime mass I’d generate from either meal, not to mention the traits and a brand-new form, was absolutely mouth-watering.

I should help the small one kill the big one. As long as I secure the killing blow. [Decay] would be ideal since it’s a huge chunk of damage, and my [Life Sight] is much better nowadays. It’s too bad I can’t use the interface feature without directly wearing my guild tag; having their life bars would have been convenient.

It was an odd limitation. The tag had no problem tracking my quest progress while in my [Core Storage] but could not activate the interface feature unless I actually wore it. I wasn’t worried about the tag breaking; it seemed almost impossible to even damage, but I refused to wear it out of disguise.

Hidden behind my stalactite, I threw all my debuffs onto the tempered worm. The difference was evident, as now some of the bites from the obsidian worm were breaking through, but not nearly as well as I thought.

A fully empowered [Erode] initiated from stealth gave a defense debuff of 100%, but that clearly did not remove all of the tempered worm’s protection. After all, it would be immensely powerful if it included any additions it had made to its defense.

I’m throwing random numbers around here, but if the worm had 150% defense, I probably lowered it to 50%.

I initially thought it would be strange if I was already at the maximum potential of my debuffs when [Corrosion Magic] still had another five levels to go, and this made me think it would go beyond 100%.

Even with my debuff assistance, it didn’t look like the obsidian worm would succeed. It was tricky to compare myself to regular monsters, but this made the gap between evolutions especially apparent. I had begun preparing some of my explosive needles with eager anticipation when I paused. I looked at my needle and then the sheer size of the damn worms.

Right… Needles aren’t going to cut it.

Thanks to eating almost an entire ant nest, I had an excessive amount of slime mass, and the delicious meal before me would undoubtedly return any investment made with interest. Thus, I started upgrading from needles to spears while watching the two worms continue their wrestling match in the magma lake.

It’s too bad I don’t have a profile for something more exotic like a harpoon. Perhaps I need to visit a coastal city next?

The increased weapon size also gave me more room to work with. The design I finalized had a spearhead of [Acid Slime] and [Metal Slime], while the shaft replaced the former with adhesive [Cryo Slime].

I liked this design as I could readily replace the payload contained in the shaft depending on the monster, and I quite easily predicted these worms would be weak to Ice and Cold.

I alternated between iron and bronze for my metal choice, as I had no idea which was better. Then I mixed [Nitro Slime] into the entire creation and primed it. Happy with the finished product, I told my [Sub-Cores] to remember this configuration and set up most of them to handle the production.

I’m tempted to throw in some Bloodrot… But if I ruin that harvest, I think [Dissection] will kill me. Not to mention, I’d hate to ruin the meal for myself.

My blueblin form wasn’t ideal for the rapid internal creation of my exploding spears, so I was forced to swell in size and latch on to the ceiling. I had all of my cores spread out as much as possible and was disguising myself as part of the ceiling with individual stalactites that each housed a core.

I think this is the largest amount of slime mass I’ve ever pulled out and controlled at once. Actually… This is almost like an adaptation of what Gramps’s emergency contingency did to save my life against that blade wolf.

With my position secured and doing my best to blend in with the ceiling, I began my assault. The cores not assigned to production would join me in the firing line. With the element of surprise and my high trait levels, the dozen or so spears were launched and met their target with startling efficiency.

About half of those ricocheted off its exterior, and I had them detonated to avoid wasting the payload, causing a light splattering of [Cryo Slime]. Another half stabbed in but didn’t make it fully inside, but they were in a perfect position to at least coat the worm after detonation. Finally, the remainder penetrated deep into the worm and unleashed their full strength.

The worm ululated in pain, echoing throughout the cavern, resembling an endless cacophony of gravel and metal being pulverized together. The other worm tried to take advantage of this momentary respite to land its own chomps into the foe but desperately winced away when it took in a mouthful of what must have been some residual [Cryo Slime].

Come on, it’s just a bit of cold slime, don’t be such a baby! I’m doing all the work here!

I kept firing spears and having them appropriately detonate depending on the outcome. Any that ricocheted hurt me on an emotional level, as it was like throwing slime away. Sure, I had the slime budget to afford this, but it still stung.

Things were going relatively well, although I noted that the obsidian worm was still flailing around like an idiot. It had taken one mouthful of slime; surely it wasn’t that bad?

Or… is the inside of their mouth a giant weak point? Maybe their stomach can’t handle the slime?

I had attacked monsters in the mouth before, but seeing those rows upon rows of teeth made me shudder. I would not want to stick my tendrils in there, but perhaps I could make one accidentally swallow a slime bomb? Judging by the vast amount of lifeforce the tempered worm displayed, I might have to.

Chapter eleven

Worms

Now, the only issue left to figure out was how to aim my projectiles into the mouth. The worms didn’t really close their mouths, and they were huge in size, so it wasn’t an impossible target. But, with the way they thrashed around and refused to stay in one place, it wouldn’t be easy.

I kept producing spears while continuing my attack on the worm, although I was reserving more in storage for later usage as I’d probably need to get closer to secure some shots down the gullet. My chance of victory wasn’t in question; it was just the time required and resources expended.

I seriously can’t believe how much damn health this thing has. Did the dwarves scam me into taking this quest?

I knew there wasn’t a penalty for failure, but personally, I refused to accept the outcome. I tried studying the two worms as they fought and wrestled. Besides their sheer size and mouths, they weren’t exactly high on the threat list. They weren’t even particularly fast. Trying to find potential weak points, I noted that they had no eyes, which made me wonder how they were sensing each other.

I would have thought [Tremor Sense], but I don’t know how effective that would be while in magma. [Life Sight] would be a valid option; the two are both like beacons of life.

For now, I just continued to safely observe and strike from afar, trying my best to understand the two monsters while building up my projectile stockpile. After quite a bit of back and forth, I was beginning to lose hope that I’d discover something else to them other than their hatred of eating [Cryo Slime]. That changed when the two worms crashed into one of the pillars inside the magma lake that connected the floor to the ceiling and shattered it.

Suddenly, both worms frantically started trying to eat something within the pillar, even going so far as to partially ignore each other except when fighting over the scraps. I wasted no time using [Eagle Vision] to locate their target. Between the rubble of the collapsing pillar, I noted some ores within.

They eat minerals?

That revelation certainly explained some things. Clearly, the worms had some way to detect nearby ores, which they seemed to delight in eating. It also further explained why the dwarves had such a hatred for the damn things; imagine if one of them ate your gold mine! I’d certainly be furious.

If that were the case, would the smaller worm look like a tasty snack to the big one? It was coated in obsidian, after all. Perhaps the rarer the mineral, the more flavorful it was for the worms? If that was the case, then maybe I could fool the worm into eating a slime bomb by making it out of a rare or valuable metal.

Rather than anything too complicated, I made a silver sphere with a [Cryo Slime] center and primed it so that it would keep its shape. Then, using [Slime Shot], I fired the bomb toward the two worms that had resumed attacking one another.

I wasn’t expecting much; it was, after all, just a quick theory thrown together. But against my expectations, as soon as the silvery sphere was within a certain distance of the two worms, they both seemed to home in on it and desperately seek it out. The blasted obsidian worm swallowed the thing whole, much to the frustration of both me and the tempered worm.

Despite my anger, I didn’t detonate it immediately, as I needed the obsidian worm to stick around longer to keep the tempered worm occupied. I swapped from spear to silver ball production and began launching them toward the worms.

Again, when the silver spheres neared the worms, they ravenously sought them out. Seeing the greedy obsidian worm trying its luck again, I needed to prevent it from eating it, so I detonated the first one, likely sitting in its stomach. A huge chunk of its lifeforce immediately depleted before my very eyes, and it continued to drop rapidly by the looks of things. I hoped I hadn’t accidentally killed it too soon with the world’s deadliest candy.

The obsidian worm immediately howled in pain and thrashed around, ignoring all the tasty treats the tempered worm consumed gluttonously. As long as it kept eating, I kept spitting out silver balls, and only once the obsidian worm had recovered did I finally start the detonation.

The chain reaction of all the silver balls going off was extremely audible, even with the nonstop wailing from the obsidian worm. I squealed with joy when I saw each detonation removing another vast chunk of lifeforce and spreading out the deadly [Cryo Slime].

The damage the one bomb had done to the obsidian worm was impressive, but this was on a whole other level, not just due to the number of detonations but also because the tempered worm was fully debuffed. However, by my rough estimation, the worm would still live.

Ah! I should have used [Assassinate]! I cursed my lack of hindsight.

I had six daily uses of the extra bonus damage and seldom used it. While I most assuredly forgot about it often, another small part of me wanted to always keep it in reserve for some desperate “what if” scenario that might never occur. But if I wasn’t going to use it now against something crazy like this, then when would I ever?

One for a [Decay] finisher, two for the obsidian worm, one for my hypothetical emergency. That leaves me with two to use right now! I reasoned.

I gave the order to regroup as I let go of the ceiling, my slime mass and [Sub-Cores] rapidly snapping back to reunite around my primary core. While falling, I began shifting into my blueblin form and rapidly flew closer to the thrashing worm.

The obsidian worm was taking its opportunity to land some solid bites against its still-vulnerable aggressor. I pulled out some of my prepared spears and made the ad-hoc decision to merge them together into two larger ones. These would be my triggers for [Assassinate].

Flying this close to the worms was somewhat nerve-wracking, and I double-checked that I had my [Arcane Armor] cast on all my cores before the final approach. Then, with the aid of my helpers, I planned out the optimal [Slime Shot] to land directly down the gullet.

The two spears were partially sunk into my arms, which I had enlarged to house them and satisfy the requirements of [Slime Shot]. Before initiating the attack, I triggered the conditional use of [Assassinate], giving both spears the multiplicative boost.

When I had finally decided that this situation warranted the usage of my daily limits, I pondered whether I had to trigger the skill before launching the spears or before triggering the detonation. However, I had the gut feeling that it was before launching the spear and that the detonation and even the subsequent [Cryo Slime] would technically all fall under the same attack.

So, trusting my gut, I flew to the optimal position while dodging flailing worms. Despite my open hostility toward them, the two seemed to not even acknowledge my presence. Any attacks I avoided were purely coincidental collateral from their girthy bodies flailing around. I launched both spears, the moment almost freezing in time as I watched with eager anticipation. When both projectiles went straight down, I wasted no time triggering the detonation and mentally cheering before even seeing the final outcome.

The tempered worm reeled from the resulting attack. When its lifeforce dropped like a rock, I couldn’t help but feel giddy and thanked my gut for its good intuition. I swiftly cast [Contagion] to spread the debuffs to the unexpecting obsidian worm and began what I hoped would be my final attacks.

Since I still had some spears remaining in my [Core Storage], I began firing out the remains of my stockpile at both worms this time. The obsidian worm had seemed primed to go for the almost-fallen worm when I had unexpectedly assaulted it.

With the obsidian worm now occupied with itself, I triggered another [Assassinate] and finally cast [Decay] on the big worm. The purple Mana swirled around the worm, and one by one, all of its afflictions were purged with magical fury, and a mighty singular blow was struck against it.

The worm gave a few remaining spasms before collapsing into the magma lake.

<Magma-Tempered Worm LV 1 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 4.>

<11 Trait Points are now available.>

Yes! Kill secured, now I just need to clean up, I cheered. Then I spotted the sinking worm. And then… Go fishing, I guess…

Even without my attacks, the obsidian worm was not looking good. It had previously had to bear the brunt of all the attacks of the much larger worm in addition to any accidental damage it took from me. I thought I might have needed to use [Assassinate] against this one, too, but it looked like I was mistaken.

Unlike the tempered worm, the obsidian worm’s defenses held little remaining protection against my attacks once it was debuffed with [Erode]. It felt good to be on top of the food chain again as I watched its rapidly depleting life.

When I estimated it was close enough to death, I threw out another [Decay] to finish the job. Like before, the purple Mana of the spell swirled around the monster, but in what felt like a less dramatic fashion than the [Assassinate]-empowered version. Then, unceremoniously, it was over.

<Obsidian Worm LV 39 defeated. Experience gained.>

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 8.>

<15 Skill Points are now available.>

Before the obsidian worm could start to sink, I rushed over to it and threw out tendrils to try to grab it. Unfortunately, I was nowhere near strong enough to stop it from sinking, so I made the executive decision to dive down its gullet and eat it from the inside out.

As I had suspected, the worm meat was delicious and nutritious, and I saw a much-needed replenishment of my slime mass. Rather than depositing it, I let it balloon out and aid in consuming the worm. I ordered everyone to get to work and follow the instructions of [Dissection].

<Profile [Worm] complete.>

When I broke through to the fleshy interior of the magma lake, I couldn’t help but flinch reflexively. Not that I was afraid of the magma, but I borrowed [Fire Resistance] as a precaution.

I was initially surprised by how little was being saved from the worm; it seemed like, other than a few choice obsidian scales and its teeth, everything else was designated for eating. But the true prize would be the evolved one.

I had wanted to avoid looking at the worm profile until I ate the bigger one, but I realized that I would likely require it to aid in locating and retrieving it. So, I compromised by skimming through it.

The worm had [Tremor Sense], as I suspected, but also [Mineral Sense], which must have been how it sensed the ores. They were otherwise entirely blind, not even having something like [Life Sight] to sense nearby foes. Sure, they lived underground, but having such a crippling weakness to anything flying seemed very detrimental.

Borrowing the trait and beginning to transform into a worm myself, I could sense that the obsidian in its hide was being detected. And at the bottom of the lake, I could see my true prize glowing like a sun in all its glory.

All of my newly acquired slime began repurposing itself into facilitating my giant obsidian worm form. The transformation was startling, and having the entire massive body exclusively under my control was a bizarre feeling. I had never been in a body nearly this big before.

You know… I had nearly given [Nitro Slime] the award of best trait ever. Still, the fact that [Chimeric Mimicry] is pretty much singlehandedly allowing me to control this entire form by itself is certainly eye-opening.

The best part about my new worm form was that, unlike the original, I was not limited to being blind and could easily create transparent pockets for a [Sub-Core] to see out of. Not that there was anything to see at the moment aside from the depths of the magma lake.

And so I wormed my way to my next meal and hopefully a good trait or two.

Chapter twelve

Eating Rocks

When I finally reached the tempered worm, I wasted no time diving into a presumably delightful meal. I had tried to dig in like any of my previous meals, but even with my [Acid Slime], I had some issues with the worm. If anything, it seemed sturdier than when I was fighting it.

Adapting to the situation, I shrunk my worm form down in size and ate at the fleshy interior to get around the conundrum.

<Profile [Worm] updated.>

While I perused the profile, I let the rest of my [Sub-Cores] and [Dissection] continue the work.

<[Tempered Reinforcement]

Increases a monster’s physical defense in proportion to its heat level, affecting most, if not all, forms of natural armor it may have.

The base defensive boost and the maximum heat bonus scale with trait level.

This trait also greatly boosts resistance to all forms of heat, but it comes at the cost of equal vulnerability to cold.>

Very interesting… I guess I left it a bit too long in the magma, so it’s all gone hard. But if cold lowers the defense, then I’ll just add [Cryo Slime] in with [Acid Slime] for the harvesting.

Before I gave the full go-ahead to all my [Sub-Cores], I personally tested the theory with the directed guidance of [Dissection]. The difference was outstanding, and I was back to my familiar harvesting capabilities in almost no time.

That’s good. Otherwise, I might have needed to drag this sucker out of the magma lake.

Letting the gang get back to work with the newfound knowledge, I was about to continue perusing the profile. But an unexpected notification interrupted me.

<[Obsidianite] has been sampled. [Metal Slime] updated.>

What!? I ate basically the other entire worm and didn’t get anything, and now you update? What the hell is obsidianite?

[Metal Slime] held no answers for me, and so I was forced to scour through the monster’s profile for the answer. That answer was also frustratingly inadequate; the best I could put together was that this unknown metal was formed during the monster’s evolution.

It’s like the rocky obsidian evolved into a metal… Maybe the dwarves will know?

I tried using [Metal Slime] to form some myself, but it was impossible at my current trait level, like both mithril and adamantine. Possibly even worse. It was hard to tell the difference in my slime falling apart.

The evolved worm’s only remaining trait was [Volcanic Stomach], which let it rapidly convert rock into magma that it could spew out. It was pretty cool, although [Tempered Reinforcement] was the true prize and ripe for mimicry. As far as I could tell, nothing stopped me from borrowing the trait and heating myself up with [Blaze Slime]. No need for a magma bath.

[Volcanic Stomach] is probably how it’s supposed to heat itself up if there’s no other source nearby.

As for the traits both worms had, [Mineral Sense] seemed useful, and perhaps I could combine it with [Electro-Magnetic Sense] and [Tremor Sense] in some combination.

Both worms had a trait called [Obsidian Scales], which seemed to be an alternate version of [Earthen Carapace], with the caveat that it also required Fire affinity. I did try using both at the same time, but they seemed mutually exclusive. The deciding factor was that [Earthen Carapace] was incompatible with [Tempered Reinforcement].

They also had [Rock Connoisseur], an unranked trait that allowed them to eat rocks and raw minerals for food. The trait mentioned rarer minerals as more nutritious and delicious. I thought it might be a good way to exploitatively generate slime mass, so I tried mimicking it and eating some rocks.

First, the amount of slime it generated was so infinitesimal that I could only assume Gramps, or someone else, had perhaps had some foresight to prevent me from doing something like this. Second, despite the trait claiming the rock and minerals were delicious, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

What a scam. I can’t believe I toggled [Olfactory Sense] on for this disappointment.

Eating and harvesting the second worm entirely took far longer than expected. I was beginning to worry that Thern might get worried about my absence if I didn’t return home in time for supper.

Not that I think I could eat another bite after that meal. I chuckled to myself.

And, of course, I simply had to try out the new form. Massive quantities of slime were withdrawn, and I found my wormy body swelling to its newer proportions. Even if I had experienced fighting these obsidianite scales firsthand, I could instantly recognize their value now that my body was wrapped in them.

And to think it will be even stronger when I can handle obsidianite myself via [Metal Slime]. Although I swear, I can feel [Chimeric Mimicry] already somehow using a small portion of it.

And now that I had a full understanding of the worm in sight, I could tell that those glowing channels along its outer body were actually linked to its stomach. A very convenient design and considerably more pleasant than the idea I had where it barfed over itself.

The trip back to the hole I made was rather fun as I got to experience traveling like a giant worm down the magma river. Although I was feeling more like a leviathan or sea serpent than a burrowing worm.

I had hoped I might have encountered something to test out the new form against, but sadly, that didn’t happen. Perhaps they were all scared away from the racket of the two rampaging worms, as even most of the critters had seemingly fled.

Not wanting to immediately end my time trying out the new body, I started compressing and shrinking the form to a more manageable size when I reached my destination.

Time to try out burrowing with a mouth full of rotating teeth!

I double-checked that [Olfactory Sense] was disabled and then began tunneling upward back into the ant nest. The trip back up was brief, and the worm’s natural burrowing significantly outdid my “just melt it” strategy.

Since I had a stomach full of rock and earth, I felt obligated to at least give [Volcanic Stomach] a quick chance. All things considered, vomiting up the molten rock wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, thanks to the worm’s body literally designed to accommodate such a feature.

Of course, I simply had to try some slime shenanigans as well. I formed tendrils connected to my worm stomach and collected the magma. Armed with some new ammunition, I used [Slime Shot] to try various projectile methods.

It’s a shame I don’t think this is too useful… Trying it out is entertaining, but my slime is far better if I want to burn or melt an enemy. And that’s without needing to eat rock first, waiting for the stomach to convert it, and only then spitting it out. How sad is that? I can spit magma, and I could probably say it’s a neat trick.

I shrugged it off. The body alone was worth its weight in gold for me. I dug myself an expedited exit out of the ant nest and even caught a few drone stragglers wandering around aimlessly. A chomp or a few tail whacks was far more than the simple ant drones could survive. The fact that the teeth ripped apart the ants like wet paper was a little startling.

I triple-checked that the coast was clear before returning to my elven persona. I wasn’t sure how long this adventure had taken, and I really hoped I hadn’t caused Thern or his family to worry about me.

“I need to buy one of those time tools…” I sighed. “Unless only Keld sells them? Maybe they are imported? I’ll ask Darmod when I get home.”

I was heading back to the dwarven tunnel that led to this fungal cavern. I had my eyes out for kobolds just in case, but I doubted I’d be that lucky.

At the same time, I made sure to keep using [Essence Sight]. I had checked, and it was already appearing as the [??? LV 0] trait, so I knew I was very close! [Prodigy] was working overtime with [Untapped Potential].

Speaking of traits, I wonder what the dwarves have… Something like [Alcohol Connoisseur]? I couldn’t help but giggle.

I reached the tunnel without any fuss, and now, in the relatively safe confines of familiar ground, I sped up my pace in returning. Deep in the tunnel, I finally received my notification.

<Trait [??? LV 0] has become [Essence Sight LV 1].>

“Great!” I cheered. “Saved a trait point right there.”

I immediately pulled up my profile and attempted a trait fusion. Excitement was bubbling; I hadn’t done this successfully in what felt like ages. Would it finally work this time?

<Would you like to Fuse: [Mana Conception LV 6], [Life Sight LV 5], [Essence Sight LV 1]?

Becomes Trait: [Soul Sight LV 6].

This will cost 1 Trait Point.>

Nope! I’m gonna get some free levels in [Essence Sight] first. I rejected the prompt.

Hopefully, I can also get [Mineral Sense] for free… What would that combination be? I want to doubt it’s [Soul Sense], but maybe Gramps felt uninspired with the names again.

To my surprise, I met a squad of dwarven guards on patrol in the tunnel. They were more surprised to see me, but a flash of my guild tag to confirm my identity was all that I needed to do. They became jovial once they realized I was an adventurer, and one even offered me a flask as a reward for “a hard day of adventuring.”

I thanked him and accepted it, even going as far as to chug some of it on the spot, much to the delight of the dwarves.

“Are ya sure you aren’t a dwarf trapped in an elf body?” one of the guards joked, causing quite a joyous ruckus from the group, which I joined in on.

I waved goodbye and continued my journey, wishing them a safe return. The guards at the gate were similarly happy to see my return and curious about what quest I had been on.

When I mentioned that I had taken out an ant princess, quite a few guards offered to take me to a tavern to celebrate with multiple rounds of drinks. It felt nice to be appreciated for the job.

I politely turned them down and told them I had a friend waiting for my return, which they accepted without too much fuss. If they had pressed the issue, I might have given in to the social pressure.

If I hadn’t been concerned about potentially causing Thern and his family some worry, I would have returned to the guild to report my completed quests. So I beelined toward his home, my [Mapping] skill actually being helpful this time thanks to retracing familiar ground. I still had no idea how the dwarves navigated this city unless they all had it.

Knocking on the door, I waited patiently for a response.

Wait. Shit. What if they’re sleeping? How do the dwarves tell how late it is without a sun?

My momentary panic was put at ease when Darmod opened the door. He gave a big grin, seeing me safe and sound.

“Syl! Glad you made it back in one piece,” Darmod said cheerfully.

“Yup. It was a rather fun experience; hopefully, defeating an ant princess is good enough to prove my worth,” I answered.

Darmod gave an impressed whistle as he led me into the house.

“Definitely. Those ants are a real menace,” Darmod answered. “I think any dwarf in the world would buy you a drink if you told him you killed a princess or queen.”

Thern was seated at the table with a few mugs of ale on the table. There was no sign of Thessa.

“Ah, you’re back!” Thern chuckled. “I was worried you’d be gone for months again.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I should have returned from the floating island sooner,” I apologized again.

“Bah. Don’t listen to Thern; I bet he’d be gone for a year if he was on a floating island.” Darmod chuckled.

“Did you manage to drag your mom from the forge?” I asked curiously, noting Thessa’s absence.

“Aye. Kicking and screaming.” Thern shook his head. “And she bloody passed out as soon as her head touched the pillow.”

“That’s good. I wanted to ask her about a metal I found, but it can wait till tomorrow,” I explained.

“Oh? I’m not a smith, but being married to one, maybe I can help?” Darmod offered.

“Sure. It’s not a big deal, but I found some obsidianite,” I answered nonchalantly.

Thern was busy taking a drink while I was talking to Darmod, and when I finished speaking, he immediately spat out a spray of ale. While Thern was coughing and spluttering, Darmod appeared frozen in a state of shock.

Chapter thirteen

Obsidianite

“What?” I questioned the two dwarves.

Thern tried to say something, but it just came out as a splutter of coughing.

“Did you say obsidianite?” Darmod asked in an almost hushed tone.

“Yes. I got some from a worm I killed,” I answered honestly.

“Bloody beards,” Darmod muttered. “You said she was special with coming back with crazy shit, son, but I think you undersold her.”

“Shit!” Thern eventually yelled after recovering enough. “Why didn’t I come with ya? Of all the bloody luck!”

“Can someone please explain what the big deal is?” I requested.

“Obsidianite is a very rare metal. To say people have died trying to get some wouldn’t be an exaggeration,” Darmod started to explain.

“What makes it so special?” I asked. “It didn’t appear that much better than adamantine.”

“You’re right that, in most cases, it’s not that different from adamantine,” Thern answered before Darmod. “However, while adamantine can rarely be found and dug up, this bloody stuff is rare to an extreme. It doesn’t form naturally and cannot be created artificially. It can only be obtained from a select few monsters through the godly power of evolution.”

“Huh… what about feeding it to a silver slime?” I suggested.

Thern’s face scrunched up, evidently greatly disturbed or disgusted by the very idea.

“I’m sure it’s been tried… Like bloody throwing money away,” Darmod answered, also looking bothered by the suggestion. “But you’d need a silver slime that spawned with obsidianite as its metal type, or it would be ruined by the slime mixing the two metals together.”

“And I’m guessing obsidianite has no alloys,” I replied.

“Nope. None of the legendary metals like to play nice,” Thern answered.

“Well… are you going to show us?” Darmod asked, licking his lips.

“Aye. You can’t leave us high and dry by teasing us like that,” Thern agreed.

I shrugged and pulled out one of the largest fully intact scales from the worm, gently placing it on the table. Thern’s response was to start cussing up a storm, while Darmod was beginning to look particularly sweaty.

“Gods… it’s fully intact,” Darmod said, shaking his head.

“You really don’t half-arse anything, do ya, Syl?” Thern chortled.

“I mean… I had no idea.” I shrugged. “My [Dissection] skill told me it was valuable, so I grabbed it.”

“This one scale is probably worth more than our damn house,” Darmod explained.

“Huh… think I could get some silver slime cores?” I asked.

Thern groaned as if expecting my question while Darmod stared at me as if I had grown a second head.

“That would be such a waste!” Thern exclaimed. “I know you have your kinks about the bloody slime cores, but we’re talking about a piece of valuable obsidianite. Bloody beards, just imagine a forge hammer or inscriber made from it!”

“I mean… you can certainly have those,” I responded. “I just want some silver slime cores since I’m unlikely find them outside here.”

“What do you mean?” Thern asked, looking puzzled.

“I didn’t say that was my only piece—” I began answering.

“Gods!” Darmod shouted, standing up so quickly that his chair tipped. “H-how many do you have!?”

Both dwarves stared at me so hard it felt like they were trying to drill into my mind with their gaze. Their abnormal reaction to this entire situation made me feel uneasy. [Acting] must have agreed, as I was getting a subtle hint that I shouldn’t reveal the truth.

“A few…” I responded hesitantly.

I slowly pulled out a few more; with each one I pulled out, the dwarves looked increasingly frantic, so I stopped when I reached five. I got the odd feeling that if I revealed that I had harvested almost the entire worm, minus the scales I ruined, I might get attacked.

Both dwarves were speechless for quite a while, staring at the obsidianite with a mixture of concern, envy, and awe. I was growing increasingly uncomfortable when Thern finally broke the silence.

“We can’t let anyone find out where they came from.”

“They’re going to find out eventually,” Darmod countered. “Nobody can keep five large intact pieces of obsidianite a secret. Gods, doesn’t the Adventurer’s Guild know she took a worm-kill quest?”

“Yes, but the guild would never sell out an adventurer, especially not one who’s reached gold-rank,” Thern disagreed.

“I dunno, son, greased palms can tempt foolish dwarves,” Darmod replied.

“That’s not reassuring…” I muttered.

“Well, then we should sell it through your company discreetly,” Thern suggested

“Hmm… that would be maybe plausible. I could pull in one of the noble houses to be our benefactor for a small cut, perhaps get some protection that way to conceal the true source.”

“Whatever you two think is best, as long as I can get a few slime cores out of this, I’m happy,” I replied. “You’re welcome to take one for an inscription tool, Thern.”

The dwarf looked genuinely gobsmacked. “R-really!?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t be here if not for you,” I replied. “You even waited for me when I was late…”

Thern broke out laughing hysterically. “Bloody beards, Syl, I think I could kiss you!”

“I’d rather not. No offense,” I replied, waving my hand dismissively.

“It’s an expression!” Thern laughed more. “Wait till Greg hears about this. Sure, he had a prodigy for an apprentice, but I got a bloody elf adventurer!”

I chuckled, remembering how sour he was after I gave Greg the unicorn horn.

“Although if you’re going out adventuring tomorrow, you have got to take me along!” Thern demanded. “I’m sick of missing out on all the fun, which you seem to be a magnet for. First, you visit a floating island and find unicorns, alicorns, and pegasi, and now, barely a few days here, you find obsidianite! When I take my eye off you, I bet you’ll find some lost, enchanted relic or godly artifact.”

“Sure. I’d be glad to see what runes can do in combat,” I replied honestly. His strange class had greatly interested me. “I had a quest to exterminate kobolds, but I didn’t run into any today.”

“Aye, the cheeky buggers can be hard to find,” Thern admitted. “But I’m sure we can find some. Teach them not to mess with a dwarf and an elf!”

“In the meantime, I’ll contact the Flintheart family. I’m practically blood brothers with Kaldrour, their current heir, so they’ll be extra discreet,” Darmod added to the conversation. “I’ll tell him you want silver slime cores as payment… But I don’t know if even they can wrangle enough to pay you.”

“I’m alright with other cores. I’m missing a few from my collection,” I responded.

“Sure, which ones?” Darmod asked. “Can’t hurt to ask. Hell, they might buy some off the market for you. It’s a bit middleman, but whatever works.”

“Black, Pink, Gold, Gray, Brown, Violet,” I replied, listing the ones I knew from memory.

“Lass… you have expensive taste. I’m pretty sure half of those are forbidden or unknown,” Darmod replied. “Also, no offense, but I think you’d be the best person to obtain a brown slime core.”

Thern burst out laughing. “You take eccentric to a whole new level. But if you keep finding such incredible loot, I won’t complain no matter what you do with all those cores!”

“What’s all the racket down here?” a grumpy Thessa asked, practically storming down the stairs. “You drag me away from my work, telling me I need to sleep, and then you make enough bluster to rouse the bloody dead!”

“Sorry, dear, we were just discussing—” Darmod replied before pausing.

Thessa suddenly started sniffing very loudly, and then she looked at the table with an almost predatory gaze. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Pa! She’s got that look in her eyes!” Thern warned.

Darmod moved swiftly to Thessa as if to halt her progress, but he was slowly being pushed backward even when he placed his hands on her shoulders and braced himself.

“Honey! Dear! Be reasonable! We have a guest!” Darmod begged.

I stared unblinkingly at the strange situation until Thessa reached the table. Her eyes went wide as she saw the obsidianite scales, and she immediately took a big whiff of them. As if that wasn’t strange enough, she picked it up and proceeded to lick it. A moment later, she actually bit into it!

Gods, is she going to eat it? I couldn’t help but wonder.

My fear went unproven, and instead, she started cackling with laughter.

“Obsidianite!” Thessa exclaimed. “It’s been almost twenty years since I last worked with it!”

“Ma… Be reasonable. That belongs to Syl,” Thern said. “Well, except for the piece that will become my inscription tool and hammer.”

“Oh?” Thessa asked almost threateningly. “And who exactly is going to forge those for you? I don’t see another master smith in the room.”

“W-well…” Thern stuttered.

Thessa grinned triumphantly.

“Blast it. She’s right. Especially if we want to be discreet,” Thern grumbled.

“And you, Syl!” Thessa declared, pointing at me. “I’m going to forge you a weapon!”

“I don’t really use weapons,” I answered honestly. “I have a bow I earned from a dungeon ages ago that’s gathering dust. I’m pretty heavily focused on magic.”

“Bah. Mages,” Thessa scoffed. “What if you run out of Mana? Always good to have a backup.”

“Well…” I stammered.

Perhaps hoping to gain some ground on his mom, Thern chuckled and answered. “I don’t think Syl here has ever run out of Mana; I know you don’t have [Mana Sight], ma, but she’s got enough to light up the entirety of Dhoggurum.”

“Well, ornamental then!” Thessa replied. It was rapidly beginning to look like she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Well… I do like rapiers,” I answered.

Thessa sighed. “Of course… Something dainty…”

“Never disparage the client’s choice, dear.” Darmod chuckled.

“You’re right,” Thessa said reluctantly. “At least she didn’t say something silly like a bow. Sure, I was hoping for a big warhammer or battleaxe, but I’ll just have to make do.”

“Maybe it’s a little late to bring this up again, but I still haven’t understood why obsidianite is so good,” I said. “I know it’s rare since it’s only from monsters, but what makes it special to use? I’m hoping it’s not purely decorative for its rarity.”

“Heavens no.” Thessa chuckled. “Let the smith do the talking, not the merchant or enchanter.”

Darmod and Thern nodded in agreement.

“Obsidianite is nearly as durable as adamantine. Through its godly creation and monster evolution, it’s lost all the brittleness of obsidian and has become a true metal worth using,” Thessa began explaining. “You’re probably familiar with mithril being a Mana conductor. Obsidianite is a little similar in that regard; instead of conducting it and distributing it, it drinks it up and stores it, using it to reinforce itself.”

“To add to what Ma is saying, if you have either Earth or Fire affinity, it will naturally enhance the obsidianite. Earth adds to its durability, while Fire refines its edges,” Thern explained.

“That’s… honestly, very impressive,” I conceded.

“I thought you’d like that. Especially since you have Fire affinity.” Thern grinned.

“Actually, I just recently got Earth too.”

“Bloody beards, girl! Will you have every affinity the next time I see you?” Thern exclaimed.

“Even better then!” Thessa cheered. “What about some obsidianite armor? A nice set of full plate to seal your defense.”

The dwarves were going back and forth so fast that I couldn’t find the opportunity to speak up.

“You really want her clanking around in full plate?” Thern asked. “Her previous class was a rogue mage hybrid. I’m pretty sure she still likes being sneaky.”

“I do,” I admitted. “Although I wouldn’t say no to an armor upgrade.”

“Hmm… I could add some small platings to your existing leathers. Like studded leather, except far more expensive.” Thessa chuckled. “What’s this made out of?”

“Inferno Salamander,” I replied.

Thessa whistled and nodded, looking very excited.

“Made from the original owner of that new furnace heart,” Thern added.

“That’s perfect,” Thessa answered happily. “The natural Fire affinity in the armor will blend well with the obsidianite. I would have thrown it away if it was made of something like fish scales.”

Using [Equipment Swap], I exchanged it for one of my spare robes and handed it over to Thessa. To my surprise, she began examining it on the spot.

“Hmm… Good, the maker knew what he was doing. Also, damn, do you bloody elves not sweat at all?” Thessa asked. “Of all the racial differences possible, I think that might be cheating too much.” She shook her head and then swiftly changed the subject. “I’m assuming the runes are your handiwork, Thern?”

“Aye. I’ll need to redo them when you’re done with the rework,” he replied.

“Good. I’m glad to have more evidence proving you haven’t gotten rusty,” Thessa poked. “You’d have broken a poor mother’s heart.”

“Quit the act, you forge devil,” Thern quipped back.

“So… about payment,” Thessa said mischievously.

“I can put a deposit down or something,” I answered, pulling out my guild tag.

“Ahh… I’m afraid Thessa’s Forge only accepts trade as payments for the foreseeable future.” She chuckled.

Of course, the dwarf wanted some of the obsidianite herself. However, I saw no reason to refuse, as apparently, I had more than they knew what to do with.

Chapter fourteen

Saber-Rattling

A plan was being put together by the three dwarves, and I left them to continue their work. I really didn’t want to get involved with money and negotiations, so I felt like delegating the task to them was more than appropriate. Darmod was the merchant, after all, and I trusted Thern to keep his family from potentially scamming me.

Thern also reconfirmed that he would come out with me on some adventuring tomorrow. I saw no reason to refuse, but sadly, that meant I would need a slight pause on my [Nitro Slime] testing and [Metal Slime] training.

Well… if I get more silver cores from this trade deal, I guess the latter wouldn’t be so much of a downside. Plus, I get to see a Glyph Mage in action!

I already had enchanting covered, so I could probably unlock it myself, and it would be added to my list of potential class considerations when I’d gotten everything I wanted out of Elementalist.

Since slime was unfortunately a no-go tomorrow, magic was back on the menu, so I spent the rest of my evening hashing out an [Earth Magic] debuff. It took surprisingly little effort, and in no time, I had accomplished it.

<Spell [Fracture] discovered.>

Hmm… I don’t know if I’m sold on that name. I’d almost say [Fracture] should be the armor debuff, and [Erode] should be the earth debuff. No? I don’t know if you’re listening, Mother, but that’s my feedback!

I wondered if [Soul Sight] would help further my spell tinkering when I got it. [Mana Manipulation] was undoubtedly the key player, but progressing in [Mana Conception] allowed me to identify a lot more spell concepts and Mana types.

I was wildly curious but restrained myself as I wanted to get more [Essence Sight] levels before the fusion into [Soul Sight]. And so, I called it a night with nothing immediately pressing.

“I swear you’ve woken up the beast in both of ’em; I’ve never seen Pa and Ma so excited before,” Thern said as we headed toward the guild.

“No offense, but you also had quite the look in your eye,” I pointed out teasingly.

“If you understood enchanting and saw the state of my tools compared to some of my peers, you’d understand my excitement,” Thern defended himself. “Damn, Greg has been eating it up with his bloody unicorn horn tool. If only I had a Light or Holy affinity… And tools with dual Fire and Earth are also rare.”

“Hmm… would not normal obsidian also work? Or perhaps one from an obsidian golem or something?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“I could’ve, but I’d bankrupt myself with frequent tool replacements. I’m not the most delicate when using tools, as is common with most dwarves.”

“Ah… that makes sense,” I agreed.

The guild wasn’t too busy when we arrived, and soon enough, we were in discussion with a handler. I reported my successful ant princess extermination, and Thern requested to be assigned the same quests that were assigned to me already.

At some point during our conversation, the handler looked absolutely startled and wide-eyed but rapidly recovered, shaking his head. I barely caught it and wondered if I had imagined his composure breaking.

Maybe he’s just having a rough day. Probably recovering from reveling too much last night if the other dwarves are any indication. I swear they have at least one tavern on every street.

“Been a while since I got to stop kobolds; this should be fun.” Thern grinned happily when he got his quest, and we left together.

Our trip to the gate was uneventful, and we mostly just made small talk with Thern leading the way. I was grateful to follow, as I felt I might still get lost with how this city was structured, even with [Mapping].

Once again, the city guards were ecstatic at our arrival and gave us a series of shouts and cheers at our departure. When we were out of sight of the gate, I turned to Thern with a questioning gaze as he had added his own contribution to getting the guards worked up.

“Us dwarves love a good fight, so adventuring is basically in our blood!” he began explaining. “For any good dwarf, defending the home and people is seen as honorable, and with how brutal it can be down here, it’s instilled in us from a very young age. Adventuring, doubly so, as you protect the home from current threats, prevent potential future threats, and risk your life to do it! Right out there in the open, not behind a wall or nothin’! There can be no greater honor!”

Thern gave me a hefty pat on the back, and we chuckled as we continued down the familiar passageway.

“Badour, lad, what’s got you so worked up?” the dwarven guild master asked.

The dwarf had come practically storming into his office early this morning with urgent news. As far as he knew, there were no dire emergencies or anything presently happening that could threaten the great city of Dhoggurum.

“Master Lukhek, I was handling a quest turn this morning and saw the most outrageous thing. I just had to tell you about it,” Badour explained.

“Oh? Did we get a rare monster kill or something?” Lukhek asked, stroking his beard curiously. “I hope it was a big beastie! Always good for morale! Who’s the lucky dwarf?”

“Well… actually, it was an elf,” Badour admitted.

“An elf?” Lukhek questioned, then recalled what he had read about a recent accelerated promotion and approval for travel. “Ah… I think I read about her. I thought it was more a diplomatic position than anything else. Or at least that’s the rumor I heard since no elf has ever been interested in joining the guild.”

“Bloody beards, sir. If she’s a mere diplomat, then I’m terrified of what the actual elf combatants can do,” Badour admitted with a dry gulp.

“I see… what quest did she complete?” Lukhek further inquired.

“She eliminated a reported ant princess in the fungal cavern; it was of the Fire Ant variety.”

“Bloody ants.” Lukhek grunted. “While that’s an admirable first quest and decent accomplishment, it’s not that unusual. I’d expect any gold-ranker to do that. However, that proves that she wasn’t given her rank as a diplomatic gesture… I’ll have that rumor squashed; it’s disgraceful for someone who’s contributed to defending Dhoggurum’s future.”

Badour nodded in agreement; such rumors were utterly contemptible.

“It wasn’t just the ant princess… She also took a general ant extermination quest, and here is the recorded amount from the finalized quest payout,” Badour explained and handed over a document.

Now, Lukhek was curious. He accepted the document and began perusing it. The number he saw was startling; he almost didn’t believe it, but it was impossible to fool the quest system as it was a reward designed by the gods themselves.

“That’s a lot of dead ants…” Lukhek muttered. “And two of them were royal guards if I’m estimating the payout amounts correctly.”

“And unless she had secret helpers outside of a party, she did it entirely solo,” Badour further explained.

“Bloody beards… This is quite a show of force; what are those elves up to?” Lukhek questioned. He began scratching his beard in thought. “Is this them saber-rattling?”

“Why would they do that, Master Lukhek?” Badour asked. “I thought we were on good terms with the elves.”

“Well… are you familiar with the Outeatus trade expansion?”

“Ah! My cousin mentioned something like that,” Badour said excitedly. “Was it something about the Outeatus Kingdom finally opening up their coffers to buy foreign goods?”

“Aye. That’s the one. If your cousin is a merchant, then I’m sure you’re familiar with the fact that most dwarves will accept anyone’s coin, whether they be human, fairy, elf, or otherwise.”

“Oh, trust me, I know. The bastard would probably sell his mother for the right price.”

“Ha! Sounds about right.” Lukhek barked out a laugh. “Well, the elves aren’t too happy about us potentially trading arms and armor to them. I’ve heard the diplomats here are kicking up a storm.”

“Why do they care who we trade with? It’s none of their business.” Badour scoffed.

“Come on, lad, I’m sure you’ve read at least one history book?” Lukhek asked with a frown.

Badour shrugged sheepishly.

Sighing and shaking his head, Lukhek answered. “The Outeatus Kingdom are the ones who instigated the second great war. Ordered by their God King to usurp the [Elven Legacy] Emblem for the royal family.”

“Oh… right… that…” Badour pretended to recall. “But that was ages ago, right? Bygones and all that, especially if there’s coin to be made.”

“Bloody beards, lad; if your work is as half bad as your talent in lying, I might need to hire some new staff,” Lukhek joked, causing Badour to pale. “Some of the elves involved are still alive and kicking! Of course, it’s still relevant to them, even now!”

“Oh… so is this reminding us to choose them over the humans?”

“Maybe… It’s certainly convenient timing, but I could just be poking at shadows,” Lukhek admitted. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard anything good about the Outeatus royals. And it’s hard to sympathize with a family all sired by a human supremacist who called himself a God King. I mean… Bloody beards, we know that the gods literally exist; that’s at least blasphemous or foolish. On the other hand, what about the ordinary people of the kingdom? Surely they aren’t guilty…”

“I… Uh? Sorry, Master Lukhek, but this is going over my head,” Badour admitted.

“Sorry, lad. I’m rambling. A curse of old age. I’ll let you run off now. Thanks for bringing this to my attention,” Lukhek said, giving him a friendly shoulder pat.

“Thanks, Master Lukhek!” Badour said with a quick salute. And you aren’t old, sir; you have plenty of years left to dedicate toward protecting Dhoggurum!”

Lukhek watched the lad run off and chuckled to himself.

Cheeky little brown-noser.

Still… he wasn’t sure what to make of this. It should at least be mentioned to the diplomats that the elves might be taking this exceptionally seriously.

Using his [Guild Master] Emblem, Lukhek brought up a secondary menu that was not unlike one’s own personal profile. He quickly searched for any other recent quests this adventurer had completed or undertaken.

Oh, it looks like she still has a quest for worms and kobolds in progress. I’d swear she was a dwarf looking for a promotion, he thought with a chuckle.

Then he noticed two payments had already been made on the worm quest. Most of these things were entirely automated, thanks to the glorious gift from the gods. In fact, some adventurers never even bothered to mention a completed quest; it was more of a friendly formality or for a bit of bragging.

Or someone trying to make a statement? Lukhek wondered.

Using his authority, he looked at the payments; one of the two seemed a bit too high, according to his memory of worm quest payouts.

That’s odd… What kind of worm would give so much gold?

Now that his intrigue was poked, he couldn’t help but start following the trail. He pulled up quest records and started looking for the ones related to worm extermination. When he found the list close to the payment amount, he couldn’t help but gasp.

These are all tier-five worms! Bloody beards!

He clutched at his table to steady himself; it was such a startling discovery.

I want to believe she had hidden helpers outside of a party… But gods, if I’m wrong, this could be a grave warning to us dwarves! Screw the bloody God King’s seed and their bloody coin; it can’t be worth risking something like this!

Feeling slightly flustered, he rushed out of his office. He needed to tell one of the noble families about this and hoped they’d intercede in the diplomatic discussions.

Bloody beards! Our great ancestors’ teachings always mentioned that we should be wary of digging too deep—to control our greed!

Relaxing in his chair while rolling a small marble ball between his fingers, Gramps couldn’t help but smirk.

“I hope she can take the constructive criticism over her spell names… That’ll teach her to get upset over some placeholder traits,” Gramps chuckled to himself.

Chapter fifteen

Glyph Mage

Explosions rocked the cave’s corridor, sending rocky shrapnel flying.

“Take that, you scaly bastards!” Thern shouted triumphantly as he threw another glowing stone down the corridor. Shortly after, another explosion rang out, encrusting the rock and enemies in an icy residue.

A small tunnel abruptly emerged from our side, and a small ambush squadron of kobolds was sent to flank us. Thankfully, I had [Tremor Sense] active and could feel their approach through the rocky floor. I immediately threw out a [Chain Lightning] spell at the first target after they breached, causing a cacophony of yips and yaps from the affected tiny lizard people as the dangerous lightning magic chained between them.

Behind us, another set of explosions went off as the trap that Thern had left was triggered.

“Ha! I told you they’d try to sneak behind us!” Thern gloated before casting a spell to seal one of the passageways with a rocky wall.

Thern’s class was… interesting. He had Fire and Earth Magic in his repertoire and occasionally used both effectively when the situation called for it. However, any spellcaster could accomplish that, and that’s where his Glyph Mage got to show off a little.

Thern could rapidly create a set of offensive enchantments pretty much at will. They were like hostile or unstable versions of larger enchantments, like spells stored within an object just waiting to go off. His favorite application was storing an explosive glyph on a rock or something and throwing it at an enemy.

He’d also shown that he could leave a glyph behind, as he had demonstrated with his trap, with trigger conditions to go off. I couldn’t help but draw comparisons to my own [Nitro Slime] trait and its usage, except while mine was sort of taken care of thanks to the trait system, Thern had to draw in his instructions and conditions.

However, one aspect that was quite interesting was that Thern’s glyphs weren’t limited to only his affinities, and he could pull on a variety of tricks from once beneficial enchantments now turned malicious. Of course, if he actually had the affinity himself, it would be better, and that’s where I could help him.

Thern could create an almost blank glyph, just waiting to absorb some Mana, and it would rapidly transform itself, taking full advantage of how Arcane Mana was so transmutable. Thern could enchant a bunch of rocks, and if I just briefly channeled my Mana through the bag, it would convert all of them.

Like Eliza, Thern had also become quite a fan of having Lightning added to his arsenal but soon requested Ice instead, as it was “making his beard fuzzy.”

Another interesting use for his class was he could quickly apply glyphs to himself and others, applying an enchantment as if it were a buff rather than a permanent effect and not requiring one to wear armor or some magic item. Thern had given both of us physical, earth, and fire resistance quite rapidly to deal with the kobolds.

The class’s intention clearly focused on utility more than offense, but Thern seemingly took that theme under advisement only. Only a crazy dwarf could think of using unstable enchantments as a weapon.

When he explained it to me, I thought of potentially using an unstable storage enchantment, but Thern said it didn’t work that way. Instead of sucking up the space and destroying whatever was in it, when Thern applied that enchantment offensively, it instead ejected a concussive force as if expanding the area.

In fact, quite a few enchantments behaved oddly when turned into unstable glyphs. Weight reduction, used offensively, briefly applied a downward crushing force to those caught in its explosive residue, and it was clear that Thern had done many experiments to discover the strange variety of effects.

Preparation was mandatory for his class, but with practiced fast rune tracing or using a skill he had picked up that let him instantly apply a template, albeit at a reduced effect, he overcame such burdens.

When that wasn’t enough, he also had a backup weapon that looked like a combination of a hammer and a pickaxe. On one end, it had a large flat hammerhead; on the other, it had the sharp, pointy end of a pick. While it looked like a tool for heavy excavating, Thern made it look like a deadly weapon he had spent years honing.

I sensed the survivors of the trap behind us approaching, so I turned around and cast a barrage of [Rock Lob], as I still needed to work on getting my [Earth Magic] up. The hail of rocks battered against their shields and armor. They cursed and hissed, throwing ranged projectiles and their own spells in retaliation, bouncing against my [Arcane Armor].

The kobolds were strange creatures. Since I had only seen the dungeon variety before this, I wasn’t sure how ones not under its influence would behave. I thought they’d behave similarly to goblins since they reminded me of them, but they had a more savage feralness to them.

As soon as they spotted us, they flew into an almost murderous rage and, in particular, focused a lot of effort on attacking Thern. I would have described goblins as cunning but cautious, but the kobolds were cunning and vicious.

The goblins I had encountered used traps and strategy occasionally, where the kobolds lived and breathed it. The tunnel we were trying to travel through had all sorts of hidden ambush points and devious devices designed to deal with intruders. While the goblins were numerous, the kobolds felt endless.

Or was the goblin tribe I met just on the small side?

We were making good progress down their tunnel when suddenly there was a rumbling, and the entire tunnel felt like it would collapse. [Tremor Sense] was basically screaming warnings at me, and I quickly began casting [Rampart] to create makeshift supports.

Thern, with barely a flinch, also started using the [Rampart] spell to secure our position.

“Bloody cowards tried to drop the mountain on us!” Thern spat out. “Stupid lizards, don’t you know you can never bury a dwarf! This might as well be a spa for me!”

Thern had always been rough around the edges, but I’d never seen this side of him before. Evidently, the animosity between dwarves and kobolds went deep.

When the rumbling finally stopped, Thern let out a disappointed sigh.

“We’re gonna have to go back and find another one of their tunnels.”

“Could we not just dig our way deeper?” I asked.

Thern shook his head. “Not worth the effort. These cowardly lizards, when they retreat, collapse the entire tunnel. We’d have to dig through an absolute avalanche of rock and stone to get anywhere.

“I see… well, you found this tunnel easily enough; I’m sure you’ll find another for us.”

That had been quite the surprise. When we arrived at the fungal cavern, Thern wasted no time locating “signs of kobolds.” It was frankly a little embarrassing since I was the one with the [Tracking] skill, but how Thern handled it so effortlessly proved that he had done this many times before.

Thern led us to a secluded wall section with a hidden tunnel in a small alcove. From a distance, I wouldn’t have even noticed it was a tunnel as it seemed to create an almost natural optical illusion or camouflage.

Thern had just chuckled and called them sneaky lizards. Then, he proceeded to periodically throw some of his enchanted rocks down the tunnel to “disarm” traps and wake up the kobolds.

After that, it had practically been a nonstop barrage of the little buggers. The experience was rather poor, but Thern warned me not to underestimate them as they had apparently claimed the lives of many overconfident dwarves through poison and treachery.

Not that I have to worry about being poisoned…

“So… what’s the plan to get out? I could maybe start throwing around some acid from [Corrosion Magic]?” I asked.

“That sounds like a terrible idea,” Thern said bluntly. “I thought you said you got [Earth Magic] now?”

“It’s level two…” I answered. “I haven’t had the chance to get much use out of it. Throwing rocks isn’t nearly as effective as blasting things with lightning.”

Thern sighed. “If you weren’t so honest, I’d suspect you were just being lazy…”

He began casting a spell, slowly turning the fallen rocks and debris behind us into fine sand.

“Now that looks useful,” I praised. “What spell is it?”

“[Sand Pit] spell,” Thern answered. “Well, an application of it. You’d get it at level four if you weren’t slacking off.”

“I was too busy getting obsidianite to level it up,” I teased back. “You know, that magic metal that all three of you were so handsy over?”

“Bah! You got me there.” Thern chuckled. “It’s definitely a useful spell, though; it lets you break down most forms of rock and earth.”

“Sounds like [Rampart] in reverse,” I pointed out.

“Pretty much,” Thern answered. “That big orc tunnel you found back in Kaerlin was probably dug out with it.”

“I wonder how they got rid of all the sand, though…” I murmured curiously.

“Well! That’s something you can help with!” Thern said happily as if expecting that question. “Start using all this sand to make some dense hand-sized rocks for me; the more spherical, the better. You’ll be helping clear our way, give me more ammunition to throw glyphs on, and train your [Earth Magic].”

I nodded in agreement. It was reasonable, and I didn’t have anything better to do.

“I wonder how many kobolds I’ll need to gain a level up…” I couldn’t help but wonder aloud.

“A lot… But we might start seeing some of their elites, now that we’ve kicked the hornet’s nest. Especially if they decided to abandon this entire tunnel,” Thern answered.

“What do the evolved kobolds look like?” I asked.

“It depends. Some revert to a more monstrous form, like salamanders or small drakes. They abandon their intelligence and are handled like wild beasts by the typical kobolds. Others become just a bit bigger, similar to hobgoblins,” Thern answered as we continued working. “The ones you really need to watch out for are the ones that start looking more draconic… Their scales are the first thing to notice, not unlike that salamander you harvested, and some even get vestigial wings. You see one of those buggers, you kill it immediately!”

“I wouldn’t think only one evolution further would be that much of a threat?” I asked curiously.

“No, it’s the threat of what they could become,” Thern answered. “Each evolution after that, they become more draconic, and soon you got a lesser dragon on your hands.”

“Surely one monster isn’t that bad?”

“Aye. You’d be right. It’s still nowhere near a real dragon, not even close. But the kobolds worship dragons, and one of those can unite multiple tribes together, and soon you have an entire kobold warband out for blood and conquest.”

Thern sighed. “It’s a pity cause lesser dragons give very good materials and are incredibly rare. But the risk isn’t worth it.”

I would’ve loved to get my tendrils on a lesser dragon, but it sounded like that wasn’t going to happen. A real pity. Of course, I had taken some nibbles on the kobolds that attacked us, but there wasn’t much other than having a cool new form to mimic at some point. So, if we went deeper into their territory, I hoped to get more of their profiles from their various evolutions.

They were still interesting, though. If I understood their profile correctly, they would be born with a random elemental affinity and then gain a spit based on that element, as well as the appropriate resistance. Rarer ones could even get corrosion! Although it seemed they only got half of it, either poison or acid. The idea of a little lizard goblin spitting acid was quite the image.

Eventually, we broke out to the fungal cavern once again. After all our efforts, I was rewarded with two level-ups. Sure, it wasn’t the biggest surprise, but it was still very welcome.

<Proficiency gained. [Essence Sight LV 1] improved to [Essence Sight LV 2].>

I had been using the skill when I could, and watching the area’s essence gradually rise from the dead kobolds was likely worth quite a bit.

<Proficiency gained. [Earth Magic LV 2] improved to [Earth Magic LV 3].>

<[Earth Magic LV 3] spell [Shatterquake] learned.>

And, as expected, my [Earth Magic] leveled up. Of course, Thern took full credit for this, and I let him have it after he had to dig us out of this mess.

As for the new spell, it was one I was quite familiar with… as that damned bear had given me a very up-close-and-personal experience!

The spell had two components. One was that it could quake the ground to cause instability, which Thern said was quite good for knocking someone off their feet. The other was that it could violently shatter rock, creating and launching hazardous shrapnel.

So, tremors are created in the earth and soil, while rock is shattered. That’s pretty cool. However, I wonder if that ring of erupting rock spires was just the bear using [Rampart]…

Chapter sixteen

Kobolds and Dwarves

Thern began collecting all the rock balls I had made for him and placing his glyphs on them individually. Once they were ready, he would put them in a small storage pouch he had that was rapidly accessible.

“These are pretty good spheres!” He complimented me while he worked. “If you ever decide to take a break from all the monster killing, you should maybe look into enchanting. I dunno if you know this, but spheres are pretty important with high-level enchanting.”

“The way you’re using it certainly looks entertaining.” I chuckled, hoping to dodge the question. “And I thought I’d seen it all with the damage-dealing healer.”

“Now that sounds like a fun class!” Thern responded. “Where the heck did you see one of those?”

“One of the members of a party called The Misfits. We ran the mutation dungeon together. They had a shapeshifting druid, a burning barbarian, and a dark healer,” I explained.

“Well, I’ll give them points for a good party name.” Thern laughed. “Now, let’s find us another tunnel!”

It didn’t take Thern long to find another one, and then we were again engaged with kobold defenders. Now that I had a higher level of [Earth Magic] and since we were surrounded by rock, I started using [Shatterquake] to explode shrapnel on nearby walls.

“Bloody beards! Was that you?” Thern questioned while slamming his hammer into a kobold.

“Yes? I wanted to try out the new spell,” I answered while casting it again, this time below a group of kobolds trying to shoot us with arrows.

“A warning next time would be nice!” Thern scolded.

“Sorry! I’m used to solo fights.”

“I can see that. You are like a one-elf artillery mage,” Thern joked.

It didn’t take us long to defeat the initial defenders, so we quickly took a recovery break. Thern, of course, drank from his flask.

“I had no idea you could do that,” he finally spoke up.

“What? You literally just took credit for my [Earth Magic] leveling up not even an hour ago,” I responded.

“No, no, not that!” Thern clarified. “You’re casting that spell so far away! Is that a trait or skill or something? I know I’m not exactly a traditional spellcaster, but mine can’t go nearly that far out!”

“Oh…” I replied. I hadn’t even realized I was technically casting outside my Mana aura. “It’s not a trait or skill; it’s a technique that allows changing the anchor point of a spell.”

“No kidding?” Thern asked, scratching his beard. “Wait… isn’t that Mage Guild stuff?”

“Yeah… Jet mentioned something like that to me as well.” I sighed.

“Don’t fret; if it’s a secret, then my lips are sealed,” Thern reassured me.

“I’m not sure if it’s a secret or not… I just wasn’t taught by anyone from the guild. Jet mentioned it would be quite an opportunity if I wasn’t bound by any agreement not to share,” I explained.

“I sorta understand. They’re quite a strict bunch, so they could take it as someone on the inside leaking their teachings,” Thern said, nodding to himself. “Well, I don’t think you need to worry about any of that here; there’s no Mage Guild branch in any dwarven city.”

“That’s a little surprising. I would have thought they’d at least have a branch in Dhoggurum.”

“Eh, it’s all bullshit politics. Don’t worry about it.” Thern brushed it off. “Now, let’s get back to fighting some kobolds before they decide to close this tunnel off again!”

We continued pushing deeper into the tunnels. It was strange that we were almost getting less resistance to our assault than the first time as if the kobolds’ attention was elsewhere.

I had mixed feelings watching Thern brute-force his way through the kobold traps, most of the time breaking them with destructive force. Thinking about the time I spent with Whitney and Jet to disarm traps, I began to feel like I had wasted my time.

To think I was supposed to be the rogue, but Thern just breaks them… Maybe I’ll get my chance on the dungeon I do solo?

We finally met some real resistance when we were ambushed by a group of kobolds leading a pack of salamanders.

“I hope you’ve got enough [Fire Resistance]!” Thern joked as he quickly scrawled a new enchantment on himself.

“I dealt with an Inferno Salamander; I think these whelps will feel like a warm breeze by comparison.”

Thern burst into laughter. “Good combat banter! I love it! This is the dwarven way!”

Despite the new enemies, things were going pretty well until a greenish salamander showed up and breathed noxious gas all over Thern, sending him into a coughing fit.

I was about to intervene when Thern recklessly charged at the thing and forced it to swallow a few of his rocks by prying its jaw open. The death of that salamander was shockingly gruesome, and even some of the kobolds began to retreat after that.

Giving my [Sub-Cores] some permission to join the fight, I started throwing more spells around than normal to keep everything under control, feeling concerned about my dwarven friend.

I have a few healing potions… Shit, why didn’t I buy an antidote or something? I fretted, trying to think what I was supposed to do if he was fatally poisoned.

My worry became unfounded as Thern pulled out his potion and quickly chugged it after thumbing open the stopper. He made horrendous retching sounds before quickly washing it down with his usual flask.

“I can’t believe the bastards poisoned me,” Thern grumbled. “Drinking a bloody antidote potion is never fun. I swear those alchemists make them taste like ass on purpose.”

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be good in a minute or two…” Thern grumbled. “I warned you to be careful and then look at me, letting a mindless salamander get the jump on me.”

“Well, at least you got your revenge. By the way…” I started gesturing toward my chin and then pointing at his beard. “You got some salamander… everywhere.”

“Ah, bloody beards, I got the giblets all over me,” Thern said with frustration. “I’m gonna need a good soak after this.”

“Quite literally, bloody beard,” I said with a cheeky grin.

Thern briefly looked upset before bursting out with laughter. “Good one. I’m glad to see you’ve come out of your shell; gone is the polite little elf that entered my library.”

“I hope you’re not implying I’ve lost all my manners.”

“Nope, but you’re a lot more fun to be around. Although I wish some of your luck would also rub off on me.”

“Well, there’s still more tunnel to explore unless they plan on collapsing this one on us as well.”

“I hope not. But I wouldn’t put it past the bloody cowards,” Thern grumbled.

I quickly harvested the salamanders, cutting off large parts to “harvest properly” later. Interestingly, I had to intentionally use [Dissection] as if the skill was upset that I was regressing in the rarity of materials to harvest.

Are normal salamander parts not good enough for you anymore?

Admittedly, I felt similarly unlocking the lesser profile when I already had the one from Inferno Salamander. At least it further completed my collection, and now I had the strange evolutionary interconnection from kobold to Inferno Salamander.

Was the one I fought originally a kobold? Probably not; I don’t think they’re native to the region?

With Thern fully recovered and the hasty collection of valuables, we continued.

We were making some good progress deeper into the kobold tunnels when we came across an unexpected sight: another group of dwarves!

It was a relatively large party, although of much lower levels. They were currently fighting a large horde of kobolds at an intersecting fork. Thern wasted no time joining the fray and tossing a few unexpected, explosive rocks around.

Seeing their group under some pressure from a group of kobolds with ranged weapons, I focused on multiple big castings of [Shatterquake] directly under them. This caused the rocks to violently explode, killing some and disrupting the others.

The resulting chaos caused some dwarves to launch attacks at me, but I quickly threw up a few [Aegis] spells to block their barrage.

“That’s a friend, you blasted dimwits!” Thern shouted in rage.

“Hold your fire!” one of the dwarves bellowed to the rest of his group.

The rest quickly heeded, which was good, as Thern looked about ready to start bashing in some skulls. With both of our groups, it didn’t take long to mop up the rest of the kobold forces.

“Sorry about that…” the apparent leader of the group said, looking concerned.

“You better be sorry!” Thern shouted. “You just attacked a gold-ranker in front of a guild staff member. You’re lucky she’s got a cooler head than you lot, or you’d all be fried with lightning!”

Two of the older-looking dwarves seemed shocked, while the group’s youngsters looked upset.

“Ah! I’m so sorry, sir! Ma’am! Uhh…” The dwarf started stammering and apologizing profusely.

“Don’t tell me they’re going to steal our tunnel; we were here first!” one of the dwarves complained.

“Yeah… I’m so close to getting my next class; I could almost taste it… What rotten luck.”

“Oi! You little punks sure have some mouths on you!” Thern said gruffly, albeit in a joking manner.

“Sorry, sir…” The party leader tried to apologize again.

“Na, don’t be lad. It’s all good.” Thern shook his head. “We were mostly just blowing off steam… I’m sure we don’t mind letting you have the experience?”

Thern turned to me and shrugged questioningly. I didn’t really need much time to make my decision.

“I don’t mind. The experience is kind of bad…” I admitted. “Although, what about the evolved kobolds? We did stir up trouble earlier.”

“Bring ’em on!” one of the dwarves shouted confidently.

Thern, on the other hand, was stroking his beard in thought.

“We could babysit a bit until the inevitable tunnel collapse?” Thern suggested. “It’s better than going home early, at least. Get to help the next generation of dwarf adventurers and all that.”

The leader seemed thrilled with the suggestion, and most of the group did, although the two younger dwarves seemed disgruntled. I overheard some especially rude remarks about Thern’s use of the word babysitting.

I shrugged. “I don’t mind. Does it earn me some points with the guild?”

Thern laughed. “I’ll put it on your record. In case you ever want to join the guild staff.” Thern winked.

There was some discussion amongst the dwarves, and eventually, they agreed. Both Thern and I watched the group leading the charge down the only unexplored path since we’d cleared out our own respective tunnels.

“So… do we just watch them? How does this work?” I asked once they were out of earshot.

“Aye,” Thern answered. “Watch, and if anything too deadly happens, intervene. If we spot any evolved monsters, kill ’em right away. Although I get the feeling we won’t be here too long. The kobolds will probably drop the tunnel soon, so be ready to help me with the ceiling.”

I nodded and began my watching…

Some of me was a bit upset at not getting to train my skills or traits, but I supposed I would get back into the thick of it tomorrow.

The one benefit was that it was interesting to see a full party work together from the sidelines; I had always either been in the thick of it myself or the target of it.

Thern was getting surprisingly invested and often shouted suggestions or warnings to the group. There was even some praise or cheers at a well-delivered blow.

I decided to just watch in silence, looking for any good opportunities. The other dwarves seemed quite jumpy about me, considering they had tried to attack me in the tunnel.

Thern and I only needed to intervene once; an ambush with a pack of salamanders practically dropped on the group came out of nowhere. It got a little frantic, and while there were some wounds amongst the group, thankfully, nobody had died.

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 9.>

<16 Skill Points are now available.>

Well… at least that’s good.

There was a huge rumbling accompanied by the sound of explosions and quakes. Thern and I both jumped into action, hastily casting [Rampart].

“Everyone gather round!” Thern shouted. “There’s gonna be a lot of digging in the future.”

A few breaths later, we were joined by the geomancer in the dwarf group. He recovered from his shock and helped create earthen pillars to support our makeshift structure.

Thern looked at him and smirked. “Lad, I hope you have [Sand Pit], or I’m going to be a very grumpy dwarf.”

Chapter seventeen

Politics

By the time we finally escaped the tunnel, everyone was extremely tired and grumpy. Well… except for me, I felt pretty good, all things considered. The benefits of being a slime.

Since there were so many of us, fresh air apparently became an issue for the dwarves, but Thern and the party leader had come prepared, and both had a dimensional storage container containing fresh air.

“Any smart dwarf keeps at least one of these things; you don’t want to be trapped underground and suffocate,” Thern explained.

I guess being buried alive is a common occurrence for them… That’s rather unsettling.

Thern and the geomancer had to repeatedly work overtime casting [Sand Pit], but the lad had far less Mana than Thern and frequently took breaks to recover.

Meanwhile, I kept compressing the sand into spheres, even though Thern was unlikely to need them anymore. Occasionally, I’d throw out [Shatterquake] to contribute to our excavation by breaking apart a large enough rock into more manageable chunks for our two diggers.

To boost morale and also aid in their recovery, I pulled out some of my “alcohol” to share with the group. Thern chugged it as soon as it was in his grasp, while the rest of the dwarves were initially hesitant. Although, once they all had a few sips, they were hooked and singing praises.

“Is this recovering my Mana?” the geomancer asked, looking astonished.

“I always had suspicions about that myself,” Thern answered. “Whenever I had a hard day full of enchanting, nothing put the spring back in my step than some of that glorious booze.”

“I guess the secret’s out. I like to think it gives it the extra kick,” I replied, relying heavily on [Acting] to save the day.

“Ha! What next? You gonna start mixing in health potions?” Thern said, laughing uproariously.

“Either that or antidote,” I teased.

“Sorry, I don’t think even the gods could make your booze palatable if you mixed in that gunk,” Thern replied, shaking his head.

“Please don’t,” the other dwarves agreed. It seemed everyone hated the taste of antidote potions.

Nobody wished to continue, so we all headed back to Dhoggurum together.

The group seemed quite happy, and it looked like they had made good progress despite the kobolds ending their adventure early. They had also become much more amiable to Thern and me, and some brown-nosing was happening with the former.

When we finally got back inside the city, we said our goodbyes and headed back home.

“Sorry about that. I’m sure you usually get to do far more exciting stuff,” Thern apologized unexpectedly.

“No worries. I’m sorry my luck didn’t activate, and we couldn’t kill a lesser dragon or something rare and interesting,” I responded.

“Ha! Now, that would have been a story.” Thern chuckled. “Still, it feels good to get a bit of a workout. Feels like it’s been too long since I did some good monster hunting, even if it was just a few kobolds.”

“Too much sitting around enchanting?”

“Mostly. That and paperwork.” Thern shuddered. “What’s your next plan? Going to go find a good quest to hunt? Take a break?”

I paused to think a bit, then nodded before responding. “Maybe a small break… I want to do some shopping. Do you think I could get one of those timekeeper tools?”

“Oh, you want a clock? I’m sure my pa can point you in the right direction,” Thern answered.

“Great, thanks,” I replied cheerfully.

The next day, I went on a shopping trip. While I would have appreciated it if Darmod had accompanied me, he was a little too busy negotiating with the Flinthearts.

Thankfully, he did at least give me a list of shops to check out and which ones to avoid. Having a merchant’s opinion was always good.

Thern, meanwhile, was called in to assist Thessa with some enchanting, so it was just me today. This meant I spent a large portion of my morning getting utterly lost in this dwarven maze until I finally gave in and asked for directions.

The merchants I dealt with were polite and friendly, especially when I flashed my gold-rank adventurer tag, and then they ensured I was given VIP treatment. I managed to get my hands on one of the time devices, a clock, as they called it, and I fondly inspected the rounded and flattened device in my hands.

They came in various casings, but I chose the sturdiest option available, preferring robust practicality over gaudiness. It did not look bad—far from it—but it was remarkably more subdued compared to some of the gem-encrusted pieces they had on display.

At least now I’ll know the time if I spent days in a dungeon, underground, or who knows where, I thought happily over my purchase.

I also stocked up on some more containers in case I needed them for harvesting and opted to buy a few emergency potions. I wasn’t sure if or when I’d group up with someone again, but I didn’t want to end up in a situation where someone I cared about was dying of poison, and I could only watch helplessly.

Definitely adding alchemy to my to-do list at some point. Either that or somehow convincing a dungeon to give me a pink slime… Probably both, though, why not. I have the time.

I pulled out my coin marked by Trixie and wondered when the pixie would arrive. I certainly hope she wasn’t playing a prank on me, saying she’d meet up with me only to leave me waiting months.

Hopefully, she didn’t get herself captured again… I couldn’t help but worry.

Before returning home, I purchased some choice cuts and other food items for our dinner. Thern’s family gave me free room and board and refused any payment offer. So, if I wanted to reciprocate their kindness, I had to take any chance I could, and they could never turn down food or drinks that had already been purchased.

Then again… They had already helped themselves to that obsidianite…

At dinner, Darmod was looking mightily pleased with himself.

“I got this as a downpayment from the Flinthearts,” Darmod said with a wink as he handed me another silver slime core.

I couldn’t help but smile at it gleefully. “Thanks!”

While I was incredibly tempted to eat it on the spot, I knew I’d be wasting the trait level up. [Metal Slime] had leveled up after the fight with the ant princess.

Then I had gone to fight two powerful worms and used them extensively, so I could only hope that the next level-up was somewhat close, especially after sampling something as rare as obsidianite.

Nope… Patience, Syl. Get the trait to level five; then, it’ll be time to chow down.

“Speaking of which, the Flinthearts were wondering if you were open to completing a quest for them?” Darmod asked.

“Sure, I don’t mind doing a quest,” I replied happily. “It’s sort of my job, even if I’m kind of treating this a little like a vacation.”

“That’s good. It’ll also help you, relieving some of their financial pressure,” Darmod said happily.

“Oh? Why’s that?” I asked curiously.

“They’ve been having trouble with one of their mines, and someone is blocking people from taking the quest posted to free it up,” Darmod explained.

“The guild would never!” Thern shouted angrily.

“It’s not the guild staff, but adventurers who accept the quest get… persuaded to turn it down,” Darmod said sadly. “While the bribes are no doubt less than the reward, they come with no risk.”

“Bloody noble politics.” Thern spat.

“Well, I don’t think they could bribe me unless they offered me a ton of slime cores,” I joked.

“Please don’t…” Darmod begged.

“She’s joking, Pa…” Thern paused. “At least I hope she is.”

“Mostly,” I teased. “Any idea what the issue is?”

“Just that a monster has taken residence in their orichalcum mine,” Darmod answered. “You can meet Kaldrour Flintheart at the guild for more details; he’s dying to meet you.”

“Sure, sign me up.”

Elsewhere…

Two individuals were seated in a grand chamber adorned with opulent furnishings and extravagant decorations. The walls were draped with rich, heavy curtains in deep, royal colors and scattered intricate tapestries depicting historical battles and tales of valor.

Wall display cases showcased rare and valuable artifacts, intricate sculptures, and ancient tomes. The room was also adorned with gilded mirrors, which added a sense of grandeur and expansiveness.

The room’s centerpiece was a large, polished marble table surrounded by ornately carved chairs upholstered in sumptuous fabrics. The table was adorned with elegant candelabras, casting a warm, flickering light across the room.

As a finishing touch, a small serving area was discreetly tucked into one corner, offering a selection of fine wines, pastries, and other delicacies to indulge in.

“It’s been decided that we will continue our trade agreements with the Outeatus Kingdom, but only for necessities and luxury goods. Arms and armor are off the table.” The dwarf spoke before sipping his wine. “I hope this is satisfactory to the Grove.”

“More than satisfactory, my old friend,” a lithe elven male replied before gracefully sipping his own cup. “After months of refusal to budge over the promised wealth, I’m frankly surprised that the Empire has so abruptly come to reason.”

“Oh? Are you going to play the fool, Tamnaeth? After you made such a blatant power display.” The dwarf chuckled.

Tamnaeth was immediately suspicious but hid it behind a mask of utter composure. Power display? He’d done no such thing. Had one of the elders interfered with the lack of progress in recent months? He had reassured them multiple times that things were still within expectations.

While something had been suggested originally to remind the dwarves not to trust that savage kingdom, it was deemed far too risky at the time. When dealing with their stout allies, if you were too forceful, they tended to dig in their heels and oppose you out of sheer stubbornness.

“Come now, Loldraeg. Surely you can indulge me.” Tamnaeth threw on as much social charm as possible, even though it was notoriously ineffectual against the dwarves. “For old time’s sake?”

“Fine, fine.” Loldraeg chuckled, giving a knowing wink and grin. “I understand the need to gloat and bask in the glory of a job well done. I’ll give it to ya.”

Tamnaeth gave a tiny smile as he drank from his cup. He patiently waited for Loldraeg to continue.

“I don’t know whether to call it a stroke of genius or madness. Sending an elf to join the Adventurer’s Guild was startling enough on its own, but having her go out of her way to accept multiple quests to turn dwarven goodwill toward her was smart thinking.

“Singlehandedly taking out a fire ant princess and two royal guards, and, by estimating the numbers, likely almost the entire nest. You know how much we dwarves hate those blasted ants…

“And then, the cherry on top is having her defeat a tier-five monster, presumably also by herself. But not bragging about it openly, and instead subtly handing it in with the completed ant quest to an inquisitive staff member, who would question the sheer numbers…

“Combining goodwill and a reminder of your fangs all in one neat package. Truly brilliant,” Loldraeg said, raising a glass to toast.

Tamnaeth was shocked. He had not heard any of this; it took all of his social prowess not to let his mask crack. He couldn’t sense any falsehood in Loldraeg’s statement, but it sounded outlandish.

Would the elders really send someone to join that guild? They always scoffed at the idea and said it was beneath us. While killing a tier-five monster isn’t that unbelievable, it would have to be of someone with some degree of pedigree. Would any parent accept their child dirtying their lineage by joining that group of rabbles? Even if it was for a good cause.

Tamnaeth merely smiled, accepting the toast. “Thank you for the indulgence, old friend.”

“Anytime. Personally, I think any coin accepted from that kingdom isn’t worth it,” Loldraeg admitted with a sigh. “Those coffers reek of blood, but the lust for wealth has tempted many young dwarves…”

“I can’t see even the staunchest of our elders complaining about trading a few amenities,” Tamnaeth replied, waving his hand dismissively in gesture. “Besides, I assume even that trade will be guarded for snapping mutts.”

Loldraeg nodded. “Of course. Should any of that cursed seed think themselves another God King, they’ll be swiftly reminded why their forefather failed.”

They continued to exchange pleasantries. Meanwhile, Tamnaeth kept thinking about that elven agent in the Adventurer’s Guild.

I’ll have to pay them a visit… I’m curious about who they sent and why I wasn’t informed. I understand the need for some undercover action, but not even coming to greet me when I’m in the most authoritative position for this region is almost insulting. Still… it certainly has garnered results.

Chapter eighteen

Meetings

I was heading toward the Adventurer’s Guild that morning to meet with Darmod’s friend, Kaldrour Flintheart. I had yet to interact with any dwarven nobles, so I wondered how their demeanor would differ from the human ones. But if he was friends with Darmod, then he surely couldn’t be too bad.

When I arrived, I asked one of the staff members to help me find the meeting room where I was supposed to wait.

“Ah, Miss Syl, good morning. Sir Flintheart hasn’t arrived yet. However, another gentleman has requested your presence. Would you be willing to do so?”

Are they already trying to bribe me so I do not take the quest? Word sure travels around fast… Well, I’ll accept the meeting so I can at least warn Darmod and Kaldrour who it was.

“Sure, I don’t mind since I’ve got some free time,” I replied politely.

The dwarf looked relieved at my acceptance. I was led to a rather ornate room filled with rather fanciful decorations and a surprising amount of pastries and wine.

Oh? Are they trying to butter me up?

“Greetings, it’s nice to finally meet you,” a gentle and refined voice said. “I hope your time in Dhoggurum has been pleasant.”

Rising from his seat was a lithe elven male with long silvery hair, perfectly straight and prim. His outfit was an immaculate tunic brimmed with defensive enchantments, leaving him both fashionable and protected.

It’s an elf! I thought with astonishment. I know I kept hearing they had some diplomats here, but I never suspected I would run into one soon. Does that mean the Flinthearts’ enemies are the elves?

<Tamnaeth [Nature’s Grace]; Elf LV 43; Glaive Dancer LV 20; Diplomat LV 52.>

No tiers or elements… Did my [Identify] partially fail? Also, he has two classes!

“You may call me Tamnaeth. I’m the currently assigned elven authority to this region,” Tamnaeth introduced himself before I could say anything.

“Syl. It’s nice to meet you,” I responded.

“Syl? You’re using an alias?” The elf spoke while he seemed to be examining me more closely. “You look…” He paused, his face looking like he was either weighing up options or running calculations.

Has he seen through my disguise?

Recovering from my initial shock, I remembered the request I had been given by Sylthaeryn.

“I was told to give you this,” I said. Reaching for the bag and removing it from my person. I held it out.

The elf suddenly went pale. His composure almost instantly shattered. His eyes widened, and his pupils constrained.

“I-I’m terribly sorry!” he spluttered out, his once dignified composure broken. “I had no idea. You’ll receive no interference in your duty from me!”

The elf suddenly started moving toward the door as if his life depended on it.

“No, wait, I need you to take this.” I tried to protest as he continued his exit.

“I understand. Message received. I’m truly sorry for risking your cover, my lady,” Tamnaeth said as he practically fled the room.

When the door swung closed behind him, I could only blink in utter confusion. I’d been left holding the bag.

“What the hell just happened?” I asked myself.

Tamnaeth took controlled breaths as he rapidly reapplied a mask of composure and regalness. He didn’t want any of the dwarves, be they common or noble, to see that crack in his social armor.

Gods… I can’t believe they sent one of the vines. But that bag is proof enough. Is there something bigger at play here than just the Outeatus Kingdom? Which branch would willing to send their child outside of the Grove?

He recalled what his [Identify] had told him.

<Syl [Dungeoneer]; Elf LV 54; Elementalist LV 9.>

I know I’ve been stagnant in progressing my racial levels ever since picking up this diplomat position, but still… that was humbling. Not to mention her class—might it be a rare or hidden one? It reeks of someone’s prodigious progeny, certainly above my pay grade. And with a racial level that high, I wonder what her other classes are? No way that singular advanced class is the entire story…

Tamnaeth shook his head, attempting to dispel his curiosity.

No, I must not interfere. I’ll send a message back to my elder and seek further instruction. I must not jeopardize her mission; her threat was clear enough.

He shuddered, remembering her holding out her golden oak bag so nonchalantly, as if in a brazen display of force. If that wasn’t a blatant sign of her command.

“I was told to give you this.” (Look, here is my authority.)

“No, wait, I need you to take this.” (Don’t approach without permission again.)

Speaking in subtle code was challenging without breaking cover, especially if she was under a mental compulsion not to break the persona. But Tamnaeth felt he had interpreted the messages correctly.

And to think I so brazenly called myself the authority in the region. He shuddered. I’ll report the mission as a success and, if needed, apologize to her branch.

I sighed and began raiding the snacks and drinks, throwing everything into storage.

If he’s going to leave me hanging with the bag, then I’m at least taking the food. Maybe I’ll have to seek him out later and drop off the bag. I intend to keep my promise to Sylthaeryn even if I have to coat it in adhesive slime and throw it at him!

I left the room with my [Core Storage] full of newfound deliciousness. It didn’t take too long for me to run into another staff member.

“Ah, you finished your meeting already?” he asked curiously.

“You could say that…” I grumbled.

The dwarf clearly didn’t understand my annoyance and merely gave a sympathetic smile.

“Well, Sir Flintheart has arrived. Do you need a break to freshen up?”

“No, I’m good. Let’s get this over with.”

I swear if he runs away, too, I will be furious.

I was taken to a less ornate room this time. Sitting inside was a rather friendly looking dwarf with a fiery orange hair and beard combo.

“Ah! You must be Miss Syl!” he said merrily. “Darmod has been singing your praises, so I’ve been ecstatic to meet the adventuring elf myself.”

“That’s me,” I replied. “Pleasure to meet you, Sir Flintheart.”

“Please! Any friend of Darmod is a friend of mine. Call me Kaldrour.”

“Sure, just call me Syl then.” I nodded. “So what’s this orichalcum mine issue Darmod mentioned?”

“Straight down to business, I can appreciate that,” Kaldrour said with a nod, then frowned. “It’s been a rather frustrating predicament… A monster has taken up residence in my orichalcum mine, and anyone I’ve tried to recruit to deal with it is either underqualified or bribed by my competition to look the other way.”

“Why are they bribing adventurers? Sure, it must be hurting your income, but aren’t they just burning their own funds to do so?” I questioned.

Kaldrour nodded. “My rivals are hoping that if I don’t meet my mineral quotas, they can bid for the ownership of the mine.”

“Really? That seems a little excessive, especially if it’s through no fault of your own,” I replied, unable to hide my confusion. “You have a quota for something you personally own? Why does that matter? I can’t imagine the city being upset a farmer’s cow isn’t producing milk.”

“Mines and minerals are the lifeblood of the dwarven empire,” Kaldrour explained. “So much so that having adequate output is mandatory. Not meeting the minimum levels is seen as an affront to any self-respecting dwarf, and thus, it will be sold and taken over by someone else who promises to fix the mistakes.”

“That’s… harsh,” I responded. “I mean, it’s not like the monster living in the orichalcum mine is your fault.”

“I suppose it would seem that way for any non-dwarf.” He chuckled. “But again, any self-respecting dwarf is expected to protect their own domain. It’s why the defense of Dhoggurum is seen in such a positive light. Me being unable to defend my property is seen as a weakness.”

“Even though it’s your rivals stopping you from defending it?”

“Defending oneself from cutthroat business is—” Kaldrour began explaining.

“I get it,” I interrupted Kaldrour. “Any self-respecting dwarf should be able to do so.”

He let out a loud chortle. “Exactly!”

“I don’t suppose your rivals have any elven connections, do they?” I asked curiously, my prior encounter still fresh in my mind.

He scoffed at that. “Those scoundrels? No way, they are a bunch of lesser nobles like myself. I doubt the Grove would give them the time of day.”

“Huh… well, I’m willing to help. So what’s moved into your mine?”

“A spider monster known as ‘The Terror,’”

“‘The Terror’?” I replied deadpan.

“Some adventurers started calling it that, and it became a named monster,” Kaldrour answered, shaking his head. “Quite a lot is unknown about the bugger, but it used to be a Trapweaver Spider and was notoriously tricky as it would lay devious traps that befuddled even some veteran adventurers.”

“Used to be?”

“It’s likely since evolved… but the result is unknown,” Kaldrour answered.

“Interesting…”

“I’m glad you think so. It’s terrified any lower-rank adventurers, and the high ones I’ve tried to hire to take care of it get bribed to look the other way.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to send a bunch of mustached younglings to their deaths.”

“That’s honestly very respectable. Still, I’m surprised that the other adventurers are so easily bribed…”

“I think that’s why they’ve been drumming up the name ‘The Terror’ so much,” he answered. “Anyone I’ve hired hears it, then when is offered free money to just not complete the quest, well… you can understand why they’d accept money with zero risk.”

“Well, I can’t see them bribing me,” I answered honestly. “Killing a rare monster and getting who knows what parts from its harvest sounds far more enriching.”

“Ha! You really are a true adventurer; Darmod wasn’t kidding.”

“So kill the monster, and the quest is done? Anything else?”

“Honestly, if you can even just get it out of the mine, I’d consider it a success. Even though it’s got the nickname ‘The Terror,’ it’s rather unsuiting. Many of the initial adventurers that went against it were allowed to escape, and only the ones that truly threatened its life were killed.”

“That’s rather unusual behavior…” I replied.

“Indeed. I care more about my mine than its death, so if it’s safer to just make it flee, then please take that objective. Don’t go dying on my account.”

“Anything I should know about my potential bribers?”

“I presume they will try to contact you while you’re on the way to the city gate. If you reject their offer, I’m unsure what they will attempt, so please be careful.”

“Oh? Would they send some hired goons my way?”

He grunted angrily. “I honestly wish I could say no. But it’s feasible. The one is rumored to have some extremely seedy connections, but I keep hitting dead-ends whenever I’ve tried to dig deeper.”

Please send me some scumbag thugs my way! I thought eagerly. If I get to kill some scoundrels, that’s a free dwarf profile for me!

“Can I ask a… sensitive question?”

“Of course. My lips are sealed,” Kaldrour replied with a firm nod.

“If they do send some thugs my way… do I have to resort to non-lethal methods?”

“Ha! Part of me wants to say yes because even scumbags deserve a second chance, but the rules of self-defense are extremely clear here,” Kaldrour said. “If they threaten your life, then their own is forfeit. I’m pretty sure the Adventurer’s Guild has a similar policy about defending its own, no?”

I nodded. “It does… just wanted to make sure there wasn’t some dwarven law or something I’d be breaking.”

Kaldrour chuckled. “It’s always good to check. So, if I haven’t scared you off, are you sure you want the quest?”

“Glady. Plus, helping you out is how I get myself some more silver slime cores.”

Kaldrour burst out laughing. “So Darmod really wasn’t kidding about that… Well, I’ll gladly put in all my effort with that regard, even if you can’t clear out the mine.” He leaned over and spoke in a hushed whisper. “That obsidianite is going to make all of us very rich.”

With no further questions, I happily accepted the quest. Thankfully, it came with a convenient [Mapping] tracker, so I was unlikely to get lost this time.

A chance at a dwarf profile and some new spider monster. Sounds like I’m in for a fun time.

Chapter nineteen

Scoundrels

Walking toward the gate, I looked for the potential contacts. I wondered if they would perhaps not approach me since I was a supposed elf, or was their greed enough to ignore that?

It didn’t take too long for a rather posh-looking dwarf to intercept me.

“Miss, might I have a moment of your time?” the dwarf asked.

“Ten silver slime cores,” I responded.

“I beg your pardon?” the dwarf asked, befuddled.

“That’s my price to not clear out the orichalcum mine.”

The dwarf’s shock and surprise were so apparent that I thought his eyes would pop out or his jaw would hit the floor.

“Surely you’re joking?”

“Nope. That’s my price. Gold, jewels, or anything else has no value to me. If you want to bribe me, then that’s my price.”

“I-I… I could maybe get one?” the dwarf stammered.

“Not good enough, sorry.”

“Two! I meant two!”

I kept walking.

“Silver slime cores are rare. Even if they are trash ones killed. You can’t be serious!” The dwarf failed to reason with me. “Surely you don’t want to face The Terror!?”

“I’m completely serious. Sorry we couldn’t do business. I’ve got a spider monster to deal with,” I replied with a shrug.

The dwarf’s bafflement was soon replaced with rage.

“Don’t you know who I am?” he shouted in outrage.

“Should I? Any fool willing to stop a gold-rank adventurer with a fully legalized quest must not be worth knowing.”

His face flipped through various emotions before he settled back on anger. “How dare you! You’ll regret not taking my offer.”

“Maybe… or you’ll regret not saying yes to my ten silver cores. Bye.”

I walked off, leaving the dwarf once again utterly baffled and upset. I did throw a quick [Identify] his way just so I’d have a name to give back to Kaldrour.

<Skofith Ingotback; Dwarf LV 12; Distributer [II] LV 32.>

I hoped he bought the act enough to send his thugs to stop me; I wanted a perfectly legal reason to get my tendrils on a dwarf profile.

Surprisingly, someone else attempted to bribe me so I would not complete the quest, but I didn’t even bother talking to that one. I’d given my price, and they were still trying to throw useless things like gold coins at me.

I mean… if I wanted gold, I’d just make it myself. Well… once I get a higher rank in [Metal Slime] anyway. I chuckled to myself.

The route to the mines differed from my previous exits, so I had to rely fully on [Mapping] to point the way.

I wonder what kind of spider it is. Trapweaver sounds very enticing. If it has some great trap-related traits, they could be combined nicely with [Nitro Slime]. I really need to look up if there’s a trapper class or something.

Leaving this gate, I was welcomed to extremely vast tunnels with dedicated walkways and tracks for transportation, as well as many, many dwarves. The majority were laborers accompanied by the occasional guard patrol.

Wow, the dwarves really don’t half-arse anything… I think this is my first time seeing minecarts.

Seeing this many dwarves made me doubt if they would send any thugs my way, which was somewhat disappointing. However, that soon faded when [Mapping] started leading me toward tunnels with far fewer dwarves. That further emptied out when I began taking a tunnel that looked practically abandoned.

I guess this must lead to the Flintheart mine. They’ve really been suffering if it looks like this has already been abandoned. I wonder how he’s been meeting the quotas. Is he buying from someone else and passing it off as his own?

I started going down the tunnel at my own pace when I heard multiple footsteps rapidly approaching.

“It’s this way, right?”

“Must be. Look how abandoned it is.”

“So, do we just rough her up?”

“I guess that depends on how cooperative she is or not.”

“The boss was furious, but I don’t want to have the guild after me for killing one of their own…”

“Don’t worry. We’ve got the numbers, and that’ll scare her off.”

Their voices echoed down the tunnel. I couldn’t help but silently laugh with glee.

Now the question is… do I kill them all and reveal myself? I guess it depends on how much of a threat they are. I could maybe kill a few and send the rest off running, showing some leniency. A warning not to mess with me? Of course, that’s assuming I don’t need to resort to using my slime abilities; I’m not going to let cockiness be my downfall.

I turned around to face the oncoming thugs and ensured [Arcane Armor] was up.

It was a group of around six dwarves of middling levels. I was honestly feeling a little insulted by the show of force. Two held heavy crossbows; one looked to be some sort of spellcaster, one had a massive mace, and the other two looked like typical tanks.

<Nuzzun; Dwarf LV 27; Spellbreaker [III] LV 16.>

<Kastramri; Dwarf LV 26; Mirror Knight LV 14.>

<Broudaen; Dwarf LV 22; Fortress Knight LV 4. Elemental Affinity: Earth, Water.>

<Lumret; Dwarf LV 23; Marksman [II] LV 29. Elemental Affinity: Earth, Fire.>

<Gotmela; Dwarf LV 25; Sniper [III] LV 12. Elemental Affinity: Earth, Air.>

<Khezmadeth; Dwarf LV 24; Geomancer [II] LV 33. Elemental Affinity: Earth.>

Interesting that my [Identify] only got the elemental affinities or class ranks for some of them. I guess I need to raise its level more?

“Well! Look who’s been waiting for us, boys!” one of the goons said, smirking.

“I’m here on official Adventurer’s Guild business. Are you really sure you want to interfere?”

“I don’t like this… She’s far too confident.”

“Bah! False bravado. Those adventurer types know how to fight mindless monsters and think they’re hot shit.”

“Last chance to back down, missy! Why don’t you go back to your forest and leave the orichalcum mine alone? It’s for everyone’s best interest.”

I snorted a laugh. It was too absurd; they sounded almost worse than the Stantondale brat’s thugs.

I gave a flourish of my hands with lightning crackling between them.

“I feel like I should be warning you. Last chance to turn around and run away?” I replied confidently.

“Oh, a bloody mage. Of course, that’s why she’s so confident.” One of the thugs laughed triumphantly.

“Bet she’s never fought a spellbreaker before.”

I actually have… although I don’t remember him doing much other than screaming at me.

“Let’s see how good you can concentrate on your spells when we smack you around!”

Well… I guess there’s no reason to hold back.

I ordered my [Sub-Cores] to cast my debuffs on one of the dwarves; this was the perfect opportunity to spread them all. It took only mere moments, and then, with a confident grin, I cast [Contagion].

The dwarves had missed all the subtle afflictions being cast, but when I cast that spell, they noticed and almost immediately reacted.

“Attack!” one of them shouted just as the transparent blackish cloud of Mana exploded from their debuffed companion.

From what I could tell, it appeared that none of them resisted the debuffs.

Oh, wait! I’m wearing my guild tag. Interface!

Suddenly, little bar indicators appeared in my vision. As I suspected, it seemed like [Affliction Tracker] was one of the skills that would integrate with the magic item as tiny pictures with a red border appeared next to each hostile dwarf.

The lightning bolt with a red border must be [Conductive]; likewise, the flame must be [Flammable]. This is very useful!

My thoughts were interrupted as two crossbow bolts were fired at me. The first bounced off my [Arcane Armor] while the second shattered it, but the bolt was still stopped.

I shifted to Lightning affinity and cast [Chain Lightning] at the mace dwarf. To my surprise, he swung his mace at the incoming bolt and smashed it!

How the hell? At least it should have shocked him through the mace!? I protested.

“Ha! I told you she’s never fought anything but monsters!” he sneered.

I clicked my tongue in annoyance and began “multicasting” with my [Sub-Cores]. [Arcane Armor] was reapplied, while two [Fireballs] were formed and launched at the backline, which was my first priority to takeout. To keep the spellbreaker occupied, I fired another [Lightning Bolt] at him, forcing him to smash it with his mace.

“Gods, so many spells!” the geomancer shouted in surprise. “Her [Multicast] must be an insane level!”

“Shut up and get the wall behind her, then get rid of her footing,” the sniper shouted.

The fortress knight threw himself to block one of the [Fireballs] while the mirror knight’s shield glimmered brightly, and when the spell made contact, it was reflected directly back at me!

Okay, this is getting annoying! I grumbled angrily as I cast [Aegis] to block my returned spell.

Clearly, their strategy was for the two tanks to defend their backline. Then their spellbreaker could get up in my face while the three of them provided supporting fire.

An earthen wall was erected behind me, and the geomancer began casting [Sand Pit] to further trap me.

I had my Ice-aligned [Sub-Cores] cast [Glacial Aura] while I began casting a [Waterjet] spell at the mirror knight. Surely there was a limit to what he could reflect?

The pressurized water beam struck his shield violently, sending him a few feet back. It looked like he had initiated the reflection but could only aim it to the side and not directly at me. I kept the spell going to see if he had a time limit on his reflection, but the way the dwarf smirked made me think otherwise.

“Keep wasting your Mana, knife ears!”

While he was trapped, I began peppering the fortress knight with [Acid Dart] spells. While he was incredibly tanky and probably had various elemental resistances, I doubted he had something to protect him from the corrosive acid—especially if it destroyed his precious shield.

The spellbreaker had reached me by now, and even though he was well within the range of my aura, he seemed to be hardly affected by it. He swung his mace at me, and when it made contact with my protection spell, it caused it to instantly shatter. At the same time, my [Waterjet] spell abruptly ended, and my [Glacial Aura] winked out.

What!?

Two crossbow bolts were timed perfectly to coincide with my defense going down. I had no time for a spell, so I triggered [Tranquil Flow] to dodge. I dodged both of them, but then one of the bolts seemed to correct its trajectory, embedding itself into me.

“Got ya, bitch!” the sniper jeered as fake blood oozed from the wound.

My feet had also sunk into the completed sand trap, and it looked like a rather unfortunate situation. The spellbreaker moniker seemed not just for show, as it quite literally broke or disrupted my spells.

I triggered [Thunder Step], abandoning the slime that made up my feet to avoid any potential hindrance.

“The hell!?”

“Bloody beards!”

“That’s not a spell!?”

The dwarves shouted in shock and surprise as I chained a few jumps until I ended right above the sniper.

“Got ya…” I muttered as I grabbed him moments before the [Thunder Step] backlash began.

Using him as a conduit and utilizing [Voltaic Slime], I channeled as much of the surging energy directly into him as possible. He screamed out in pain, and I watched the bar representing his lifeforce plummet, but it wasn’t enough to kill such a high-level dwarf so easily.

The marksman and geomancer backed off while the two knights charged at me. Both used a skill intended to prevent me from dealing enough damage to kill their companion.

<You successfully resist [Taunt].>

<Failed to resist [Taunt].>

That was frustrating, as while I wasn’t mindless enough to be forced into attacking the mirror knight, it meant that everyone but him now took reduced damage.

I had made up my mind; no survivors. I instructed my [Sub-Cores] to cast [Rampart] to seal off the remaining tunnel entrance and kicked the rather limp and screaming sniper dwarf, sending him tumbling toward his two knight companions.

The fortress knight caught him while the mirror knight interceded between us.

“I got you, Gotmela!” the fortress knight said, reaching into his pouch, likely for a potion to administer. “What’s all this sticky gunk stuck on your chest?” he questioned while trying to pull at it, but it seemed far too slimy and adhesive for his gauntleted hands.

The mirror knight was glaring at me, waiting for me to make any indication of casting a spell.

I simply smiled. “Boom.”

And an explosion echoed throughout the now sealed tunnel.

Chapter twenty

Anti-Mages

Despite the dramatic explosion, the dwarf was still barely alive. I had expected a kill notification, but it appeared that [Taunt] reduced my damage a lot more than I realized.

Which means I need to defeat the mirror knight first.

“Kastramri! Why didn’t you reflect the spell!?” the fortress knight screamed in anger.

“That wasn’t a spell!” He defended himself.

Internally, I rapidly created four explosive needles and withdrew them between the fingers of my clenched fist. At the same time, I kept up internal production so that I would have a good supply of needles.

“Looks like she might have some assassin training!” the mirror knight shouted before he smirked. “Not that it will do much against a tank. I’ve got you countered pointy-ears!”

Although I made a throwing gesture with my hands, I was actually utilizing [Slime Shot], which was far faster and more accurate than anything I could try to replicate. The mirror knight brought up his shield, but the reflective glimmer did nothing since it was not a spell.

To my surprise, the needles went straight through the shield and pierced into his armor and flesh. The dwarf uttered an angry and shocked yell moments before I triggered the detonation. Four simultaneous explosions reverberated throughout the tunnel, startling everyone present.

The marksman seemed to have lost her cool, but the geomancer was now trying to skewer me with spires of rock and earth. I dodged the first few before reapplying my [Arcane Shield] and throwing out [Manaburn] to hopefully siphon her resources.

However, that wasn’t enough for me, and I also fired more needles at the geomancer and marksman. I needed to try to deal with them before that damn spellbreaker got back into my face. The marksman took a direct hit, but to my astonishment, my projectiles aimed at the geomancer were intercepted by what looked like floating basalt rocks.

That’s an interesting way to defend yourself. I wonder if it’s a custom spell or something at later levels.

“I can smell the metal in those needles; you won’t trick me!” the geomancer spat right as I detonated all the needles.

Interesting…

I wished I had more time to think and examine what was happening, but I had the mirror knight and spellbreaker engaging me in melee. Seeing the fortress knight still trying to recover the sniper, I knew I needed to take him out.

With two sturdy dwarven bodies blocking me, both designed to counter direct magic, I was forced to reveal one of my secrets. I began casting [Chain Lightning], and both immediately readied themselves to stop me.

I guess their classes allow them to sense Mana or when a spell is being cast. It’s too bad for you I’m not casting the spell directly.

I fired the spell after moving the anchor point directly above the fortress knight, who was administering a potion. The bolt of surging lightning Mana struck him directly and then began to bounce back and forth between him and his patient.

The two magical counters looked baffled momentarily before becoming furious. The spellbreaker rushed to strike me with his hammer to disrupt my casting.

<Dwarf LV 25; Sniper LV 12 defeated. Experience gained.>

But he was too late.

To everyone’s surprise, once the sniper was slain, the spell then ricocheted toward the mirror knight after bouncing to the fortress knight one last time. I must have underestimated how much I juiced the spell, as it seemed to still have plenty of Mana for some additional bouncing.

I had no idea the spell would stop targeting something once it was dead. Is that because [Conductive] fell off once he died?

Despite being effectively caught blindsided, once the spell hit the mirror knight and dealt some damage, it unraveled entirely and dispersed. To me, that felt unfair, but I suppose it was some antimagic skill from his class.

The spellbreaker’s mace once again crashed against my [Arcane Amor], instantly shattering it. He wasted no time throwing follow-ups against me. I dodged the first blow and tried throwing an [Aegis] to block a second, but it might as well have been wet paper, and his weapon crashed into my arm as a result.

My arm splattered into a misshapen form from the powerful blow; I couldn’t believe it overcame my defenses so easily. I had [Mana Reinforcement] on constantly; it made no sense!

Even though it hadn’t hurt and wasn’t genuine damage despite Alpha faking an absolutely bloody mangled mess, I used [Thunder Step] to get out of direct contact with the spellbreaker and mirror knight.

As if expecting that the spellbreaker heckled at me. “Bloody coward! Get back here and fight! Or are you so scared after your Mana failed you?”

Can I really not use any Mana against those two? Crazy that there are classes like this. There better not be a class or skill that disables traits, or I’d be absolutely screwed.

I pretended to “heal” my arm by chugging from an empty canteen, causing the dwarves to glare in outrage when it “recovered.”

“What a rich bitch, affording potions that good,” the mirror knight spat in disgust.

“Don’t worry; we can split her loot once she’s down,” the spellbreaker replied. “Plus, this way, she gets to suffer a bit more before we put her down.”

The mirror knight nodded, then shouted, “Broudaen! Swap with me!”

“Okay!” the fortress knight shouted back.

<Failed to resist [Taunt].>

<[Taunt] has been replaced.>

Interesting… I guess he’s worried about me shoving more explosive needles at him if he gets close and wants the damage reduction. Makes sense if the fortress knight is going to stand back.

If I wasn’t concerned that they might have some communication methods with their employer, I’d just go full slime monster on them. I was fine with them knowing I’d killed them, but revealing absolutely everything felt foolish, even if I really wanted to.

Well… if I’m a rich bitch, I might as well pull out some fancy toys to go with it, I chuckled to myself.

I equipped myself with a shield and spear made from satisfying [Metal Slime]. The dwarves approaching me again seemed minorly annoyed at me, making their job more difficult. To make matters worse for them, I hastily cast [Fireball] directly downward on the poor marksman, leaving the poor dwarf practically on the death’s door.

“How does she keep casting spells like that!?” the mirror knight demanded.

“No idea. Must be some elf bullshit!” the spellbreaker spat out. “Either way, you and me don’t need to worry about that. She can cast all the tricksy spells she wants, and we’ll be just fine.”

“Damn you, Nuzzun!” the fortress knight cursed. “Care about your coworkers, you greedy shit!”

“I don’t get paid to care. That costs extra!” he said smugly.

Even I was slightly taken aback by such an attitude. But while the fortress knight looked pissed, the mirror knight was even nodding in agreement.

Wow… I guess when you lie with mutts, don’t be surprised when you get fleas.

“Stop wasting time and kill her!” the geomancer shouted. “She cast something that’s draining my Mana, so hurry up!”

Both anti-mages looked annoyed at that revelation and began charging at me. The geomancer immediately began supporting them; shrapnel was exploding out from the nearby rocks while stone walls began trying to box me in further.

I flung my primed spear at the mirror knight. I expected him to block it, which I hoped for, but he dodged to the side instead, so I was forced to detonate the weapon, to his surprise.

While pulling out a second spear, I blocked the incoming blow of the spellbreaker with my shield. Thankfully, the shield blocked his blow this time, but it still negatively affected me. Each blow, even though I was blocking it, seemed to be eating away at my Mana.

Seriously, does his class let him burn Mana with attacks? I’m blocking him, dammit!

I wasn’t going to let him slowly eat away at my health, so spikes erupted from my shield, completely catching him off guard and stabbing him into his arm.

“Agh! You bitch!” he yelled in anger.

As he pulled back, I swiftly stabbed forward with my spear, digging cleanly through his armor and into his side. He looked about to curse in horror when he must have seen my grin and realized this spear was the same as my previous one.

“No! Don’t!” he screamed out immediately as I detonated the spearhead.

I didn’t want to be unarmed, so I pulled out another spear before the smoke cleared. When it did, it revealed the spellbreaker lying on the ground, bleeding heavily but still alive.

I’m not used to opponents not going down so quickly. Dwarves really are something else. Although I am still taunted.

I glanced toward the fortress knight, who, surprisingly, still hadn’t joined the frenzy. Instead, he was looking over the geomancer, who was looking rough, on her knees, panting heavily. Her Mana was looking like dregs. When he caught my gaze toward him, something unexpected happened.

<[Taunt] has been removed.>

I hummed curiously as I wondered what his angle was. Is he asking me to spare him and the geomancer?

My curiosity was interrupted when a lightning bolt struck me out of nowhere; I turned to the source and saw the mirror knight looking incensed. Even with [Voltaic Slime] siphoning off a large amount of the spell into my storage capacity, it still hurt as I was not entirely lightning-proof yet.

Seeing my pained face seemed to cause him glee, and then he unleashed a fireball at me. Then, another fireball, and he kept going.

He’s not a spellcaster. Where the hell did he get these spells from? He’s certainly not casting them. That lightning bolt was especially powerful; was that mine?

Unbeknownst to the mirror knight, the fireballs he was unloading on me were doing almost nothing. Unless he had some blue fire secretly stored away—he just wasn’t hot enough. It gave me the perfect opportunity to think.

I guess it’s a good thing he doesn’t have more lightning spells… Is that how he dispersed my [Chain Lightning]? Does he store the spell inside himself to use later? Then he must be emptying his collection to try to kill me.

Even with all the fiery smoke and explosions, I could still make him out clearly. He must have run out of [Fireball] spells, as he was now resorting to [Fire Arrow], mindlessly firing at the singular spot he last saw me.

Before the smoke and flame cleared, I ordered all [Sub-Cores] to create a batch of needles, and once I had a sufficient stockpile, they all fired out in a spray. It oddly reminded me of Jet’s [Splinterstorm], seeing that many go out at once.

The dwarf became a living pincushion as he spat out blood. He seemed about to say something when there was a soft click followed by multiple detonations.

<Dwarf LV 26; Mirror Knight LV 14 defeated. Experience gained.>

When the explosion’s echoes finally started quieting down, I could hear someone cursing at himself.

“Bloody hells… bloody beards… gods…”

I looked and saw the fortress knight shaking his head.

“What the hell did they sign us up for? An easy target? Bloody fools!” the dwarf continued to rant.

He looked terrified when he saw me looking pretty much unharmed from the fire spell barrage. He dropped his shield and weapon and held up his hands.

“I surrender! I’ll do whatever you want!”

Well, now I’m extra glad I didn’t go slime monster on them. It would have been quite a blow to my conscience to kill someone who’s actively surrendering like that. Even if he probably still deserves it.

“Fine. But I won’t hold back if I see your face again,” I warned.

He visibly shuddered. “Hold back? That was you holding back? Bloody crazy elves…” He must not have wanted to say the last part out loud as he immediately shut his mouth and looked about to soil himself.

I pointed to the exit and just glared at him. “Go! Before I change my mind.”

He nodded, grabbed the unconscious geomancer, and started running, even leaving his weapon and shield behind. Then he awkwardly halted as he reached the rock wall I had thrown up, which was currently blocking his hasty escape.

I sighed and began casting a spell. Using [Shatterquake], I made the wall explode outward away from them and unsealed the passageway. I didn’t have [Sand Pit] yet, so an explosion was the only way out unless I melted it with acid.

Seeing the entire wall explode like that into rocky shrapnel made the dwarf nearly drop his unconscious companion. He briefly bowed his head and then ran.

I don’t think letting him live will come back to bite me… Worst case, they send more dwarves to attack me, and I still have my ultimate trump card.

I didn’t expect him to try to save the mirror knight after he had abandoned his camaraderie, but I was surprised he left the marksman behind. Then I saw she was dead; I had just missed the notification.

The spellbreaker had long passed out from his wounds. Even if I gave him a potion, it was unlikely he’d survive, not that I had any intention of saving someone with such a troublesome class.

Seriously. Damaging my lifeforce directly through Mana burn is not fun. I don’t think I could ever become immune to that form of damage.

I twirled my spear before stabbing down to finish the job.

<Dwarf LV 27; Spellbreaker LV 16 defeated. Experience gained.>

Chapter twenty-one

Derived Dwarves

I had several notifications to look through but had more pressing concerns. I threw up another wall with [Rampart] to reblock the passageway and gain relative safety and privacy.

Right. Time to eat up and get that dwarf profile!

I looted the scoundrels of their valuables and turned up the [Acid Slime] to the max.

<Profile [Dwarf] complete.>

Great. Now, I’ll be able to make a dwarf persona at some point.

Besides their equipment, they all had exactly 100 gold coins in a small pouch. I threw pretty much everything into my [Core Storage], although I frowned as I puzzled together the implication of the coins.

Did they seriously only pay 600 gold to take me out? I’m insulted being worth so little! At least… I assume that’s a little? I have far more than that in my guild account, after all.

With that out of the way, I pulled up the dwarf profile and began my perusal of their traits. I probably wouldn’t be able to buy any myself, like the elf ones, but they would all be prime for borrowing.

I began looking at every trait, but my confusion grew as I went through each one.

<[Dwarven Resilience]

What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger! This goes double for your belly.

A tough dwarf is a good dwarf!>

What?

<[Prospecting]

Smell the bounty within the rock!

Those stones aren’t just for looking pretty!>

Is this just [Mineral Sense]?

<[Stubborn Willed]

Your mind is your own, but your anger gets the better of you!>

Anti-mind control? With anger management issues?

<[Forged Skin]

Your skin is tempered to withstand rock and flame!

Those puny pokers won’t do much, either.>

Elemental resistances? Defense?

<[Stunted Strength]

Dynamite comes in small packages, so let your fists do the talking!

You won’t be winning any ballroom dances, however.>

Strength buff and an agility debuff?

<[Stone’s Blessing]

All things Earth come naturally; the bounty of the stone will never leave you wanting.>

Earth… Magic? Earth Affinity? Details, please!

<[Capable Hands]

As long as it’s Metal or Rock, your hands will do the talking!

Let them guide you and your tools.>

Why would hands talk!?

<[Underdweller]

The ground is where the home is.

Never get lost, and be safe in the stone’s embrace.>

Is this how they navigate their city? An entire trait for that? Does it do more?

I paused, letting it all slowly digest.

I think I hate them? What the hell are these descriptions!? Nothing Gramps could have ever written! I thought some of the elf trait descriptions were a little flowery, but this is a whole other story! I can probably guess what some of these do, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating!

Since I was in a sealed room, and none of my senses or visions could sense anything, I blocked out my entire profile. Then, I began testing a few dwarven shapes. Male, female, bearded, giant hair, stocky, buff, and all sorts between.

A fully completed profile really makes the difference. I also took the time to shapeshift quickly into a few kobold forms since I hadn’t tried that out yet.

Feels mostly like the goblins, except with a lizard tail. I thought, flicking my tail around.

Returning to the dwarf forms, since I hadn’t settled on a persona idea yet, I mostly stuck to copying one of the dwarves I had slain. Once again, I found another race compatible with the dragon scales trait.

I threw on all the dwarven traits I could and started playing around with my form. I started trying to blend the elf and dwarf profiles, but I noticed it leaned more toward dwarf than elf.

Is this because I’m lacking the full elf profile? I really need to complete that… Could I eat that Tamnaeth guy? No… That’s probably not a good idea, even if he did run away and refuse to take the stupid bag. If he tried to kill me, that would be one thing, but being annoyingly smug and then running away certainly isn’t enough justification. Don’t want to go full evolution crazy, haha…

My strange dwarf-elf hybrid could, in fact, take traits from both races!

This means that I could, at some point, cherry-pick the best to create my ultimate non-slime form! Part goblin, part kobold, part elf, and part dwarf!

I chuckled and began moving on to all the notifications I’d been putting off.

<Proficiency gained. [Essence Sight LV 2] improved to [Essence Sight LV 3].>

Great! Should I fuse it now or wait a bit longer? I’m tempted to wait till five to get the maximum benefit!

<Proficiency gained. [Exploit Weakness LV 4] improved to [Exploit Weakness LV 5].>

Another stack, which means an extra 5% damage bonus! I’m glad it’s just there in the background, adding to everything. Actually… that’s probably why my [Decay] dealt so much damage against that worm, even with the [Assassinate] bonus. If I understand correctly, I gained another four debuffs for its final tally.

<Proficiency gained. [Corrosion Magic LV 5] improved to [Corrosion Magic LV 6].>

<[Corrosion Magic LV 6] spell [Caustic Cloud] learned.>

Oh! Oh shit! I just got sixth-level magic! I’m shocked it wasn’t Fire or Water… Although, now that I think about it, I’m technically using a bit of [Corrosion Magic] with every debuff or affliction I cast, even if its primary Mana is now Fire or something. So maybe I shouldn’t be surprised [Corrosion Magic] was the first to reach it.

I took the time to quickly understand the spell. As its name implied, it was another spell based on the acidic portion of Corrosion Mana. Interestingly, this gave me another look at the “cloud” component that [Contagion] also had. Except in this case, this cloud lingered in a set area rather than spreading and dispersing immediately.

I began casting the spell but held off on its final completion as I examined it more thoroughly. Getting a closer look, I could see that it wasn’t an apparated effect but more like an orb I could deposit at a location and explode into the hazardous cloud.

I finished the casting and watched as the sickly bright green orb was flung out and hit my targeted wall. It burst into a similarly colored cloud, partially obscuring, and lingered around for far longer than I had expected for a base spell. When it finally dispersed, the contaminated rocky area looked significantly goopy.

Talk about a rather horrific spell. A cloud of acid that melts whatever is inside. I mean… I could do the same with [Vaporize Slime], but it wouldn’t linger around unless I kept fueling it with slime. Also, Mana is basically free for me. Sucks that it’s another spell without any distinction between friend and foe, though. Gods, if I wasn’t getting some insane resistance from [Acid Slime], it would affect me, too!

Sadly, there were no more skill or trait notifications. I had really hoped [Metal Slime] or [Nitro Slime] might have gained something, or even [Earth Magic], but clearly, I hadn’t used any of them enough.

Finally, I looked over my level-ups.

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 5.>

<12 Trait Points are now available.>

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 10.>

<17 Skill Points are now available.>

<Your class has revealed the following trait: [Derived Element (Basic)].>

Both race and class levels are always nice! Those assholes were at least worth decent experience. Also, my class is revealing a trait! Those are pretty rare! Let’s see what we’ve got; please be something good!

<[Derived Element (Basic)]

Select a Basic Element and gain it as an Affinity, with Mana Purity levels greatly influenced by this trait level.

One’s Mana Purity can influence this trait, notably its leveling speed and, to a minor degree, the starting Mana Purity.

The trait points invested will be partially refunded if the owner gains the extra affinity through other means, such as Ascension.>

It took me a while to fully comprehend what I had just read. Was this finally my solution to the lack of Air affinity for so long?

Trixie wasn’t lying!

I couldn’t believe it. While I trusted Trixie—relatively speaking—I had somewhat assumed this was a long-building prank on her part.

Then again… she probably didn’t think I’d have my class levels halted for so long when she advertised this class as a possible solution! Also, if this was offering me a Basic Element now, did that mean I might get offered an Advanced Element at maybe level 20 or 30!?

It was so exciting. I wasted no time purchasing my trait. Rather than immediately acquiring the trait, I was giving the mental impression that I had a choice to make, although my only option was Air in this circumstance.

<Trait [Derived Element (Air) LV 1] obtained. Trait Points remaining 11.>

I giggled to myself. This was so exciting! I quickly moved to see if I truly had the affinity and tried to purchase the magic skill.

<Skill [Air Magic LV 1] obtained. Skill Points remaining 16.>

<[Air Magic LV 1] spell [Wind Cutter] learned.>

Oh, that’s the spell the mage used to kill the green slime back in the forest! This is truly wonderful!

I cast the spell and fired a small blade of wind at the rock wall. It didn’t leave a very large cut, as it was only a first-level spell, and I hadn’t even empowered it or anything.

I was curious if my derived element counted for [Elemental Shift] and tested it by trying to align myself to Air. There seemed no hiccup at all.

Well, that’s great!

I tried casting another [Wind Cutter], cutting a much further gash into the rock wall. The difference was remarkable.

I forgot how much of a buff [Elemental Shift] gives me… I thought before my thoughts were abruptly interrupted.

<Proficiency gained. [Derived Element (Air) LV 1] improved to [Derived Element (Air) LV 2].>

I stared at the sudden notification. That was far sooner than I had ever expected.

Is my [Mana Slime] trait boosting it? Maybe even [Elven Legacy]?

I had no idea, but I wouldn’t complain about a trait leveling up fast. Mana Purity seemed to be my thing if Trixie was any indication.

Then… I browsed for the skill that eluded me for so long. I opened up its description to look at it.

<[Wind Step]

Move a short distance with near-impossible speed, even in midair.

Skill level determines Mana efficiency and maximum chained usage.>

Far too long, you have taunted me. But not anymore!

I purchased the skill.

<Skill [Wind Step] requires Air affinity.>

“No!” I screamed in fury.

<Skill [Wind Step LV 1] obtained. Skill Points remaining 15.>

I stared long and hard.

“Did I just get pranked?” I asked, glaring at the previous failed prompt that seemed to be fading away before my eyes.

Part of me wanted to go on a rant, but I was terrified it might be taken away. Instead, I finally used the skill and moved a tiny short distance.

[Thunder Step] is faster… But this is entirely silent. Though, I wonder…

I used [Thunder Step] into the air, ensuring the chain was considered broken. I immediately used [Wind Step] to hit the ground when I felt that tingling. The surging pain lessened as I partially grounded myself, but not enough to stop everything.

Damn, I thought it might have worked… I guess you can’t just entirely negate a downside like that. I wonder if there are more Step skills and, more importantly, if they can be combined!

It was a really interesting idea. Before heading off, I reviewed my freshly updated profile.

Name: Syl [Dungeoneer]

Race: Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) LV 5

Class: Elementalist LV 10

Status: Healthy

Mana: Overflowing

Emblems:

[Experiment]

[Apex Hunter]

[Elven Legacy]

[Dungeoneer]*

[Nature’s Bane]

[Manhunter]

Traits:

Slime:

[Mana Slime LV 13]

[Acid Slime LV 7]

[Poison Slime LV 6]

[Blaze Slime LV 6]

[Cryo Slime LV 7]

[Voltaic Slime LV 6]

[Nitro Slime LV 6]

[Metal Slime LV 4]

[Morph Slime LV 8]

[Pseudopod LV 7]

[Slime Shot LV 7]

[Vaporize Slime]

Core:

[Core Collective LV 8]

[Core Storage LV 6]

[Sub-Core Alpha LV 5] [Sub-Core Beta LV 5]

[Sub-Core Gamma LV 5] [Sub-Core Eta LV 5]

[Sub-Core Delta LV 5] [Sub-Core Theta LV 5]

[Sub-Core Epsilon LV 5] [Sub-Core Iota LV 5]

[Sub-Core Zeta LV 5] [Sub-Core Kappa LV 5]

Mimic:

[Chimeric Mimicry LV 7]

[Chroma Shift LV MAX]

[Consuming Osmosis LV MAX]

Mana:

[Mana Circulation LV 7]

[Mana Reinforcement LV 7]

[Derived Element (Air) LV 2]

[Mana Infusion]

Attributes/Other:

[Soul Mastery LV 7]

[Enhanced Vitality LV 5]

[Magic Resistance (Lesser) LV 5]

[Curse Resistance LV 2]

[Illusion Resistance LV 3]

[Sonic Resistance LV 1]

[Prodigy]

Senses:

[Olfactory Sense]

[Darkvision LV MAX]

[Mana Conception LV 6]

[Life Sight LV 5]

[Essence Sight LV 3]

[Thermal Vision LV MAX]

[Eagle Vision LV 3]

[Electro-Magnetic Sense LV 4]

[Tremor Sense LV 3]

Trait Points remaining: 11

Skills:

General:

[Universal Language]

[Equipment Swap]

[Dissection LV 7]

[Mapping LV 5]

[Tracking LV 3]

[Identify LV 6]

[Multitasking LV 5]

[Perception LV 4]

[Aerial Finesse LV 4]

[Thunder Step LV 4]

[Wind Step LV 1]

[Companion Bond]

Combat:

[Tranquil Flow LV 5]

[Attack Mastery (Lesser) LV 7]

[Affliction Mastery LV 6]

[Exploit Weakness LV 5]

Magic:

[Water Magic LV 5]

[Fire Magic LV 5]

[Corrosion Magic LV 6]

[Ice Magic LV 5]

[Arcane Magic LV 4]

[Lightning Magic LV 5]

[Earth Magic LV 3]

[Air Magic LV 1]

[Mana Manipulation LV 6]

[Magic Efficiency LV 5]

[Counter Magic LV 4]

[Elemental Shift LV 5]

[Elemental Adaptation]

[Ritual Casting]

[Mana Suppression]

[Elemental Harmony]

Sneaky:

[Vanish LV 6]

[Assassinate LV 6]

[Identity Fabrication LV 6]

[Acting LV 5]

[Rogue Expertise LV 4]

[Magical Subterfuge LV 4]

[Subtle Afflictions]

Skill Points remaining: 15

Profession:

Enchanting:

[Rune Reading LV 6]

[Rune Engraving LV 1]

[Rune Framework LV 7]

[Rune Tracing LV 5]

[Rune Design LV 3]

[Runecrafting LV 2]

[Rune Inspection LV 5]

[Rune Filigree LV 3]

[Rune Repair LV 2]

[Brand]

Profession Points Remaining: 0

Chapter twenty-two

Trapping the Trapper

With [Shatterquake], I smashed through the wall the enemy geomancer had cast, clearing the path to the mine. I left the remaining roadblock intact for safety and deterrence, a silent warning to unwelcome visitors.

Alright, take on the spider monster, grab some orichalcum for the profile, and return to the guild triumphantly!

As I approached the mine, the scene was one of thorough abandonment. Tools and picks were scattered about, and minecarts were upturned, likely further acts of petty vandalism from the enemies of the Flinthearts. Carved into the bottom of one of the minecarts were the words “GO AWAY.”

They really went all out with the spooky ambiance. I chuckled to myself.

And as if to prove that the mine had been captured by a spider monster, there was an endless sea of webbing scattered about. I cast [Wind Cutter] at the mine entrance to clear the way, and to my surprise, while it did break most of the minor webbing, a large portion remained intact.

That’s some tough web… Good thing I’m a slime, or I could end up stuck. Let’s turn on the acid and melt my way through.

But before I officially entered, I spent some time organizing my cores. I now had two new elements to level up, even though I had really wanted to work on [Metal Slime] and [Nitro Slime].

I aligned each pair of [Sub-Cores] to Earth, Air, Lightning, Ice, and Fire. Water was the odd one out, but I figured it wouldn’t be useful against a spider monster unless it evolved into some Lava spider. I kept myself aligned with Air, hoping to level up the trait.

<Proficiency gained. [Derived Element (Air) LV 2] improved to [Derived Element (Air) LV 3].>

Speak of the devil… That’s some utterly absurd leveling speed! It can only be my [Mana Slime LV 13], right? Not even [Prodigy] gives that much. It’s too bad my [Air Magic] and [Earth Magic] don’t level up that fast.

I stayed in my mostly elven form in case I had any unsuspecting visitors and powered up my defenses by borrowing the [Draconic Scales (Lesser)] trait and ensuring my outer layer was reinforced with [Metal Slime].

Stepping forward into the webs, they all gave way effortlessly. While they may have been able to withstand my basic Air spell, they were no match for the might of [Acid Slime LV 7].

I started using all my senses to try to understand the mine’s layout, and at the same time, I grabbed [Mineral Sense] to find the nearest deposit of orichalcum.

After wandering the abandoned mine for quite some time, I questioned whether this spider existed. I had run into absolutely nothing living so far. I had found some orichalcum with relative ease and sampled it immediately; it wasn’t enough to grant me a level, but my gut told me I was close.

Is this spider even here? I couldn’t help but question. Or is it luring me into a trap? It is a trapweaver, after all. Maybe it’s avoiding me since I’m destroying its webs just by walking into them?

As I was contemplating this, I suddenly fell face-first into the ground. My body impacted the ground with a metallic clang due to my metal layer.

I blinked in confusion and turned my gaze to what had tripped me. What had been my feet was now a puddle of slime and had been entirely separated from my body with an impossibly clean cut. I stared at my leg stumps in confusion, watching Alpha producing a fountain of fake blood.

What the hell just happened?

I cycled through all my available senses to examine the spot closely. Rather than find something, it was more like I found nothing. Or, rather, an absence of anything. A thin line of nothing was running low across the ground like a tripwire. I could only vaguely pick it up due to the utter lack of even essence in that minuscule spot.

I regrew my feet and crawled over to the spot. I carefully avoided any major contact with the abnormality, stretched my arm out, and ran a single finger over the place. My finger fell off. I watched as the appendage fell to the ground and splattered from its lost form.

What the hell?

Before I could question it further or experiment, the abnormal spot vanished. The absence of essence rushed to fill in the tiny gap.

This has to be the spider’s doing, right? Did it realize I had discovered its trap? Then, was it removed before I could test its capabilities?

This was a disturbing revelation. I hadn’t expected such an intelligent monster, and its unknown evolution might have pushed it even further beyond what Kaldrour had described.

On the other hand… Imagine if I get my tendrils on that profile! I licked my lips.

With newfound determination, I got up and continued my trek deeper into the mine. Now, I was being extra cautious, as I needed to not sense something specific but rather the absence of something, a highly frustrating conundrum.

As if proving my point about the task’s difficulty, the trapweaver caught me in a few more as if probing at my capabilities. I lost an arm and a leg and narrowly avoided losing my head entirely.

Also, why can’t I sense the damn spider? [Tremor Sense] or [Life Sight] surely should be enough? At least it’s still treating me as if I were a person and not a monster as if I have regeneration rather than a body of slime.

I was very tempted to fuse [Soul Sight] on the spot to have a better chance of discovering this hidden foe. The one silver lining to this bizarre duel was it seemed to be doing great for my experience gains.

<Proficiency gained. [Perception LV 4] improved to [Perception LV 5].>

<Proficiency gained. [Tremor Sense LV 3] improved to [Tremor Sense LV 4].>

I had the bright idea of delegating the task to my [Sub-Cores], but even they seemed perplexed by this encounter. Was the spider only laying the traps mere moments before I ran into them? It would be one way to explain the strange circumstances.

Not happy to be the one being probed, I decided to hole up in a spot that looked like it used to be a rest point for the miners. I sat down on one of the stools and waited.

I stretched my senses to the max, assigning each [Sub-Core] a specific trait and immediately reporting anything. I had set up a few bombs in the room with [Nitro Slime] and even left a few mines in the tunnels, hoping to catch the spider off-guard if it poked one.

Meanwhile, I passed the time by working on my [Air Magic]. I had a new debuff to construct. At this point, it was almost a routine more than a task, and creating one took very little effort.

<Spell [Windswept] discovered.>

I actually really like that name! I couldn’t help but compliment it.

And, of course, discovering a new spell came with plentiful experience.

<Proficiency gained. [Air Magic LV 1] improved to [Air Magic LV 2].>

<[Air Magic LV 2] spell [Gust] learned.>

The new spell was relatively simple but useful. Creating a one-directional burst of wind. Maintaining the spell was also an option that produced a continuous breeze as long as you kept feeding it Mana.

A one-time big burst of wind, or keep it going. This is what that harpy queen must have done. It would be great against any archers, although I think someone with Jet’s skill level and equipment could probably ignore any windy conditions.

I hummed as I waited patiently for the spider to make its appearance. Occasionally, I’d be forced to replace one of my traps with a refreshed one, as my [Nitro Slime] still had a relatively restricted time limit attached to it.

And so began my cold war against the spider.

Now that I was being much more passive, I didn’t haphazardly lose any more limbs to its suddenly appearing traps. It felt like a relative stalemate until, what must have been curiosity on its part, I heard a detonation of one of my [Nitro Slime] mines.

I giggled to myself as all of the planted bombs in that same vicinity were immediately triggered in response. To anyone else, it would have seemed like a chain reaction, but I had plotted to hopefully catch it in my own trap.

I didn’t get a notification, so either it’s still alive, or I missed it…

I went to examine the resulting explosions, but I couldn’t see any blood or limbs in the resulting rocky carnage. I slowly returned to my resting spot but encountered no opposition.

According to my clock, two hours passed. I spent some of that time gleefully examining the strange device and praised my foresight in purchasing it. In addition, I was swinging a sword made of [Metal Slime] around and changing its form partially midswing in a desperate attempt to level up the trait again so I could eat the core sitting in my storage.

Did I scare it off with that explosion? I couldn’t help but wonder.

Strangely, it had made no further attempts to investigate me or my various devices being planted. I sighed and sat up from my spot.

I guess it’s forcing my hand. Unfortunately, I’m in a position where I have to attack to break the stalemate.

I stepped through the room doorway, and suddenly, my vision twisted.

What!?

I found myself no longer stepping out from the rest point, and instead, I was hurtling down into what looked like a deep chasm. I blinked in confusion and sprouted wings, halting my descent safely.

I examined my surroundings cautiously. Other than this pit drop, there seemed to be no further hostilities.

How the heck did I get here? Where exactly am I?

Activating my [Mapping] skill confirmed that I had been teleported, as my map had a notable gap. I was still within the orichalcum mine but far deeper and below.

I flew to the point where I had appeared, and the only evidence left behind was a small bit of spiderweb rapidly fading away. I clicked my tongue in annoyance while trying to locate anything else out of the ordinary.

This just further proves that the spider evolved… But what kind of evolution lets it teleport me? Dimension magic? That’s a terrifying thought… An evolution or mutation just outright gives a monster something scary like that.

Though… would it have even had the time to get used to a new skill like that if its evolution was recentish? Unless Flintheart was understating the timeframe. It’s not like most normal monsters have skill points to spend unless it also got the [Apex Hunter] Emblem? I doubt it has a class, or Flintheart would have mentioned that.

I sighed. There was an obvious elephant in the room I had been avoiding.

I’m probably dealing with another [Experiment]. It explains the lack of killing, the cautious behavior, and even the strange evolution. Although… dropping me down a pit would certainly have been lethal under normal circumstances.

I continued searching for any clues, but the trail was cold.

Now, do I try to reason with him or her? I’d certainly like to chitchat with another experiment. Having someone else in the same situation as me would be nice. Another person who gets to know the full slimy details, perhaps?

Although… After Odark, I have no idea if that’s a good idea anymore. But! He wasn’t the most emotionally stable, living the orc lifestyle and whatnot. Maybe this spider will be better mentally, having lived alone? Why did it decide to live inside this mine rather than escape elsewhere? If it can teleport, then surely it isn’t trapped here.

I nodded, my mind made up. I’d certainly give diplomacy a try. At worst, I’d get a nice new profile to eat or perhaps another bribe to let the [Experiment] escape and live?

Either way. I’d complete my quest and get my silver cores! Win-win-win for Syl!

Chapter twenty-three

The Terror

But first, I need to find that spider… If it even is a spider anymore? Honestly, it’s starting to feel like it has evolved into a ghost, with how I’ve not even caught sight of the damned thing.

I paused, realized the possibility, and groaned.

Please don’t be a damned ghost!

She was right! I can’t believe she was right! A small spider frantically thought to herself as she scurried away toward her den.

She couldn’t believe the absurd situation she was in when she had finally gotten some peace and quiet from the nonstop dwarf attacks. But now some crazy exterminator elf was after her! She thought back to the warning given to her by the mysterious voice during her last evolution.

“There’s a good chance you’ll run into an… elf in the near future,” the bodiless womanly voice expressed. “I don’t think you currently have the strength to prevail, so I suggest you improve yourself drastically.”

She hated the voice, especially how it always spoke in a “mother knows best” sort of manner. Like she was a damn child. It was the reason she was in this situation in the first place!

A brand-new life it had enticed her with, filled with possibilities and unknowns. The only payment was some of your old memories, a real bargain, right? Sure, she got the brand-new life she was promised, only the hidden caveat of being reborn as a damned spider! She couldn’t believe her misfortune; where was the disclaimer on this deal?

Please note that this new and exciting promised life has no guarantee of being even remotely human. That should have been my warning! She cursed to herself. And only some of my memories? I can’t even remember my old name! What I was left best with feels so random and useless!

She pulled up her profile quickly to look at her condition. As always, she grimaced when she saw the new name the dwarves had somehow given her.

Name: The Terror [Manhunter]

Race: Riftweaver Spider LV 25

Class: -

Status: Injured (Minor)

Mana: Draining

My Mana is looking atrocious. Why did teleporting that elf cost so much Mana! I barely moved her any distance at all! And why isn’t she affected by [Manhunter]? The fear effect worked on the dwarves, so it should work on elves, too! I’m only halfway to my next evolution, so it’s not like I can pull something out of my ass to gain the upper hand.

She began spinning more [Rift Thread]; it was her best weapon remaining after her Mana had plummeted so spectacularly. Her latest evolution was formidable, and she felt like she could take on anything, or so she had thought until this elf proved otherwise.

Sometimes, I really wish I could have a do-over with my choices. Picking the shrinking mutation was a mistake of note; make myself small and cute, and maybe the dwarves will stop attacking me? Ha! Good joke, past-me. Nobody finds spiders cute…

She paused and tried to think on the bright side.

Although… it did allow me to qualify for this dimension evolution since dimensions are apparently related to size. Or something. Ugh, all this stuff makes my head hurt. Maybe I should have taken her advice and picked a magic-related evolution sooner?

She pondered the thought a bit before shaking her little head.

No… while some spite may have influenced my decision, Trapweaver was definitely the way to go. I wouldn’t have survived as long as I have if I hadn’t been bunkering up in this booby-trapped mine.

She sighed.

Well… until the elf exterminator showed up and destroyed everything that I had constructed by casually walking through it! Seriously? Is her body itself a weapon? Why does everything except [Rift Thread] just break on contact with her?

And does she have instant regeneration or something, too? It took ages to grow back when I lost a leg, even when I used that [Regen Gland]! Meanwhile, I watched her regrow an entire arm in seconds! Talk about unfair… And most importantly, why do elves have wings!?

That had really shattered her hope of defeating the elf. Gravity was her ultimate secret weapon, the great equalizer to all, but even that wasn’t enough to stop the elf.

With a new supply of [Rift Thread], she began crafting some [Recovery Thread] and manipulating it with [Thread Mastery] to cover her burn wounds before recoating herself in some [Armor Thread].

And landmines? Freakin’ landmines! I thought this was a fantasy world with magic and monsters; why does she have landmines!? If I hadn’t used [Blink], I would have been a smoldering corpse.

She “slapped” herself with one of her pedipalps. This was no time to get into a negativity spiral. At worst, she could [Blink] away and abandon her home; escape was always an option.

She sat in her web cluster and activated [Spatial Sense], getting a small but incredibly accurate reading of her surroundings. [Spatial Sense] was almost mandatory to use anything with [Dimension Magic] or even to utilize her [Rift Thread] effectively.

Next, she activated [Thread Mastery] again and began exploring through her silken network laid throughout the mine to locate the elf. Ordinarily, it would provide minimal sensory input intended only for vibrational feedback. However, combining the two traits allowed her almost complete remote surveillance anywhere within her spiderweb.

This, combined with [Rift Thread], which was imbued with dimensional energy, allowed her to set traps remotely anywhere within her domain. It took her a while, but she found the elf cautiously exploring another tunnel. She grasped some of her [Rift Thread] and shunted it into appearing and occupying the space surrounding the elf.

When used like this, her [Rift Thread] was especially deadly. It created a tiny area of nothingness, and since she could basically “teleport” it into an open space, she could trap someone without them realizing it. However, that did not seem to be the case with the elf. She immediately froze as if having discovered the suddenly appearing trap.

Agh! Just step into it! she shouted in frustration, but now the elf examined the hidden [Rift Thread]. Why? How? Nobody else could detect it; this is so frustrating!

She snapped some of the connected threads in an attempt to use the trap as an offensive trap. But it was far from effective, as it was extremely slow due to the strange nature of the [Rift Thread], seemingly disregarding most of the usual properties she had routinely used. Factors like wind and even tension, the strange otherworldy thread seemed to ignore all that and behave by its own made-up rules.

Watching the deadly thread slowly drift toward the elf, only for her to casually move out of the way and watch it with puzzlement, was disheartening. If it was her normal threads, she could have snapped them like whips and cut the elf into pieces by now.

Frustrated by the experience, she sent one of her ceiling traps collapsing like a well-positioned net. Thanks to the high tension applied to the thread, it sprung from nowhere and at an incredible speed. The entire net was created from [Poison Thread] and was razor-sharp.

When she had used it against even the toughest of dwarves, they would at least receive some cuts from it, and her poison would get to work. But once again, when the net touched the elf, it just… melted. The elf tilted its head at the trap with a bemused expression.

Why didn’t I pick a spider with deadly fangs instead of all this thread nonsense? Then I could just bite her!

The elf tilted her head, then smiled. “I think I found you…”

What! How? she screamed mentally. Then she saw the elf’s gaze following along the ceiling at her hidden spiderweb network.

No! No, no, no! She started panicking. Why did I do that? I knew she had some crazy sensory ability to see the [Rift Thread]!

The elf was moving with startling speed, using some movement ability to vanish from sight and appear at a distance.

Does she have something like [Blink] too? Shit!

Following along with [Thread Mastery] and [Spatial Sense] became increasingly problematic as the elf moved far too quickly, making tracking her difficult. She made the snap decision to upgrade [Spatial Sense] using some trait points to further increase its vision radius. Immediately, her field of vision increased, and now the elf wasn’t instantly escaping from her vision’s boundary.

Okay! Trap time! I can use her reckless speed to my advantage!

But before that, she quickly threw up a boundary web between herself and the entrance to her home. By creating an entire frame of [Rift Thread], she could create makeshift portals by imbuing it with some of her Mana. It was how she had originally sent the elf plummeting into the pit trap.

Feeling a little safer, she started creating lethal tripwires in front of the elf. She barreled straight through one, leaving a gash that initially made the spider cheer at success, but the elf kept going. Despite the massive amount of blood produced, the wound was seemingly almost superficial with how quickly it closed up and how she ignored it.

Stop cheating! You must suffer some penalty for all the blood you’ve been losing!

She created more tripwires, but now the elf was prepared, and right when she thought she finally had her, the elf suddenly burst into lightning and appeared an even greater distance away.

It was so absurd that it bordered on the unbelievable. Just how many tricks could one person have? Were all elves like this? None of the dwarves had displayed anything nearly as good as this, and even the ones she struggled to defeat fell victim to gravity.

Why was I born a stupid spider when I could have been born a killer elf? Look at her!

She gave up on trying to create more tripwires; she was wasting what precious [Rift Thread] she had left and instead was preparing for a last stand. She still had her teleport trap on the doorway, and when not operating remotely, she had far greater control over her threads.

I guess I’m testing using it as a direct weapon now. I wish I had the foresight to practice this some more, but I never imagined none of my traps would work.

If she was desperate, she could even undo her shrink and return to her full size or even pump it up and try to crush the elf. Hell, maybe even use her old fangs like when she first started.

Would my fangs even work? Or would they also melt? She shuddered at the thought.

At the same time, she confirmed that she still had avenues of escape using [Blink]. She could hear the sound of rock exploding as the elf destroyed a path toward her den.

That’s when she finally came face to face with her would-be assassin. She stared at the beautiful elf with envy, a far cry from her monstrous spiderly form. She tensed, expecting a sudden attack, and was ready to use [Blink] at a moment’s notice, but instead, the elf just stared at her as if trying to solve a puzzle.

It was like a silent standoff, with both parties slowly examining each other, but neither committed to taking the first hostile action. The spider could feel fatigue slowly building up on her, like a creeping poison. The tensity of the situation was clearly getting the better of her.

Since the equipped effect of the [Manhunter] Emblem wasn’t doing anything, she decided to swap it out for [Apex Hunter] as a troublesome thought was niggling in the back of her mind. As soon as the new Emblem was transferred over, a familiar voice tickled the back of her mind.

Worthy!

No, no, no! She’s stronger than me? I already suspected it, but having it so bluntly confirmed is rotten!

And then she felt her heart sink as the elf suddenly smirked.

Dread immediately assailed her, and she instinctively reached for [Blink], only for it to fail spectacularly, and she barely moved a few inches.

No, why!? she demanded, the fear gripping her as she pulled up her profile. She had ascertained she had the Mana previously, and it had been recovering too. What she saw next robbed her of all remaining hope.

Mana: Drained

What did she do to me?

Chapter twenty-four

The Spider and the Elf

Finally, I was face to face with the spider I had been hunting for so long. It had finally screwed up and revealed its hidden network of webs running along the ceiling when it tried to use them to attack me.

[Tremor Sense] had picked up the constant vibration along the threads, and then I simply had to follow it back to its source. The frantic attacks against me as I progressed only made my task easier. It was impressive that it could use this setup almost like a control center and watch the entire mine from safety.

I was hesitant about being teleported away again, but when I investigated more thoroughly, I saw that the entire entryway to its den had a thin perimeter of empty space. I could bet that crossing that invisible boundary would find me relocated again.

When I first spotted it, I noted its Mana was fairly diminished and quickly threw out a deceitful [Mana Burn] affliction to eat away at its reserves. The spider showed no reaction to my subtle spell, so while my affliction nefariously got to work, I continued silently observing it like it was observing me.

The spider had a sleek black form and many outstretched legs with menacing and sharp ends. Unlike the other spiders I had fought, this one lacked powerful-looking fangs or a rear end that could fire projectiles. Its front legs, however, seemed more tool-like compared to the other spiders, like something that would belong to a tailor or weaver.

Strangely, it was covered in threads I wouldn’t have noticed at first glance if not for [Mana Conception] making them light up like colorful lights. It looked like it had wrapped itself up in protective layers it had weaved. And all this thread had come from highly evolved spinnerets; I couldn’t even imagine how it compared to the base ones I could mimic.

However, what was mostly confusing was its size. The spider wasn’t even bigger than a wolf! All the previous spider monsters I had fought were giant and menacing; even the smaller jumping variety appeared fearsome. It had an almost creepy-cute appearance if I had to describe it.

<The Terror [Manhunter]; Riftweaver Spider [V] LV 25. Elemental Affinity: None.>

That’s tier five, right? Quite a high level for such a little monster. Then again, I’m almost there myself, and technically, my entire being is contained within my tiny core. Not having even a single elemental affinity is strange, but I guess if it got something absurd like Dimension, it can’t exactly complain. I’d bet it probably has Corrosion, too.

What really gave me pause was the almost impossibly hidden threads it had wrapped between the front legs, almost like a garrote wire. Now that it was attached to the spider, I noticed it had a blackish-purple sort of Mana coloring.

So that’s Dimensional Mana, right? I can barely comprehend it; it feels downright alien.

My thoughts were interrupted when my [Sub-Cores] brought a change in the situation to my attention.

<The Terror [Apex Hunter]; Riftweaver Spider [V] LV 25. Elemental Affinity: None.>

[Apex Hunter]! I cheered and equipped my own one to compare results.

Unfortunately, I didn’t receive the mental tingle, so my combined levels must have surpassed the spider. I found myself giving a small smirk at the situation.

The spider suddenly jumped as if I had attacked it and teleported a few feet across as if trying to escape when its Mana hit rock bottom, causing its escape to spectacularly fail. Its multitude of eyes seemed to blame me for its predicament.

“Sorry! Can’t have you running away,” I tried to explain.

Perhaps the spider perceived my words as a threat, as it tried to repurpose the boundary into a barrier to prevent my entry into its den.

Seeing the net of strange thread blocking the entrance, I couldn’t help but be intrigued; how would it react to magic? I cast a simple [Water Orb] spell and watched it get sliced into bits as if portions of it were swallowed up.

The spider reacted to this by sealing up more gaps in the web. I cast a [Fire Arrow] directly on one of the webs and watched the spell disappear on contact.

Remarkable. It’s almost like an all-eating void.

I even threw out a [Lightning Bolt] and watched the bolt of magical energy lose its form and disperse.

The spider looked like it was growing increasingly anxious if I was reading its shaking legs correctly, so I decided to halt my experiments.

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t resist trying to see how it would interact with some simple spells,” I explained.

Borrowing [Telepathy (Lesser)], I tried to reach out to the spider, but the mental handshake was hastily slapped away, and the spider began skittering backward.

“Look, I was only trying to talk,” I tried reasoning. “I have a trait that allows mental communication since I assume you can’t talk out loud.”

I tried to make contact again but was mentally slapped away again. I sighed.

“Guess I’ll have to do some more convincing?”

I touched the rocky wall with an outstretched hand, producing a mass of tendrils at the point of contact. Armed with [Acid Slime], they sought into the rock, melting a tunnel for me to enter the spider’s den.

The spider seemed confused by my current actions and weaved more thread frantically from its spinneret. It likely did not have a direct line of sight to the tunnel I was crafting, so I doubted it knew my goal.

When the tendrils extended beyond my range, I sent a few [Sub-Cores] through my arm and down into the tunnel. I wanted to appear from a point of relative safety in case the spider had any further traps planted near the entrance.

Meanwhile, we continued our staring contest. The spider would occasionally try to flicker, likely to attempt another teleport. But with its Mana consistently being emptied thanks to [Mana Burn], it was a fruitless endeavor, and it was becoming increasingly anguished.

“Come on, I just want to talk to you,” I tried reasoning again.

The little spider actually shook its head at me!

The nerve! Well… I have a surprise for you.

Theoretically, I could leave behind a body duplicate if I primed it beforehand, although it would be stiff as a board. I’d never attempted it before beyond the bunny bombs I had fooled some wolves with, but it was certainly worth a shot.

I started sending more and more of my cores along the melted tunnel while ensuring one stayed behind to maintain my “body.” Once we were ready to break into the room, I primed the body and retreated my final [Sub-Core] to join the rest of us.

The body was perfectly still as if leaning against the wall. It certainly felt uncanny to look at since it was still a perfect replica of my elven persona.

[Tremor Sense] told me the spider hadn’t moved, so I began my sneaky infiltration into its home by finally melting through the final bit of rock between me and the chamber. It was still having a staring contest with my primed fake body, so I sneakily approached.

I wasn’t exactly sure how this interaction was going to go. Part of me wanted to land a sneak attack while it was preoccupied, but if it was a fellow [Experiment], then I wanted to at least try negotiating and getting more information. I’d attacked Trixie, and we’d become friends, so anything was possible.

When I reached a certain point, the spider immediately turned around to face me as if I had somehow come into its vision radius. It was absolutely startled and leaped backward in retreat away from both me and my immobile clone.

“Hey, so are you willing to talk now?” I asked.

The response I got was the spider jumping and growing! The tiny little spider suddenly enlarged to a far greater size and leaped at me with the threatening thread between its front legs.

I was dumbfounded by the sudden and unexpected change, as I couldn’t have predicted it could shrink or grow, but I still managed to react in time to retreat using [Wind Step].

In retaliation, I fired a [Lightning] bolt directly at it. The crackling energy struck against it before it could dodge, but its woven armor seemed to take the brunt of it and did far less damage than I had expected.

“Damnit, just talk to me!” I shouted as it leaped for me again.

A bunch of the threads in the chamber seemed suddenly commanded by it and were trying to hinder my movement.

“Fine, if I have to force you to submit, I will!” I shouted.

Another [Wind Step] got me away from it, and then I launched a barrage of spells at it by letting my [Sub-Cores] go wild. Two [Fireball] and [Wind Cutter] spells went hurtling toward the spider.

Meanwhile, [Shatterquake] was activated from both sides, sending a wave of rocky shrapnel flying toward its flanks. [Glacial Aura] became active to slow and hinder the spider, and I launched another [Lightning Bolt].

I had thought it quite an impressive barrage of spells, but the spider surprised me by erecting makeshift web shields to catch the rocky shrapnel on its flanks. It dodged one of the [Fireball] spells while the remaining one was swallowed up by a net of that strange thread.

The [Lightning Bolt] crashed into it but still seemed less effective than I had hoped. [Glacial Aura], however, was in full effect, and it appeared that even its network of hidden threads in its lair was starting to get a little frosty.

“Oh? Not a fan of the cold?” I taunted.

The spider hissed at me, flicking a thread at me. I dodged, but it looked like it had expected that as another one of those strange threads awaited me and sliced through my arm.

“What a waste,” I commented as I regrew an arm.

The spider looked outraged.

I held out the freshly grown hand, but instead of casting a spell, I used [Nitro Slime] to create a small explosion to scatter a spray of [Cryo Slime] throughout the area.

Again, the spider surprised me by first shrinking and then expertly dodging most of the slimy shrapnel, but it couldn’t help but catch a few scattered sprays and encounter the deathly chill encroaching upon it.

It then charged at me, shifting between its shrunken and enlarged form in a rather unorthodox approach. I fired a flurry of [Icicle] spells when it suddenly shrunk and vanished. The spot it once occupied only held a small circle of thread attached to a connecting line across the floor.

“What?” I questioned.

I received the warning too late from my [Sub-Cores] as the spider had somehow teleported behind me and attacked. With its size enlarged again and its front appendages stretched outward with interconnected thread, it went straight for my head.

Its garrote wire of that deadly thread cut through my neck like a hot knife through butter. From the disconnect, I temporarily lost connection to the [Sub-Core] I had housed in my head and to my primary normal vision. A frustrating experience that would have likely killed most others.

Using [Life Sight] as my eyes, I exploded with a barrage of [Pseudopods] toward the spider. Each tendril was armed and tipped with [Metal Slime] blades and spears. The spider had clearly not expected such a counterattack from a headless corpse and was caught off guard, and my blades cut and spears pierced as best they could, although its threaded armor was putting up a much greater defense than I would’ve thought.

If slashing and piercing were not going to be effective, I rapidly morphed the ends into metallic bludgeoning implements like hammers, maces, and morningstars; I had plenty of variety to choose from. The array of tendrils continued to assault the spider, which was trying to defend and counterattack. It would slice off a tendril, only for it to regrow shortly after.

At the same time, I was spreading out a growing radius of slime on the floor to catch any severed appendages.

“Well, you made me stop fighting like an elf, so good job!” I said with a newly formed head.

There was a frantic panic in the spider’s eyes as it tried to defend against the endless assault of tentacles.

“We can keep playing until you feel like talking.”

Chapter twenty-five

The Spider and the Slime

I cut off her head! Why is she still alive!? the spider frantically panicked.

She stepped in and felt whatever was leaking onto the floor, burning the tips of her paws.

And now the floor is lava! Not literally, but why is it burning? What is this blue goop? What is going on? This is far too strange! Does nothing make any sense?

Using her thread manipulation, she ascended up and off the surface. The spider silk was almost invisible due to its thinness, so it nearly looked like she was flying, not unlike an actor performing wire-fu. Normally, she would avoid using such measures as it made her feel a little queasy and preferred to have all eight of her legs firmly on the ground, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

The elf smirked, seemingly increasingly amused by the situation. It looked like she was melting, yet her size didn’t diminish at all.

Can all elves do this? What kind of horrific world is this? That stupid voice called her an elf.

Again, something reached out to her mind; it felt alien and wrong, so she instinctively slapped it away. The elf claimed it was to talk to her, but she wasn’t about to start believing an elf that could clone itself, survive decapitation, and melt.

I bet that’s how she puts the brain parasites into me! Nope. No. Rejected!

And that was when the tentacles appeared. The floor was growing tentacles reaching out to grab her! It was absolutely horrific, and the acrobatic maneuvering required to keep out of their grasp made her want to hurl.

But dodging wasn’t all she was doing; as she grappled around the room, she was layering wires of [Rift Thread] to collapse into a constricting trap when she was done. Hopefully, even the elf couldn’t escape a straightjacket made of [Rift Thread] if it didn’t outright kill her.

She tried again to [Blink] to a better vantage point to avoid the slimy tentacles. However, her Mana was still completely empty, so she was forced to defend herself by bisecting the tendril with some of the [Rift Thread] she was keeping close on hand for offensive usage.

Mana: Drained

Why has it still not recovered even a little bit!?

She wanted to cry. What was once her domain had somehow become a living nightmare. The floor was attacking her, tentacles were everywhere, and a smug elf was mocking her right in the middle of it all.

Well, we shall see who has the last laugh!

Feeling newfound confidence in her network of interlinking threads, she snapped one of the supports, which caused a cascade of the threads to collapse inward. An all-encompassing net, allowing nowhere to run unless the elf could instantly dig down.

Victory is within my grasp! the spider thought hopefully.

Even the elf seemed surprised by the sudden turn of events; she finally reacted and began unleashing a barrage of spells in all directions at the inwardly collapsing web. But it was all for naught! Fire, Lightning, Water, Earth, and even Air all disappeared into the void of the web!

The spider had thought she had seen it all when spikes of bronzed metal burst outward from the elf in various shapes and sizes as if trying to puncture or cut the thread. But once again, it was futile.

The elf even used a new form of magic. A neon-green spell that sizzled as it flew through the air, but it also was swallowed up. With each failure, the spider felt more and more confident.

Eight magical shields suddenly apparated out of nowhere, surrounding the elf and providing it an almost complete hemisphere of protection.

It’s useless! Quit struggling so much already, you damned monster elf!

When the enclosing net touched the shields, she had expected them to immediately eat through them, but clearly, her overconfidence was showing. When the [Rift Thread] met the unknown spell shield, magical sparks discharged from the contact point in a hodgepodge of everchanging impossible colors.

She could feel the tension on the threads; the elf had somehow stopped her trap!

No! No, you don’t!

She rapidly repositioned herself and assumed some more direct control over the trap with [Thread Mastery]. It was mentally fatiguing, but at least it cost no Mana, so it was something she could still do. Who would win? These magical shields or her net?

Cracks started appearing in the eight shields, and the spider felt glee bubbling up. She exerted even more mental will upon the threads; the crushing enclosure was her ultimate victory!

The sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the den. The shields had lost. The constricting web surged forward unimpeded and enclosed entirely upon the elf.

Victory!

Squelch!

The entire elf’s body became like paste being forced through a strainer. The spider nearly vomited at the sight; it was utterly gruesome.

That’s what you get for messing with me! she cheered while swaying from her thread.

But something felt… Wrong.

Where are my level-ups? she asked, then immediately realized. She’s not dead!

The elf’s head grew from the sludge on the ground, away from the web net. She rose up as if emerging from a swamp. The spider wanted to scream.

“That was pretty scary!” The elf spoke. “If I was caught off-guard, that might have been the end for me! And then I’d find myself in that void, sitting on a chair and having a very awkward conversation with Gramps.”

Gramps? Who the hell is that? Wait… Void? Is that?

Her thoughts were interrupted when tendrils from out of nowhere suddenly grabbed her. She wondered how she hadn’t noticed them until it was too late and noted that they had taken on a texture and coloring, almost mimicking the dark, rocky environment they were in perfectly.

“Finally got you!” the elf replied.

The spider freaked out, trying to rapidly adjust her size from big to small in an effort to escape, but the slimy tendrils were gripped on tight and accommodated appropriately for her size adjustments.

No, let me go, you evil sludge monster!

“You know… Even if you are a fellow [Experiment], I’m sure they won’t mind me taking a few nibbles, right?” the elf asked.

Nibbles!? She freaked out, barely registering the other words.

She had to do it, her last resort. It was a trait called [Phase Out], another she had gained from her most recent evolution. Rather than use Mana or any other communal resource, the trait had a total duration it could be used for per rest. You could do it as small as even a single second of an increment if you wanted, but if you ran out of time, you would be forced back to reality—whether you were ready for it or not.

She hated it.

The reason was simple; every time she used it, she couldn’t help but feel existential dread that she would fall through the world or get stuck in something and turn into a dimensional smear.

But she had no other options. And so she reluctantly activated the trait as her body seemed to shift in place to another plane of existence. Her stomach immediately churned, and she felt her previous meal trying to say hello.

She slipped through the restraints with ease and began plummeting toward the floor. She reached out for a thread to grab her, but it phased right through her.

Shit! I forgot it’s literally everything! I can’t use my web or anything to catch myself!

“Oh gods, not more ghost bullshit! Is this purely to stop me from eating another [Experiment]? I feel like you gods have a grudge against me now!” The elf started ranting.

She only half paid attention to it as she needed to cancel the trait before she fell through the ground. When she shifted back to reality, her stomach lurched.

Oh no… I can’t…

She collapsed on the ground and vomited. The slimy floor even retracted away from her puke as if not wanting to touch it.

“That’s… eww… I didn’t even know spiders could vomit,” the elf commented.

Stupid ability… Stupid elf… Stupid… Everything…

She was feeling drained. The constant state of being at zero Mana was clearly not healthy, and losing her entire stomach contents had clearly been enough.

“Last chance, or I swear to Gramps I will just eat you even if they offered me a core on the spot!” the elf threatened.

Once again, she felt something mentally reach out to her.

Fine, I give up. Brainworm me…

“Finally!” the elf exclaimed. “Gods, was that so difficult? The last [Experiment] was at least willing to talk to me before he went all blood magic on me.”

[Experiment]? That sounds familiar…

“Oh, you’ve got a cute mental voice. I guess you’re a girl spider?” the elf asked. “And good, if [Experiment] sounds familiar, then I’m guessing it’s one of your Emblems, and you’re also one just like me.”

Wait! She’s reading my mind? The spider panicked.

“Not mind reading… [Telepathy],” the elf corrected. “Though apparently, if you habitually talk to yourself with your inner voice, it can basically be called mind-reading. I certainly ran into that issue.”

Oh balls…

The elf giggled. “At least you had the mental strength to cut off our connection. Try being forced to talk to a pixie who could sneakily intrude without you knowing.”

I don’t care about that; why are you trying to kill me!? the spider demanded.

“Well, you tried to kill me first, technically…” the elf pointed out. “Unless you want to say most people survive losing their legs and arms when they walk into this mine.”

I guess that’s true… the spider admitted.

“As for why, well, this mine belongs to a dwarven family I work for. They want to get back to business, so they employed me to make you leave.”

The spider gulped.

“Non-lethally was an option.” The elf shrugged. “As long as you leave their mine, they are happy.”

That’s a relief.

“Plus, I might anger Gramps or whoever is the god you’re assigned to if I just eat a fellow [Experiment]. Although I will say after seeing your abilities on display, I’m certainly tempted…”

Don’t eat me! the spider shrieked back mentally.

“Ow!” The elf flinched. “That was loud… How the heck did you make my ears ring? I don’t even have ears. Anyway… I currently do not have plans to eat you, even though it is tempting. Assuming you’re going to stop the hostilities.”

I gave up already, didn’t I? I have no Mana to do anything and no more stamina to spin more threads…

“Huh, so it does use stamina…” the elf replied, then began going on a tangent. “It just uses Mana for me; I have always wondered about that. I guess since I don’t have that as a resource, it just taps the closest substitute?”

Uhh… Miss… Elf? I have no idea what you’re talking about.

“Oh!” The elf snapped out of it. “Sorry about that, I have a tendency to get… Distracted. Also, the name is Syl.”

I’d say it was nice to meet you, Syl, but honestly, you kind of ruined my day.

“Sorry about that…” Syl apologized, looking a little sheepish. “But like I said, the dwarves want this mine back.”

I guess I’ll have to pack up and leave then… Better than being eaten. I can’t believe what a scam this life was. I get born a spider, and you get born as some elf demon. How is that fair?

“I’m frankly surprised you still think I’m an elf after everything you already witnessed,” Syl replied with a shrug. “No, I’m a monster just like you. A slime, actually…”

You’re a slime?

“Yes?” Syl replied, astonished.

Really?

“First Trixie, and now you, too?” Syl replied, looking rather annoyed. “Why does everyone not believe me? I can maybe understand normal people not believing it, but surely a fellow [Experiment] shouldn’t find it that strange?”

Sorry if I offended you… just… The few slimes I ran into weren’t exactly… She waved one of her front legs in a gesturing manner as she pointed to Syl. All of this… Everything… They were kind of useless blobs?

Syl sighed deeply and shook her head. “Okay… I do understand a little. Although, in defense of slimes, I’ll say that I’ve fought a lot of spider monsters before, and most of them were underwhelming, too.”

I watched a slime fall into magma. Did any of the spiders do something that stupid?

Syl paused and then reluctantly shook her head, looking oddly depressed. “No…”

What a strange… Slime? the spider couldn’t help but think.

Chapter twenty-six

Bigger on the Inside

Damn… She really got me there. I don’t think there’s any monster that I could say willingly killed itself. I mean… I could argue that the monsters were idiots for throwing themselves at me. But that just sounds cocky.

“Moving on!” I said quickly, trying to brush aside the subject. “So I introduced myself. Do you go by ‘The Terror’ or just Terror?”

“Neither, please… I hate that name; I can’t believe someone could force a name on me!” the spider responded mentally.

“Funny story; I had my name forced upon me, too,” I replied. “Even though I’ve grown to like it, mine actually sounds like a name more than a title. Do you have a past name or one you’d prefer? What about Terry?”

“No… I can’t remember my past life’s name…” the spider responded somberly. “And please, no name even remotely close to this stupid terror nonsense. I wish I could get rid of it.”

“Technically, I could change it for you, but it comes with some attachments,” I admitted.

“What sort of attachments?” she asked curiously.

“I could bond you as my monster companion, and then I’d be able to rename you, I think? It’s what happened to me.”

“I… I don’t know if I’m ready for that level of commitment,” she said, clearly hesitant.

“I can understand; I’m not even certain if I can bond you,” I confessed. “It also puts a different Emblem on you, probably to show civilized society that you aren’t a hostile monster.”

“Wait. It would let me leave this dank cave and rejoin society?” she asked.

“Oh, right, I should probably explain. So I’m moonlighting as an adventurer, despite being a monster, and I’ve got a whole secret identity sort of thing going on. Anyway, some adventurers have a monster companion, and from what I understand, you’d be my responsibility, but it would let you enter cities.”

“That’s crazy. You’re a monster pretending to be an elf?” she asked.

“I also pretended to be a human at one point… and a goblin… and a pegasus… I do a lot of shapeshifting.”

The spider stared at me in disbelief with her eight eyes.

“That’s so unfair…” she eventually responded.

“It was an evolution option; it took a lot of work to get. Maybe you’ll get a humanoid spider form later?” I suggested.

“Nothing I’ve seen before, and I’ve evolved three times already…”

“You started at tier two then? That seems a little unfair… Then again, you started in these caves while I started on a farm and in a relatively peaceful forest. If you ignore the packs of murder wolves, anyway.”

“Tier… two?” she asked.

“Oh. Do you not have [Identify]?” I was shocked.

She shook her little head.

“It’s a skill that lets you see a monster or person’s race and class levels. Well, mine recently leveled up, and now I can see the tier of monsters. You’re currently tier five, and I’m tier four,” I explained.

“Wait, I’m a tier higher than you, but I still lost?”

“Well, I also have a lot of class levels, and I probably have a higher combined level than you. My [Apex Hunter] didn’t even trigger on you, sadly…”

“You have a class?” the spider asked in disbelief. “I’ve been wondering about that for forever. Mine’s been blank since the start; I thought I’d get one from an evolution eventually.”

“Yeah, that’s why I joined the adventurers in the first place. I heard they could get me a class, and I snuck myself in. They have this magic crystal that lets you pick one.”

“C-could I use the crystal?”

“I don’t see why not. But you’d need to join the Adventurer’s Guild… or sneak in. Maybe I could ask to use one privately and let you use it?” I entertained the idea.

“Why only maybe?”

“They have this whole… linked system setup… thing, a wish from the gods, it’s kind of crazy. There could be a restriction that only guild members could use the crystal, for example.”

“Oh…” she replied dejectedly.

“I mean, I could be wrong!” I replied reassuringly. “I’m just a bit pessimistic and neurotic about these sorts of things. There’s also the issue of trying to sneak you in; the dwarven city is heavily fortified.”

“If you’re trying to reassure me, you’re doing a lousy job!” she shouted, sounding exasperated.

“Sorry…” I shrugged.

“No… I’m… ugh…” she started trying to reply. “It’s just a lot to take in.”

I pulled out some fresh, hot food from my [Core Storage] as if it had just been cooked. The spider stared at it enviously, and I placed it in front of her.

“Here. Since you lost your lunch earlier,” I offered.

She stared long and hard at the food. “Why are you doing this?”

“Well… I feel a bit bad coming in and taking your home away. I’d probably feel the same if someone took away my tree back in the day. Hell, I felt that way even when I lost my goblin cave… Even though they were secretly betraying me. Well… a few anyway, most of them were decent; I hope Yuzz is doing well.”

“Focus!” the spider interrupted.

“Ah… sorry…” I scratched my cheek sheepishly. “I guess I just feel a little lonely. I sort of can’t tell most people the truth about me, and so I thought a fellow [Experiment] might be the next best option. Assuming you don’t try to kill me again like the last one.”

“You’ve met others like us?” she asked. “And no… I’m more than happy to bury the hatchet between us.”

“Just one… I think?” I replied. There might have been others, but he was the only one I knew for certain.

“He was an orc who evolved into a troll. I thought things would work out, but his orc tribe was pretty brutal, and I felt obligated to stop them from raping and pillaging the land. Lines were drawn, sides were picked, and I fought him. Then left him to stew in his defeat.”

“Oh…” She paused. “I’ve killed dwarves, though; isn’t that going to be a problem?”

“Wasn’t it self-defense? My employer told me that you don’t chase down fleeing dwarves.”

“That matters?” she asked.

“I feel like it does,” I answered honestly and shrugged. “They were adventurers out to kill you, and you fought back; they knew the risks. On the other hand, the orcs were going out of their way to attack civilians.”

“Sort a grayish-white in terms of morality,” she said before finally taking a bite of the food. Once she started, it rapidly started disappearing.

Since we were still mentally linked, I could hear her gushing about the food in her head. I guessed she wasn’t too happy about being forced to eat nothing but the raw meat of the monster and dwarf variety to survive.

“Why did you even stay in this mine for so long?” I asked curiously.

“This wasn’t my original… home, if you could even call it that,” she admitted. “I was stuck in my second evolution coma and woke up here; I figured someone must have placed me here. I guess my hiding spot wasn’t as good as I thought it would be…”

“If it was up to tier four, I was out for a week… I’m surprised you survived.”

“You and me both. I was stuck in that endless void, and then that woman suddenly said: ‘Looks like someone found and captured you.’ I thought I was done for, but then I woke up in a relatively flimsy box that I broke out of inside this mine.”

“So someone planted you here… I guess it’s fortunate they were trying to ruin the Flinthearts’ business then. Anyone else would’ve presumably killed you…”

She nodded glumly.

I had plenty of food, so I dumped more of it out for her. The way she was ravenously eating it, it was like she was starved. She had eaten nearly three times her body weight in food!

“H-how are you eating all of that?” I couldn’t help but ask. “I say this as someone who doesn’t have a stomach, and everything I eat gets immediately dissolved and turned into slime mass.”

“Oh… I’m bigger on the inside than on the outside,” she explained nonchalantly.

I stared at her. “Explain a bit more?”

She swallowed a mouthful of food before finally responding. I wanted to tell her that she could mentally talk while eating, but I guess she saw it as rude.

“I’m not actually this size. The bigger body is my real body; that’s been the case since my previous evolution.”

“So your stomach shrunk, but you still need food as if you were full-sized?”

“Exactly! At least, that was the case up until my latest evolution. Now, all my organs are kind of… not there anymore?” she tried to explain.

“Not there? What do you mean? Surely you still need your organs and whatnot to live?”

“Well, when I use my [Spatial Sense] on myself, there’s like an empty void where my insides should be,” she explained. “I’d almost say my organs are in a portal if that makes sense?”

“[Spatial Sense]?” I asked, with eyes sparkling. “Is that a trait or skill? I’ve never heard of it before.”

“Oh… it’s a trait I got when I evolved. It’s used for [Dimension Magic] and [Blink],” she answered.

“Whoa! That’s so cool! You’ve got to show me those!” I immediately exclaimed, almost salivating over the thought of getting new things.

“Show? What do you mean?” she asked.

I giggled. “Oh boy. You’re in for a treat.”

I held out my hand and projected the [Identify] skill for her.

<[Identify]

Provides basic profile information about the target.

Skill level increases the likelihood of successful identification.

Functionality can be improved through other skills.>

“What!?” she exclaimed, basically darting around the floating text. “You can do that?”

“I had nearly the same reaction.” I giggled, then almost word for word repeated what I was told. “You simply open your status menu, focus on the trait or skill, and think of displaying it.”

I wondered what skill or trait she would show me.

<[Dimension Magic]

An extremely advanced form of magic.

Allows one to manipulate Dimensional Mana.

Grants one default spell per level.>

I blinked.

Gods, that’s a big one. But I don’t think I have Dimensional affinity?

<Skill [Dimension Magic] requires Dimension Affinity.>

Thought so…

<Error. Existing Dimension Affinity has been locked.

The user must pay a fee to unlock.>

Wait… I have Dimension Affinity? But it’s been locked? By who?

<Authority: Gramps. Has requested Dimension Affinity to be locked.>

Gramps! Why!?

<The user must pay the fee to unlock.>

Sure, what’s the fee?

<Unlock Dimension Affinity for 10 Trait Points? 11 Trait Points remaining.>

Shit! That’s so expensive! Ten whole points!? I mean, I can afford it… I’m sure it’s worth it, right?

<Quest received: Teach The Terror (Spider) the fundamentals of magic.

Reward: Discounted unlock payment (variable based on results).>

Whoa! What the heck? A quest for a discount? Sign me up!

<Authority: Gramps has petitioned for this quest to be declined.>

<Authority: Mother has vetoed this petition.>

I was staring at the messages, utterly dumbfounded, when suddenly, a panicked voice echoed in my head.

“Syl!?” the spider shouted, breaking me out of my stupor. “Are you still there? You’ve kinda gone blank as a statue for a bit there…”

“Oh… Sorry, I was receiving a quest,” I replied, still somewhat confused about the whole situation.

“A quest? What for?” the spider asked.

“Mother wants me to teach you magic, I think…”

The spider looked startled.

“That controlling bitch! She’s the reason I attacked you in the first place! She told me a powerful elf was coming, and I was doomed if I didn’t get better at magic as soon as possible and stop slacking off! The nerve of her! What a control freak after she put me in this horrible body!”

<Quest received: Slap The Terror (Spider).

Reward: 1 Trait Point unlock discount.>

Before Gramps or anyone else could remove this quest, I rapidly formed a tendril and slapped the spider across the face.

“What was that for!?” she demanded.

<Quest complete.>

<Unlock Dimension Affinity for 9 Trait Points? 11 Trait Points remaining.>

“Sorry! I got a quest,” I tried to explain, although it wasn’t a very good reason.

“You slapped me for a quest!?” She sounded furious.

“Mother gave me a trait point discount!” I tried to deflect the blame.

“That bitch!”

I half expected another quest, but sadly, it looked like I wouldn’t get another discount so easily.

Chapter twenty-seven

Exchanging Stories and Offers

“Okay…” I said with a nod. “So, I guess she wants me to help you with magic because you’ve got [Dimension Magic], and she is the goddess of magic.”

“She’s the goddess of magic and chose to put me into a spider?” she asked. “Surely there were better options?”

“I guess you could have been a slime, like me?” I suggested.

“I meant something more… human…” she grumbled.

I shrugged. “From what I understand, they wanted to test traits, and monsters were ideal for that.”

She grumbled more curses.

“Okay. I mentioned this earlier, but how about becoming my [Bonded Companion]?” I offered. “I think it’d work out well for both of us.”

She took a while to finally respond, clearly thinking it over.

“I’m not saying no. But I’d like some more information.”

“How about I do you one better?” I replied and presented the skill for her to read.

<[Companion Bond]

Form a bond with a willing monster. Accepting the bond cannot be forced by any means.

The monster will receive the [Bonded Companion] Emblem, a requirement for future companion-related skills to function.

Your [Bonded Companion] is always treated as a party member to you. You may only have one [Bonded Companion].

If the monster lacks basic intelligence and language capabilities, it will receive an initial mental improvement and the [Universal Language] skill to facilitate communication between the two individuals.

The bond lets both individuals know one another’s health status and allows greater cooperation as their bond grows. As the bond grows, further bonuses will be given.

A [Bonded Companion] still has free will; however, [Order] commands can be given to give temporary situational bonuses in extreme circumstances. The [Bonded Companion] only gains these circumstantial bonuses if it agrees with the [Order]; otherwise, it can attempt to resist with its Willpower against your own, and depending on the severity, a permanent bond penalty will be applied.

This skill has no levels.>

I gave her all the time she needed to read through it and digest the information.

“And having this [Bonded Companion] Emblem would stop adventurers attacking me?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Do you have any idea what these further bonuses are?” she asked curiously.

“Uh… There was a skill. I didn’t take it… I wonder if I can still show it to you?” I murmured and started poking through my profile.

<Would you like to spend 1 Skill Point to purchase [Companion Training] Skill Points remaining 15.>

“No… I don’t want to buy it,” I grumbled and started mentally poking the different parts of the prompt. “Come on, display it! Ugh… What if I focus on that part? Maybe?”

<[Companion Training]

Your [Bonded Companion] receives additional skill experience when you are training them and minor additional experience for kills earned together.

Bonuses experience scales with skill level and bond level.>

“Ah!” I exclaimed happily. “Can you see that?”

She nodded. “I can. Although, like the last skill, it tells me I do not have the required class unlocked to buy it.”

“Interesting… I guess that’s to stop sharing skills you aren’t qualified for. Well, not that I’d recommend the Monster Tamer class to you. You’d probably be good with Mage or Rogue and maybe even get the hybrid class between them. Shadowcaster was really good, in my opinion, despite the stigma.”

“Syl! You’re going on a tangent again!” she exclaimed.

“Sorry… I find this stuff kind of fascinating,” I admitted.

“So I’d be able to get a class?” she asked.

“I don’t see why not? If you’re my system-registered companion and everything,” I answered. “I’m a Gold-rank adventurer, so I reckon I have some clout. I could even lie and say I want to privately change my class and let you use it.”

She nodded. “And it would allow you to rename me?”

“I’ve never done it before, but it was done to me. I might need to poke around with the skill until I figure it out.”

“I don’t like the whole… [Order] thing…” she started saying. “Like… at all. The idea of suddenly losing my free will is terrifying. It’s why I kept rejecting your [Telepathy]. I thought it was some mind-control brainworms.”

“I could swear not to use it,” I began explaining. “To be perfectly honest, the person who bonded me ordered me to kill her. I can’t say I was happy about the whole experience.”

“What? Why?” she asked.

“She was dying and didn’t want to give her essence to her killer,” I explained earnestly. “There’s also a whole thing where elves have an Emblem that can be passed down, but she didn’t want to give it to him.”

“That must have been some serious commitment. I don’t think I could kill myself with the power of spite alone…” she responded and then gave the equivalent of a mental sigh. “I’m sure you’re a nice slime, Syl. But I don’t think I could take you on your word alone. I’d be opening myself up to a big risk…”

“I’d swear a Spirit’s Oath if I could…” I murmured.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“It’s like a super contract. There’s these big magical chains that literally enforce the promised oath.”

“Huh… That would be pretty convenient.”

Gramps? Mother? Assuming you two are still watching this… Can I swear an oath never to use the [Order] command?

There was an awkward silence between us. Then, something shockingly appeared between us.

<You wish to swear an oath to the gods to never use the [Order] command on your [Bonded Companion]. Do you accept?>

“I just got a prompt!” I shouted excitedly.

“I got one too… I guess this is the real deal?” she asked somewhat skeptically.

“Look. I’m genuinely willing to swear on this,” I admitted. “I had a warlock also try to enslave me, so I perfectly understand your fear. I like the idea of having a companion; there are benefits for both of us, and I’m in a somewhat unique position to help you. But at the end of the day, it’s up to you.”

“Wait, a warlock tried to enslave you?” the spider asked.

“Yeah… He was a goblin trying to become strong enough to defeat the humans or something like that.”

“And I thought getting kidnapped while evolving was bad. What kind of crazy life have you been living?”

I grinned. “Well, we got time. Maybe it’ll help you decide whether you want me to take this oath or not? So… Let me tell you about how I started as a little slime and nearly got killed by a little boy with a bucket.”

“A bucket?” she asked in disbelief.

We spent a lot of time talking as I gave an abridged version of my tale. She was honestly quite dumbfounded by most of the things I had done. I couldn’t help that I was quite a busy little slime.

Once I had given mine, she gave her own, although other than the kidnapping, it was relatively normal. While I had awoken as a slime pretty much on the spot, she had actually hatched as a Giant Spider (Baby) and then rapidly grew into a Giant Spider in less than a day.

Monsters really fast-track their baby program.

I would have thought she’d have been spawned using abundance essence, but perhaps that wasn’t feasible then, or Mother had another reason for using a more regular form of birth.

She had only a few siblings who had tried to eat her at the time, and she had to kill them to live. It was somewhat reassuring that I wasn’t the only one dropped into immediate danger upon first awakening.

It took her days to get more accustomed to her body, even with the installed instincts, and then she finally started braving the caverns to find her next meal.

I was initially jealous that she got to have the trait assistant for twenty levels, compared to my ten, but it sounded like she had a considerably smaller pool of traits to choose from. Either that, or she didn’t interrogate it as much as I did.

I kinda bullied Gramps into unlocking Mana Reinforcement, after all.

The unique thread-related traits she had picked up allowed her to evolve into a very rare species, and that was when she went from Giant Spider to Trapweaver Spider.

That had opened up a whole new world for her, as now she could use her smarts to lay traps and ambushes, far smarter than any regular monster. Her growth now soared, and she had pretty much taken over an entire section of the lower caverns by herself.

This was when she earned the [Apex Hunter] Emblem, as she had killed some notable monsters above her own weight class by leading them into traps. It was clear she had put a lot of time, thought, and effort into designing her traps, and I had invalidated the majority of them by existing. I felt a little guilty.

Once again, [Acid Slime] proving it is one of my top traits after all this time.

One day, she encountered dwarves and discovered there was sentient life. She tried opening communications with them, but they had a kill-on-sight mindset instead.

“I thought maybe it was my scary appearance that was off-putting… So I vowed to make myself seem less… monstrous,” she explained. “Either my intent was acknowledged, or I met some hidden condition, as when I evolved again, I had the option for a mutation I thought would help.”

She took a mutation for her second evolution option, Shrinking, as she had hoped it would have allowed her to appear less threatening to any more people she encountered. However, she admitted she also wanted it because she was terrified that a future evolution would make her far too big to get around.

She hadn’t fully understood the evolution torpor and that this one would be far longer. She thought she was safe in her booby-trapped home when some dwarves found her unconscious body and kidnapped her.

She awoke in the orichalcum mine stored in a box with some rocks. She had immediately tried using her shrunken form to appear harmless to the dwarves, but they weren’t having any of that.

“Some of them even accused me of being an ant! I look nothing like an ant!” she mentally screamed in protest.

That was when she was forced to kill. Her combination of rare evolution and mutation and her traits related to manipulating and producing various forms of spider thread helped her get the upper hand on the dwarves. Fighting dwarves with class and race levels meant she entered an overly explosive growth period.

“When I evolved again, I thought of leaving this place… I could use [Blink] to go pretty much anywhere I wanted, and I usually use it to leave and hunt for food. But I had grown accustomed to living here. And the dwarf attacks had nearly stopped entirely.”

“No, I understand entirely. Although your period of peace and quiet was due to outside influence. Once ownership of this mine is transferred, the attacks will likely return in full force,” I informed her.

“So either way, I need to leave. I just get to choose if I join you or run wild in the caverns again.”

“The choice is yours. Either way, I’m willing to throw in some magic lessons to satisfy Mother enough to get my discount,” I offered.

She paused, thinking it over some more.

I felt like she was on the verge of accepting, so I tried to sweeten the deal.

“I can promise you good food as well. Not to mention, taking a class will give you an abundance of skill points. Way more than the scraps you’ve gotten from [Apex Hunter]. Also, It’s not like the position is permanent. If you wish to part ways down the line, I could let you go…”

“You’ll take this oath to never use [Order] on me?” she asked.

“I swear on Gramps and my slime cores.”

“Okay… I think I’m willing to accept.”

<You wish to swear an oath to the gods to never use the [Order] command on your [Bonded Companion]. Do you accept?>

“Yes. I swear to never use [Order] on my [Bonded Companion].”

“I accept,” the spider replied.

I had expected a repeat performance of the golden rainbow chains appearing to bind me to my promise. Instead, an iridescent black thread apparated and plunged itself into me. It wrapped around my core before tying into a knot.

“Huh… I didn’t expect that,” I answered honestly.

“It was your idea!” the spider said, clearly a bit shocked by the strange display.

I nodded. “Yeah, but the Spirit version was more… flashy. It had chains and rainbows and—”

“Please don’t go on another tangent…” the spider begged. “Now, how do I become your companion?”

“Well, I hope you don’t slap this mental handshake away,” I joked as I activated the skill. A connection between us reached out.

<The Terror has accepted your offer to be a [Bonded Companion].>

It was interesting. Immediately upon accepting it, I could vaguely sense her location. It wasn’t like any of my normal senses, more like a compass in the back of my head. I could be spun around with my eyes and senses closed and immediately point toward her.

<Bond Growth: Kindling.>

<The Terror is slightly injured.>

<The Terror’s Mana is critically low.>

“What do you mean you’re in perfect health and full Mana!?” the spider shouted in outrage.

Chapter twenty-eight

Vee

“Well… to be honest, you didn’t really damage me,” I admitted.

The spider stared at me long and hard. The turmoil going through her head was evident even without [Telepathy].

“I decapitated you,” she responded.

“You cut off a hunk of slime,” I responded.

“Aren’t you literally a slime, so how does that not hurt you?”

“Technically, it’s more like my… appendages?” I tried to answer.

“Anyone else losing an entire appendage would be hurt. I certainly can’t just shrug off losing a leg, and I’ve got eight of them!” she complained.

“It’s like if you’re fighting a rock elemental,” I tried to explain. “The rocks are just what they control; in reality, they are the crystal center. It’s the same for me. The slime is just something I control to make up my body.”

“Okay… sure… but what about your Mana being full?” she asked. “You were throwing around spell after spell pretty much with reckless abandon.”

I shrugged. “You’re not going to like this answer… but I’m a Mana slime. That and everything I’ve picked up along the way means that I could almost say I have endless Mana, and even if I do spend it, it regenerates rather rapidly.”

“You’re right. I don’t like that answer… You’re telling me you’re literally made out of Mana?”

“No, I’m not a spirit. I’m still a slime at the end of the day,” I replied. Seeing her still not understanding, I tried to explain it further. “Think of it more like I’m a walking Mana potion rather than the concept of Mana itself?”

“Okay… I guess…” she relented. “So what have you done to my Mana?”

“Oh…” I realized I hadn’t canceled my order to have [Mana Burn] refreshed and quickly did so. “I had an affliction cast on you; it burns away Mana. It’s really good if you ever fight spirits. I’ve stopped it refreshing.”

“Well, that just seems unfair…” she replied.

“It’s effective, but not usually this effective. Normally, my opponents start with full Mana, so it can take a while to empty them unless they expend a lot themselves. I fought a monster that regenerated more passively than I could burn away.”

“My Mana emptied itself when I caught you in my portal trap… I didn’t expect it to be so expensive to teleport you such a short distance!” she explained.

“Oh… Yeah, I’ve been told I’m dimensionally heavy,” I murmured.

“You’re dimensionally fat?” the spider asked bluntly, clearly unamused.

“I have a dimensional storage, and you didn’t teleport just me but everything inside my storage.”

“That’s… absurd… Even if what you’re saying makes sense, the amount in your storage must be utterly ludicrous!”

I chuckled. “Well, you said you’re bigger on the inside. I am, too. I have a lake of slime hidden away.”

“How much have you eaten to have a lake of slime!?” she exclaimed.

“Well… I do spend a lot of it, but I recently ate two worms, so I gained a lot.”

“You ate two worms? Two entire worms!?”

“Oh yeah, they were delicious.”

“I see…” She sounded defeated and quickly moved away from the subject. “So, can you rename me now?”

“Sure, we can try that,” I replied happily. “Do you have any ideas for your name? Because I really want to call you Terry for some reason.”

“No! Not Terry! Ugh… it needs to be something short and cute so I can repair my tarnished image.”

I didn’t think a cute name would help a monstrous spider, but I held my tongue.

We spent some time going back and forth, throwing out random names or even sounds thrown together that sounded vaguely namelike. She was oddly picky about it, but after having the name of “The Terror” thrust upon you, I guess I could sort of understand. Not everyone can get a great name like Syl on the first try.

“Vee,” she said.

“Vee,” I repeated.

“It’s short and unassuming,” she explained.

“It’s definitely short. Only three letters like my own, I can see the appeal.”

“I think we have a winner,” she said rather happily.

“Now I just need to figure out how to actually do this…” I replied.

I tried thinking of the wording Sylthaeryn used when she had given me my moniker.

“I shall grant you the name, Vee,” I declared with a slightly authoritative tone.

<[Bonded Companion] The Terror has been renamed Vee.>

<Vee [Bonded Companion]; Riftweaver Spider [V] LV 25. Elemental Affinity: None.>

“It worked!” Vee said happily.

“Well, that was easier than I thought it would be. Glad to have you aboard, Vee.” I sighed with relief.

“Yeah! Thanks for not eating me,” Vee joked. “And… you know, giving me a chance to get out of these caves.”

“Hey. I was mostly joking about eating you.”

“Mostly!?”

“Well, if you were irredeemable and I killed you, I wasn’t going to let it just… Go to waste. You know?” I replied.

“Bloody hell… What have I signed myself up for.” Vee chuckled nervously.

“Magic training! Class training! Dungeon raiding! The works!” I said excitedly.

“Sure… Just remember to feed me,” Vee joked.

“If you think that food was good, wait till you try food from someone with high levels in Chef!”

“Sounds divine… So, what’s the next steps?” Vee asked. “I’ve regained enough Mana to no longer feel like I’ve been sleep-deprived for weeks.”

“Well…” I paused to think. “Getting you registered with the guild is probably the first step. Obtaining a class will make things easier. As for teaching you magic… It would help if we had a common type between us so I could show you how I approach it.”

“I only have [Dimension Magic] though… It came with my evolution for free.”

“Well, since you’re a spider, I’m assuming you might have an affinity with Corrosion. I hope you’ve got a skill point to spare.”

I held out a hand and projected [Corrosion Magic] to her.

“I got an error; it says I lack the basic class proficiency to unlock it,” Vee said, sounding disappointed.

“That’s good news!” I said happily.

“How is that good?”

“The error you want to avoid is it saying you lack the required affinity! That means you do have Corrosion.”

Vee seemed confused, so I gave her the basic rundown of affinities and what I knew about them. I avoided going too deep into the weeds; there was no need to mention ascensions or me acquiring more affinities through cores or new elemental ones by deriving them.

Thankfully, she seemed like a pretty smart spider and caught on relatively quickly.

“So we both have Dimension and Corrosion affinity,” Vee started.

“Well, my Dimension is locked… But hopefully soon. In the meantime, as soon as we get you a class, I can start teaching you all about [Corrosion Magic]. It’s great; it has poisons, acids, afflictions, and debuffs!”

“I wish I could tell you more about [Dimension Magic], but I’ve struggling to make heads or tails with it,” Vee admitted.

“Even with the default spells it gives you?” I asked curiously. “Admittedly, I only have intermediate magic, so I don’t know what advanced magic has in store. But even so, I would assume it would give you at least something usable.”

“The first spell it gave me lets me get coordinates.”

“Uhh…”

“The second spell let me assign coordinates…”

“That’s… Not great?”

“Tell me about it…” Vee sighed. “That’s as far as I’ve gotten. I’ve only found one use for the two spells by combining it with my [Rift Thread]. If I build a web with the thread, get those coordinates, build another web, and then plant the first coordinates inside the second web, I can create a portal between them.”

“Is that how you teleported me into that pit?” I asked.

“Yeah… It was my secret trump card. Nobody has survived it until you sprouted wings.”

“I think I would have survived the fall even if I didn’t have wings. I can change the density and elasticity of my slime pretty much on demand.”

Vee grumbled.

“Moving on…” I said, changing the subject. “It sounds like advanced magic is quite… hands off in its teaching. Basic magic gives you nothing but spells and how to use them, while intermediate focuses more on concepts or more unique applications.”

“And I got it as my first and only magic…” Vee sounded bitter.

“I always wondered how evolution granted magic worked… I wonder if you were supposed to have instincts or something installed with it. Or perhaps the magic component is only there for Dungeon Masters? Since they would likely understand everything about it and could just assume direct control over their minions… Yes, that makes the most sense, while wild versions of your species probably only use the traits—”

“Syl! You’re going on a tangent again!” Vee interrupted.

“Sorry…”

“I’m astonished you managed to get anything done if you tend to go on these mental tirades so often,” Vee teased. “So it looks like no magic lessons until I get a class or you unlock [Dimension Magic].”

I don’t suppose you’d be willing to let me unlock it early, Mother?

Sadly, there was no reply. I guess she wouldn’t take me at my word alone.

“Okay… So, I have an idea regarding the city and the guild. Exactly how small can you shrink?” I asked curiously.

“Extremely!” Vee said proudly and shrunk to a size that would easily fit into the palm of my hand. “I usually don’t go this small since while it makes me harder to hit, I think it reduces my defense. I try to balance it out to be agile and maneuverable, but I can’t be stomped to death.”

“That’s a really good idea,” I complimented her. “When I’m not pretending to be an elf, I have a smaller form I’ve hybridized, which is about the size of a goblin. I find the smaller profile definitely helps avoid getting hit.”

“Thanks…” Vee said happily. “So, is the idea that I sit on your shoulder and look like a perfectly tamed companion?”

“Yeah! Well, I had initially hoped you could go down to about the size of a dog, but I reckon this will work out even better.”

“I’m glad my original idea of looking small and cute will finally be able to pay dividends.”

“Yeah, I’d definitely say you look cute like this,” I agreed.

“Thanks!” Vee sounded very happy.

I offered her my shoulder, and she leaped up, taking a comfortable seat thanks to her diminutive size. I began walking toward the exit.

“You know… I think I could get used to traveling around like this,” Vee joked. “If you didn’t cost so much to teleport, I’d offer to take us both straight to the exit.”

“Well, when we leave the dwarven lands, I can also take you on some flights. Some incredible things are up in the sky, like floating islands!” I explained.

“Right… Flying sounds interesting. Although, at the moment, I’m happy to stay more grounded until I get a bit better with [Blink] and [Dimension Magic]…”

“Yeah, having an emergency teleport to the ground in case you fall would probably be good. Although, can’t you make something with your webs?”

“Like a parachute? Maybe…” Vee replied.

“Parachute?” I questioned.

“It’s a safety device if you’re falling out of the sky,” Vee answered.

“Never heard of it. Although my memories are quite scrambled since becoming a slime…”

“Right… we both got quite screwed in that regard. Kind of crazy that they would take all of that from us.”

“I figured it was so we couldn’t get revenge or meet up with anyone we knew in a previous life. Apparently, I was poisoned to death by my elder brother. On my birthday, no less.”

“The hell?” Vee sounded outraged. “What kind of shitty family is that?”

“A noble one, apparently… I was a noble prodigy with latent dimension magic and died without accomplishing anything… Then Gramps offered me a second chance, and I ended up as a slime.”

“Wait… So you’re from this world?” Vee asked.

“Yes? Aren’t you?” I asked curiously.

“I definitely don’t think I’m from here originally… I certainly don’t remember there being magic, monsters, elves, and dwarves!” Vee replied.

“Huh… Interesting. I’ll have to ask Gramps on my next evolution,”

“How close are you?” Vee asked. “I think my next one is at 50.”

“That’s going to slow down when you get a class. Your experience will be split among your class and race. As for me… I’m quite far; I’m only 5 levels into my current one, so another 35 to go.”

“Bummer…” Vee said dejectedly.

“Well! I have a plan for that. If we get you a class and head to the nearest dungeon, we could do some extreme leveling!”

“Dungeon? Where they keep prisoners?” Vee asked, tilting her head.

“Nope, a dungeon where monsters spawn nearly endlessly! Experience galore!”

“Oh… well, if you think it’s for the best. I’ll defer to your judgment since you’re the supposed adventurer.”

I nodded happily. It sounded like a wonderful idea.

And perhaps I can convince the dungeon to spawn a slime for me? That would be great.

Chapter twenty-nine

Bonding Threads

It was surprisingly easy to chat with Vee. Our struggles as relatively weak monsters and discussing our various troubles at the start were an almost instant bonding experience.

Although I’d argue my start was a lot harsher. I’d started at tier one, after all, barely considered a monster according to the system.

On the other hand, Vee had her own unique challenges, having started at a higher tier, and faced different obstacles.

Although, I did gain an extra evolution choice and ten extra levels that way compared to her. I wonder if that’s what’s being factored into why [Apex Hunter] thought I’m a higher level than her?

I was relieved to see my makeshift barricade intact when we left the mine. With a cast of [Shatterquake], I unblocked the passageway by exploding it into shrapnel. I had half expected another ambush, but either they were waiting farther ahead or had truly given up.

“That’s [Earth Magic], right?” Vee questioned with a tilt of her head.

“Yeah, it’s the third-level spell,” I clarified.

“Hopefully, I’ll get something a little more directly offensive with [Dimension Magic]…” Vee muttered.

“When we get to your lessons, perhaps we can take a basic projectile spell and modify it to accept Dimensional Mana?” I suggested. “However, we can start there once we get you [Corrosion Magic]. Its first level spell is called [Acid Dart] and would give you a good firsthand showing of the basic spell components.”

I demonstrated the spell by firing the brightly colored acidic dart against the wall. The rock melted away as the acidic magic continued to eat at it.

“That is a first-level spell?” Vee asked, sounding surprised and doubtful.

“Oh…” I realized my mistake and recast it completely unmodified. The result was far less impressive without the additions I had made to it. “I forgot I had customized the spell; that second one was the original. You can take components of spells and, with some trial and error, mash them together.”

“Okay… I can see why she wanted you to teach me. I don’t think I’d ever discover any of that if I’m working with only [Dimension Magic]…”

“Don’t sell yourself short. You discovered the connection between those coordinate spells and your [Rift Thread] all by yourself. If you had seen what the dwarves and humans had to resort to to create a teleportation platform, you’d be shocked. I can only assume the natural compatibility between the spell and your thread is providing some natural support.”

“Thanks…”

“No problem. I should probably take that [Companion Training] skill… Would probably help.”

“You don’t have to waste a skill point on me.” Vee rejected the idea.

“Oh… I mentioned this before, but class levels give you skill points. I’m currently sitting at fifteen, so I definitely have some wiggle room.”

Vee sighed. “You have fifteen skill points just sitting around? That’s crazy!”

“Well, when you figure out it takes ten to uncap a skill, it doesn’t seem like that much. Not to mention five or fewer points to uptier a skill.”

“You make me feel like I’ve been living under a rock…” Vee sighed.

“Technically, you have been,” I teased.

Vee groaned at the bad joke, and I bought the skill.

<Skill [Companion Training LV 1] obtained. Skill Points remaining 14.>

“Once I’m done with Elementalist… Maybe I should consider Monster Tamer again?” I postulated. “Who knows what other skills there are?”

“I mean, that sounds great… But maybe only do that after we confirm whether I’m staying long-term? No offense…” Vee suggested honestly.

“Oh yeah, no problem!” I agreed. “I want to get Elementalist to maybe 20 or 30 to see if I get any good milestone skills.”

“Do classes evolve?” Vee asked.

“No, but there are natural progressions,” I began explaining. “A normal Mage would go to Sorcerer and then Archmage, for example. A specialist would go Mage to Pyromancer to Arch Pyromancer. These are broken into the class categories; basic, intermediate, and advanced.”

As we walked back, that became our topic of conversation. I also finally went over my notifications from our fight. Obviously, there were no class or race levels, but I still made some progress.

<Proficiency gained. [Arcane Magic LV 4] improved to [Arcane Magic LV 5].>

<[Arcane Magic LV 5] spell [Force Bolt] learned.>

Oh? Arcane finally decided to catch up with the rest of the team! My multiple [Aegis] spell barrier finally pushed it over the edge. Crazy that it was still not enough to stop those dimensional threads, though!

When I first looked at the spell, I was a little disappointed. After all, this was a fifth-level spell; it should have been something amazing! I initially thought the projectile would impart a directional force onto its hit target, but I incorrectly summed it up as a “get away from me” spell.

I was wrong.

The directional force was not limited purely to “away.” You could pull a target, push a target downward, or even possibly throw a target up into the air. Of course, the default “away” was the most likely configuration, but I could see myself using “pull” to bring something into my slimy grasp. Especially since the spell had the added benefit of being quite fast and relatively hard to see with the naked eye.

<Proficiency gained. [Air Magic LV 2] improved to [Air Magic LV 3].>

<[Air Magic LV 3] spell [Zephyr Shroud] learned.>

I had expected this level up, as I was up against a high-level foe even without the boost from [Apex Hunter]. It looked like [Air Magic] was taking a page out of [Water Magic’s] book, as this was also a buff very similar to [Bubble].

[Zephyr Shroud] created a moving air current that filtered harmful toxins, smoke, or even odors, creating a revitalizing environment for whoever was in its comforting shroud. It was entirely useless for me, but I could see myself using it on Vee or anyone I was in a party with to avoid them being caught in my own harmful ailments.

It’s also another spell for me to try to decipher the “buff” concept. I’ll have to put in the effort to break that apart, especially if Vee is potentially sticking around.

<Proficiency gained. [Derived Element (Air) LV 3] improved to [Derived Element (Air) LV 4].>

Okay… Three levels in less than a day? Crazy!

<Proficiency gained. [Earth Magic LV 3] improved to [Earth Magic LV 4].>

<[Earth Magic LV 4] spell [Sand Pit] learned.>

Damn, I guess I don’t have an excuse anymore to let Thern do the digging. All things considered, this is a relatively simple spell. Although the breaking down of rocks into a lesser component is intriguing.

Much to my regret, [Metal Slime] hadn’t leveled up. I started crafting various metallic needles inside myself over and over in the hopes that it would finally be enough to push it over the edge so I could eat that glorious silver slime core sitting in my storage.

I had tried to get Vee to share a few traits with me, but she had refused for now.

“It’s my only bargaining chip in this situation… When I’ve got my class, and we’ve known each other for more than a day, then I’ll feel more comfortable showing you some traits. Plus, I don’t think you could even learn [Spatial Sense] without Dimensional affinity.”

I nodded reluctantly. I desperately wanted to see those traits and see if they were compatible with me. But… I couldn’t fault her for being a bit paranoid; I’d do the same, and I’d certainly not gone and shared all my traits and skills with the goblins when they taught me such things. Other than giving The Misfits some resistance traits and Whitney [Eagle Vision], I’d not really shown much to others.

In my defense, though, I’d be super worried that I’d shown some monster-only trait. Imagine they try to purchase it and they get a notification saying, “Error, incompatible species.” Sure, maybe I could try to blow it off as an elf-only trait, but that feels like I’d be pushing it.

When we approached closer to the city, we both heard the distant echoes of miner dwarves jovially talking about their day. Vee immediately flinched.

“Hey, don’t worry!” I tried to reassure her. “Trust me, I’ll keep you safe.”

“Thanks… It’s just… It’s been very ‘kill on sight’ whenever they’ve seen me before.”

“Well, if they attack you while you are literally sitting on my shoulder, minding your own business, I’ll blast them myself,” I told her. “Hell, I can set up a reactionary [Aegis] spell to protect you if you want.”

“You can set up reactionary spells? How absurdly advanced is your magic?” Vee asked, clearly shocked.

I was about to explain when I hesitated and decided not to. Instead, I gave her a cheeky wink.

“I’ll tell you when you show me your secrets…”

“Spoilsport!” Vee protested. “But sure, if you can, I’d appreciate it. Assuming you weren’t making it up.”

Rather than reassure her verbally, I instead ordered one of my [Sub-Cores] to cast [Aegis] if an attack threatened Vee. I gave it to Theta since their names sounded similar.

Then, I began subtly casting an [Icicle] spell and changing its origin point. The spell fired off from a distance, heading straight toward Vee.

“Ah!” she screeched mentally, having spotted it moments before the [Aegis] spell appeared between them and the dangerous frozen shard shattered upon it.

“See, I’ve set up a reactionary defensive spell for you,” I explained.

“You didn’t have to literally shoot a spell at me to prove your point!” Vee shouted as she frantically waved her front little arm legs to demonstrate her outrage.

“I thought seeing is believing…” I teased her. “Anyway, as long I can sense the attack coming, then a shield like that will appear and attempt to block it.”

“Point made… Sure, thanks,” Vee grumbled.

When we reached the dwarves, she was still tense, and I could feel some of her emotions bleeding across the telepathy bond. She was terrified of the dwarves. Likely, her entire confidence against them was due to being surrounded by her previously impenetrable fortress of tricks and traps.

Most of the dwarves didn’t even notice her on my shoulder. The few who saw her seemed to shrug it off, and only one nosy-looking older dwarf seemed to take offense.

“Elf girl! That better not be an ant you’re bringing into our home!” he demanded.

“She’s a spider. I bonded her as my adventuring companion,” I explained relatively politely.

I thought the dwarf might complain, but he adjusted his goggles while appearing to take a closer look.

“One, two, three… eight!” the dwarf mumbled. “I guess you’re right; that ain’t no ant. Apologies.”

I waved it off. “Don’t worry, I understand, I fought a Fire Ant Princess the other day; she was a nightmare.”

The dwarf’s demeanor immediately flipped. “Ah! Good, so you know how terrible those six-legged bastards are! I’m glad you’re a good adventurer who knows where the real threats lie! Sorry for the misunderstanding. Let me buy you an ale?”

“I’d love to, but I need to report my latest quest’s success. Another time, maybe?”

“Ah, no problem. Sorry for taking your time, miss. Thanks for keeping peace!” the dwarf said joyfully, waving us off.

Once we were a farther distance away, Vee turned to me questioningly.

“Okay, how the heck did you do that? You handled that situation perfectly. Much smoother than our conversations.”

“I have a skill called [Acting], and I lean on it quite heavily for these types of awkward situations… It’s gotten me out of some real jams in the past,” I answered over the telepathic link. No reason to let anyone hear my side of this conversation.

“I see…” Vee muttered. “I wish these damn dwarves would stop calling me an ant, though. As much as I hate being a spider, I wish they knew the difference. What’s their deal anyway?”

“The ants multiply their numbers at an out-of-control rate and dig endless tunnels into the dwarven defenses. As clearly evident, they hate them with the burning passion of a thousand suns, and even the slightest hint of a nearby nest gets an extermination quest promptly issued.”

“Well… I’m extraordinarily glad I didn’t pick the Broodmother evolution then if they hate monsters that spawn and multiply that much.”

“Was it a final evolution for you?” I questioned.

“I think so. The description mentioned the word ‘final’ a lot; I was too scared to pick it… Plus, I didn’t like the idea of laying eggs…” Vee admitted.

“On that we can agree on! Laying eggs is terrible and should never happen no matter how much a pixie complains.”

“Uh? Moving on… Did you get the Broodmother evolution? I can’t imagine how slimes reproduce, or do you simply split your slime in half, and now there’s two of you?”

“I wish. Slime separated from me just turns into useless goop on the ground,” I bemoaned. “But to answer your question, I have a Queen Slime evolution. It mentioned significant boosts to all stats, and it would let me create slime cores. I figured I’d pick it when it was the end of the road.”

“A Queen evolution sounds way cooler than Broodmother. I don’t think I’d ever pick it, even if it promised me great stats. Even if you’re vouching for me, if the dwarves react that badly to ants, imagine what they might say if a teleporting spider was suddenly reproducing.”

I nodded. “Point taken. A swarm of teleporting spiders sounds horrifying,” I teased.

By now, we’d finally reached the dwarven gate. Vee was staring at the massive construct with awe.

Let’s hope my [Bonded Companion] Emblem is enough for these dwarves…

Chapter thirty

Spider Pageant

We reached the gate without issue but were stopped when I attempted entry.

“Err… Miss, is that monster registered?” one of the guards asked, pointing to Vee sitting on my shoulder.

“Nope, I bonded with her while on my quest. I’m unsure what the procedure is to get her registered and accepted entry,” I responded and flashed my Gold-rank identification.

The dwarf nodded. “Good, so it’s not my eyes going bad. I thought maybe I missed you carrying her out.” He chuckled. “For a newly tamed monster, there’s a procedure to follow, forms to fill out, and a test to be administered. I’ll send one of our runners to the guild to fetch an evaluator for you. You’ll have to wait outside till you’re given the all-clear.”

“Sure, no problem; any idea what the test involves?” I questioned.

“I think it differs from monster to monster?” the dwarf answered, scratching his beard. “It’s not a very common occurrence here, but I did see a dwarf one time bringing a badger. They made it do a few tricks and let him go inside.”

“Someone tamed a badger?” I asked in apparent shock, recalling how vicious those things were.

“Aye. They make good diggers if you avoid the claws… And teeth… And don’t step on their tail…” He paused and then let out a hearty chuckle. “Actually, I kind of see your point! I’m sure your little spider will be no problem!”

I nodded and stood off to the side, allowing traffic to pass unimpeded.

“So, what do you think? You up for doing a few tricks?” I questioned Vee mentally.

She gave a sort of shrugging gesture with her little front arm legs. “I mean, if I have to so they don’t kill me, I guess it’s not the most humiliating thing I ever did. Vomiting in front of you during a life-or-death situation was probably way worse.”

“It wasn’t life-or-death…” I corrected.

“It certainly felt like it to me. I thought you would either melt me in the ooze or put brainworms into me. Maybe even both?” she replied.

“I do not have brainworm powers…” I complained.

We spent some time waiting for the guild to send its representative. Eventually, a small group of dwarves came to the gate and pointed to me at the waiting point.

“Ah, Miss Syl, sorry for the—” the dwarf began before pausing. He stared in surprise, which transitioned into shock.

One of the other dwarves was the first to speak. “Is that a tier-five creature!?” a scholarly dwarf blurted out. She looked amazed.

Everyone tensed up. A few reached for weapons.

“Isn’t that the extermination target?” another dwarf asked.

“Syl…” Vee whispered with worry.

“I promised I’d keep you safe,” I reassured her mentally.

I held up my hand.

“First, the quest was to remove her from the mine, not specifically to kill her,” I clarified. “Second, it was reported that she never attacked dwarves outright, even letting them escape if they retreated. Finally, I’ve successfully bonded her, as the Emblem shows.”

Some of the dwarves grumbled in complaint, while a few nodded in agreement.

“That may be true, but that spider still invaded and took over a vital dwarven mining operation!” one of the dwarves complained.

“Not by choice. She was planted there, captured while she was in an evolution coma,” I retorted.

That got a big reaction out of them.

“That’s a big accusation to make; I hope you have some proof to back that up?” a grumpy dwarf asked.

“Well, the spider did appear out of nowhere…” another commented.

“Would the fact that I learned it from Vee herself count?” I questioned.

“Preposterous!” the grumpy dwarf blustered.

However, the scholarly-looking dwarves raised her hand. “No, she does have a point. A bonded companion can convey feelings, images, and eventually thoughts through the bond if it reaches sufficient advancement.”

“Plus, can’t elves talk to monsters?” another dwarf questioned.

I was about to correct him, but another dwarf interrupted.

“Non-magical monsters only; clearly, this spider qualifies as that,” the scholarly dwarf clarified.

“So definitely not a trustworthy source then!” The grumpy dwarf now seemed gleeful.

“Let me finish!” The scholar dwarf scowled; evidently, she despised being interrupted. “While it won’t work on magical creatures, no doubt it means she is well practiced with talking and interpreting much more exotic and primitive thoughts.”

“Hey!” Vee complained mentally. “I’m fully intelligent, you bearded bastard!”

“Yeah, but we’re a special case,” I responded mentally. “I mean… Comparing myself to my slime brethren is… upsetting, to say the least.”

“Look… The monster is clearly tame, sitting on her bloody shoulder like a parrot.”

“But what about the lost time and money?”

“Surely that’s for the Flinthearts to worry about, not us?”

“Ore procurement is the duty of all dwarves!”

“Well, I agree with you there!”

I cleared my throat to get their attention.

“I was going to withhold this until a more official setting, but I had attempted bribes to stop me from completing this quest twice.”

The grumpy dwarf tried to interject, but I continued.

“And when I refused to accept the bribe, I was attacked.”

He shut his mouth promptly.

“So I have my own account, as well as my companions. The fact this quest went unresolved for so long should be proof enough of foul play. But, if money is the issue, well…”

I was about to pull out a hunk of obsidianite and toss it out in front of them. I was getting super annoyed by all this talk of money, and I’d bet this grumpy guy was on the take. But… my rational side won over, and I hid my original intentions with a fake cough, well-timed thanks to [Acting], and made my suggestion.

“I’ll accept no payment for the quest and donate to cover the lost income. Call it paying rent for Vee’s stay in the mine?” I suggested.

“You think you can pay the loss of income from an entire mine?” the grumpy dwarf said mockingly.

“Ask Kaldrour Flintheart yourself; he knows my financial situation,” I responded bluntly.

The grumpy dwarf looked a blend of shocked and upset by that statement. He was going to retort when the scholar silenced him with a gesture of her fist.

“Very well, we shall send a runner to confirm with Mister Flintheart.” She gestured to one of the tagalongs, who nodded and ran off. “I understand it is elf custom to become very close to one’s [Bonded Companion]. If you are willing to go this far already for this…” She cleared her throat. “Apologies, that was rude of me. If you are this close to Vee already, then I can understand why you are willing to go to such extremes.”

“Wow, they really think you’re an elf, huh?” Vee commented. “Also, are you sure about going this far for me? I mean, I did try to kill you a few hours ago… Surely a trait point discount isn’t worth that much? I’d hate to put you in financial ruin or anything.”

I wanted to burst out laughing. “Vee… From what I understand, I have more money than I know what to do with. And that was just a small portion of what I gave them. I got a lot more where that came from; it was a big worm, after all.”

I could sense Vee’s confusion over the mental link, but our mental relay was interrupted by the scholar dwarf talking up again.

“While we are waiting for confirmation, we might as well proceed with the tests. Although, considering Vee is literally sitting on your shoulder, it almost feels more like a formality than an actual test…”

The grumpy dwarf harumphed, but it looked like he would finally do his job.

“What is the procedure for registering a [Bonded Companion] with the guild?” I questioned. “I have no doubt Vee will pass your tests.”

“Vee will receive her own tiny tag, linked to your own. It will help indicate to other adventurers that she is tamed and presumably an ally,” the scholar explained. “If she starts showing ferocity or signs of the bond deteriorating, she will need another evaluation. While such high-tier companions are not unheard of, you must always remember the risk of her going evolution-crazy. You will be held responsible.”

“Evolution-crazy?” Vee questioned, but I had to ignore her for now.

“Talk about it later,” I shot her a quick mental reply.

“Sure, that all sounds reasonable,” I replied to the dwarf.

“Wonderful. Now, let’s proceed with the test; I’m eager to see how close you’ve managed to become already!” the scholarly dwarf admitted with a big grin on her face. “Also, it goes without saying, but this must all be accomplished without using [Order].”

I nodded.

Not that I would even if I could.

What followed was me effectively asking Vee to do some tricks: Go here, jump there, climb that, retrieve this, and give the scholar dwarf a handshake.

“This is very demeaning…” Vee grumbled. “I feel like I’m participating in a dog pageant.”

I had no idea what a dog pageant was, but I begged her to endure it for a little longer.

Then, I had to ask Vee to demonstrate a few, but not all, of her abilities. They had clearly never heard of this strain of spider before, or if they had, it was extremely rare.

I didn’t want to reveal Vee’s full capabilities, nor did she.

“We have to show them something… What about just growing and shrinking and a bit of web manipulation?” I suggested. “Don’t show your [Rift Thread], and definitely no [Dimension Magic]!”

“Yeah, that’s fine, I guess…” Vee agreed.

“Vee, could you grow a bit? Maybe about the size of a large wolf?” I requested out loud for the sake of appearance.

Vee nodded and then began to slowly grow. She could have done it in a mere instant, as I knew from our fight, but clearly, she didn’t want to cause the dwarves to get a fright.

“Remarkable!” the scholar shouted in surprise. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything outside a dungeon with something like this. I can only imagine the storied life such a specimen must have lived through to evolve in such a way.”

Then Vee began her thread demonstration. The scholar clapped her hands excitedly, and even the grumpy dwarf seemed surprised. She weaved some threads into some intricate patterns, and while they looked visually impressive, I knew they weren’t as good as the traps she had spun during our encounter.

It was becoming quite a spectacle, and now we had accumulated many onlookers. We were about to move on with our next demonstration when a runner came sprinting frantically.

“Stop!” the tired dwarf shouted, almost falling over with exhaustion. He was desperately clutching something in his hands.

Everyone turned to his gaze. He held up his hand and waved what looked like a letter in his hand desperately.

“I have a missive from the embassy!” he shouted amongst gasped breathes.

“The embassy?” The scholar looked confused, and then she tilted her head at me. “I guess this must be related to you. How on earth did they hear about this so quickly?”

“Friends of yours?” Vee questioned.

I shrugged in response to the dwarf before mentally replying to Vee. “No idea… The last elf I met ran away in a panic; I thought I had offended him or something. It was a bizarre encounter.”

“Bloody spies.” The grumpy dwarf spat.

The scholar accepted the missive, broke the seal, and began reading it. She frowned and then sighed.

“Well, that’s a bloody bummer…” She cursed. “I had no idea questioning an elf about the capabilities of a [Bonded Companion] was a diplomatic offense. I guess we will have to stop here…”

“What!? It’s a bloody monster; who gives a shit?” Grumpy yelled.

“Kratot!” The scholar screamed at him. “If you’d stop interrupting me, you’d stop putting your foot in your mouth! Or would you like to explain to the bluebloods why the Grove is now personally pissed off at us?”

He shut his mouth, now looking a little worried.

She cleared her throat. “As I was saying… The missive clearly indicates, as per our long-standing and prosperous agreement with our wonderful elven allies, [Bonded Companions] are to be treated as any person would. It is a sacred bond not to be besmirched by ignorance.”

Grumpy looked visibly pale.

“Whoa, did you know all of that?” Vee asked me curiously.

“I had no idea… Although I’ll take the win for us,” I replied.

“I apologize profusely for making Vee perform these probably humiliating tests…” the scholar replied and bowed her head. “I hope she will forgive me.”

“No problem. I wanted to follow the guild rules,” I replied.

The original runner also decided to finally make his appearance.

“Sir Flintheart has vouched that Miss Syl has more than enough to compensate any loss or damages suffered,” he replied, handing over a hastily scribbled-together document.

“Well! Looks like things are lining up very well for us!” Vee exclaimed happily.

I agreed, although I was still a little concerned. Why were the elves sticking their nose into my business?

Chapter thirty-one

Spider Classes

“Well… I guess welcome to Dhoggurum, Vee!” the scholarly dwarf said politely.

Vee nodded, which gave the dwarf much delight as she basically gave the dwarven equivalent of a happy squeal.

I guess she’s a fan of monsters. I suppose it makes sense why they sent her to administer the test.

“So, can we get her registered with the guild?” I questioned. “Missive or not, I’d like her at least officially recognized.”

“Most certainly!” she said happily.

She gave the gate guards the okay, and after Vee shrunk down again and perched upon my shoulder, we walked inside. Vee was awed by the amazing city.

“Holy crap!” Vee exclaimed. “To think all of this was right nearby. But why is everything so… square?”

“Ha! I had a similar reaction. Apparently, it’s a giant cube for efficiency,” I replied.

There were some odd looks at a spider sitting on my shoulder, but it seemed most people shrugged it off as adventurers doing adventurer things.

“By the way… My name is Jasgra,” the scholarly dwarf introduced herself. “I’m sorry for that whole debacle. I hope it hasn’t negatively affected your opinion of the guild.”

“No, I understand you were doing your job. Grumpy, on the other hand…” I muttered.

“Kratot? Aye… Grumpy is a diplomatic way to describe that bundle of sunshine,” Jasgra responded.

“I have a question: Once Vee is registered, can I get her a class?”

Jasgra nodded. “While it’s not a rule, it’s so extremely encouraged that it might as well be a requirement. After all, if the [Bonded Companion] has its experience distributed toward a class, then it becomes much easier to stave off any craziness from evolution.”

She smiled relievedly. “You actually made my job a lot easier. I thought perhaps you might have requested she not get a class.”

Vee and I tilted our heads as if in sync. Clearly, neither of us understood why that was the case.

Jasgra chortled at the sight.

“Most monsters, even companions, do not get very good class selections,” Jasgra explained. “You’ll get some rather simple classes, and it’s generally seen that it would weaken a monster by extension, as every race level would normally be toward the next evolution, which just cannot compare to what most basic classes would offer it.”

“Oh, that sucks!” Vee complained.

“I don’t think that’s the case for us. I mean, I had a lot of good classes to pick from,” I reassured her.

We arrived at the guild without much issue, although our entry caused a scarce few adventurers to shout or scream in surprise. Anyone throwing a wild [Identify] at Vee would be in for quite a surprise if they had it at level six to see her tier.

“We’ll handle the quest and… everything else tomorrow,” Jasgra said. “But for now, let’s get Vee registered, and then you can go home for a well-deserved rest, no doubt.”

The registration process was considerably simpler than I thought it would be. They effectively took my tag and linked it to another sub-crystal.

“I’d suggest the smallest one we have available so as not to interfere with her shrunken form, although it will cost a bit more,” Jasgra pointed out.

“No problem, I’ll gladly pay the extra,” I confirmed. “I appreciate the suggestion.”

Jasgra was happy and went to fetch the crystal. It was tiny, and even at Vee’s smallest size, it looked like she wouldn’t have any problem with it being too cumbersome.

“Although… I’m not sure what to do about her necklace or chain to keep it equipped,” Jasgra said, scratching her head. “I suppose we could commission one to be made with the highest-grade resizing enchantment we have available and hope for the best?”

“Bah! Don’t bother with any of that!” Vee said, holding out her little front legs as if reaching for the crystal.

“Vee has an idea. Can you hand it to her, please?” I asked Jasgra.

She handed the little crystal to Vee, who grasped it gingerly between the two legs. Then she began spinning a web, using her control over the spider silk to thread it and bind it to herself.

“There! My threads grow with me, so no issue of it snapping or slipping off,” Vee declared. “I would’ve said this feels almost like a dog collar, but this crystal is remarkably lovely, so I’ll treat it as glorious jewelry instead!”

“Phenomenal!” Jasgra said with awe. “I presume Vee’s thread grows and shrinks with her?”

“That appears to be the case,” I confirmed.

“Fantastic!” Jasgra shouted, clapping her hands. “Now, I guess just the class selection, and we can let you go home?”

“Sounds great. Do you mind if I do so privately with Vee?” I questioned.

“Not a problem. Enjoy! I hope there’s maybe at least one decent class for her,” Jasgra said, handing over the crystal and vacating the room.

“This little crystal lets me get a class?” Vee questioned.

“I also didn’t believe it right up until I actually saw it sitting on my profile,” I admitted. “Want to take a peek?”

“Yeah! Let’s do this thing!” Vee cheered, waving her little front legs.

Vee touched the stone and gasped.

“Oh wow… I have a lot to choose from!” Vee said excitedly. “Scout, Mage, Rogue, Hunter, Ambusher, Trapper, Assassin, Lurker, Silent Thorn, Crafter, Weaver and Tailor!”

“That… is certainly a lot, I haven’t even heard the name of most of those!” I admitted.

“Why the hell are Crafter, Weaver, and Tailor class options?” Vee questioned. “Seems kinda stupid.”

“There’s actually a whole profession system,” I explained. “I’d even suggest you should grab Weaver and just grab whatever the first skill is. I assume it will be thread-related, and you could probably passively level it up. If you ever swap to Weaver again, you’ll be compensated for the progress made.”

“Okay, while that sounds cool, what would be the purpose? I’m not exactly looking to be selling sweaters.”

“Well, one of my friends was an Enchanter, and he unlocked a unique class that used his Enchanting profession in combat situations. I thought you might be able to unlock some thread-related classes.”

“Works for me! Time to become a Weaver!”

<Vee’s class has changed to Weaver.>

“Whoa, what? My class tells me about skills? That’s crazy! Why didn’t my race give me anything this cool?” Vee questioned.

“Definitely something we should suggest to Gramps,” I pointed out. “The only way I’ve been able to find traits is by eating monsters and very rarely from my class.”

“Classes give trait suggestions, too? That’s so unfair! Well, at least I have one now. Better late than never!”

I nodded.

“Profession points? You weren’t kidding about there being an entire other system… Crazy… Well, I’ll just pick [Weaving]… Oh, it leveled up automatically? Uh…” Vee paused as it looked like she was bombarded by some notifications.

“Well, that was unexpected. I’ll just grab [Stitching] and [Braiding] then…” Vee paused. “Damnit more? Okay… [Embroidery]?” Vee sighed. “Okay, good, it stopped!”

I quickly threw an [Identify] at her.

<Vee [Bonded Companion]; Riftweaver Spider [V] LV 25; Weaver LV 11.>

Wow, did she get ten levels just by selecting it? I guess her [Weaving] skill must have been retroactively boosted from all the crazy stuff she did with her spider threads. Meanwhile, I had no prior [Rune Etching], so I got nothing…

“Okay, so what should I pick for my next class?” Vee asked excitedly. “Assassin sounds cool, but Silent Thorn sounds even edgier!”

“I have to assume those are advanced classes, but the advice I was given is to start with a basic class and work your way up,” I informed her. “From what I understand, picking an intermediate or advanced class permanently affects your experience gains. You want to get some easy levels from a basic class first, especially since I’m assuming you’re starved of skill points?”

Vee nodded. “I have two… I’ve been scared to spend them. So, Mage, then? I guess that woman is getting her way after all…”

“It’s definitely the one I can train you the most on. You might unlock some great hybrid classes. I’d thoroughly recommend Shadowcaster if you get it.”

“Okay… I guess it’s better than a Scout, which just sounds boring!” Vee admitted. “How come I got nothing better than Mage, though?”

“You’re probably missing the prerequisites…” I paused and tried to recall what I had at the time. “I think I had [Mana Manipulation LV 3] at the time?”

“Oh… I don’t even have that skill, so it makes sense.” Vee nodded her little head in agreement before touching the crystal again.

<Vee’s class has changed to Mage.>

“Oh, free skill point!” Vee said excitedly. “Wait… It didn’t show me a skill this time? That seems unfair!”

“I got shown [Water Magic]… Which was my only basic affinity at the time.”

“So I’m supposed to learn a basic Mage class with an advanced form of magic? That seems pretty garbage.”

“Let’s see if you can learn [Corrosion Magic] now?” I suggested and showed her the skill. I had received a revelation from an intermediate class, but now that she had a spellcaster class, there was some hope.

“Oh!” Vee said excitedly. “[Acid Dart]? And the entire thing was just installed into my head! Why couldn’t [Dimension Magic] be this simple?”

I shrugged. “If you have two other skill points, let’s grab [Mana Manipulation].”

“Sure, you’re the magical teacher here… Any other recommendations?” Vee asked.

I thought long and hard. While giving her [Identify] would be a good general convenience; to further her magic and make my job easier, [Magic Efficiency] was probably the winning choice. I had received the skill from an intermediate class revelation, but she could buy it without issue.

Can you buy skills one class tier ahead? Or is there something else at play here?

“How are your trait points looking?” I questioned.

“I’m sitting on a few; I was saving to buy the next level in some traits, but they get really expensive,” Vee replied. “I had to buy the next level of [Spatial Sense] to keep track of you.”

I felt a small part of me die on the inside. She’d been spending all her points to buy upgrades? What about saving for uncapping? I dreaded to think of the points she had effectively flushed down the drain, and I hoped I would never find out.

“I’d… suggest not buying upgrades. If a trait or skill gets to ten, then you can spend ten points to unlock it going to eleven and beyond.”

“Oh?” Vee tilted her head curiously. “That’s a lot of points. Although I don’t know if I’d ever get a trait or skill to level ten… That seems like a lot of work.”

“Okay… Let’s see if you have any of the Mana and Magic traits… I got a few I can show you.”

We spent some time reviewing her traits. She had [Mana Circulation], [Mana Reinforcement], and [Mana Infusion], which explained most of what she did with her threads.

She lacked [Mana Well], and I explained to her that it could be combined with other mental traits to form [Soul Mastery]. I offhandedly mentioned that if she picked up all the physical traits, there would also be a [Body Mastery] fusion trait.

I’m a little sad I can’t get that one since I don’t exactly have a body… Still, with [Chimeric Mimicry], I can just keep borrowing the stuff I can’t buy for myself. I absolutely need to uncap that immediately when it gets to max level.

She didn’t have [Mana Sight] to my shock and horror. I could not believe she had gotten as far as she had without it, and I practically screamed at her to buy it on the spot. I felt some minor sympathy for Mother and understood why she gave me the quest to teach Vee.

When we finished our impromptu trait and skill lesson, I noticed I had some unviewed notifications. I pulled them up.

<Proficiency gained. [Companion Training LV 1] improved to [Companion Training LV 2].>

<Proficiency gained. [Companion Training LV 2] improved to [Companion Training LV 3].>

Oh! But I just showed her some traits and skills? That counted as training? Wait… was she allowed to buy [Corrosion Magic] and [Magic Efficiency] early because I was “training” her? If that is the case, I feel a little better about her getting access to them early.

I waved my thoughts away and turned to Vee.

“Let’s go home. I have some friends to introduce you to.”

“Sounds good. I’m starving for some of that delicious food you promised me,” Vee said, responding excitedly.

I wonder if Thern and his family like spiders?

Chapter thirty-two

Explaining and Introducing

“All done?” Jasgra asked politely.

“I think so; thank you for letting us use this room for so long,” I replied.

“Not an issue,” Jasgra said with a dismissive wave and a chuckle. “Now, what class did you pick out for little Vee?”

She took a glance and must have used [Identify]. She must not have expected what she saw because the startlement on her face was on full display, but it almost immediately veered into what looked like amazement.

“M-mage? Vee qualified for a caster class? That’s astounding!” Jasgra whispered but practically broke out into an excited shout at the end.

“Yes, I hope to teach Vee some magic,” I answered honestly.

“Ahh, why wasn’t I born an elf?” Jasgra sighed, shaking her head. “I heard how close you can be with your companions. To have a bond at this level already, I just can’t help but be jealous!”

“Just to confirm, spellcaster classes aren’t unheard of for a companion, right?” I questioned.

Jasgra shook her head. “Unheard of? No. Rare as hell? Absolutely!”

“Great. I didn’t want to step on any toes in the guild,” I replied.

“Not at all. I assume you changed her experience distribution to focus on her new class to speed up the teaching?” Jasgra asked, then slapped a hand to her mouth. “Ah… Sorry, that was rude of me. My curiosity got the better of me.”

“No, it’s fine.” I waved off her apology. “I didn’t change any distribution as I thought it required a different crystal.”

Jasgra looked at me in disbelief. “You’re Gold rank, right?”

I pulled out my guild tag and pointed to it.

Jasgra nodded. “Good, then my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. Your Gold-rank tag has that feature. Just hold the tag in your hands and think about distribution ratios. You should get a visual representation to interact with mentally.”

I nodded and pulled out the tag. Sure enough, something appeared in front of me. It resembled a floating rectangle with the number 50 on both sides. Above the floating 50 number on the left was a stick figure of a person, and on the right was a symbol of a sword and staff crossing each other. In the center of the rectangle was a protruding circle that looked like it could be twisted one way or the other.

Mentally I reached out to the knob and tried to twist it toward the sword and staff. It wouldn’t budge. I thought perhaps I was doing something wrong, so I tried turning it the other way. This time, it twisted, and I watched the number on the left grow while the number on the right shrunk.

Looks like Gramps still won’t let me change it away from my race. I grumbled and changed it back to equal distribution.

I noticed that there was a similar rectangle floating above Vee’s head.

“I can change your experience distribution between race and class. Do you want it changed at all? It’s currently set to equal,” I mentally asked Vee.

“Hmm… My next evolution is far away. Perhaps I should change it to class to catch up to you?” Vee asked.

Before answering her, I checked that I could change the distribution to favor her class. Surprisingly, there was no issue with adjusting it, and I could go all the way to a 90-10 split. I tried the opposite, and to my surprise, I could not lower Vee’s class below 50.

Looks like Mother really wants Vee to learn magic.

I relayed the info to Vee.

“Sure, set it to 90-10. It might as well be for now if it’s that easy to change later,” Vee replied.

I did so and nodded, turning back to Jasgra. “Thank you for the assistance. I had no idea.”

“Ha!” Jasgra slapped her knee with a grin. “I bet they told you about the Interface feature and forgot to tell you anything else. I hate that blasted thing, bars and crap floating everywhere.”

“Sounds about right…” I grumbled. The interface was the first and only thing Lisa told me about my new rank.

“I’ll just mention it, but the norm is to set the distribution toward their class for [Bonded Companions],” Jasgra began explaining. “Especially if they are still rather feral, as it gives one time to develop the bond and stave off any evolution-craziness. Not that it looks like that applies to Vee…”

“Vee and I decided to focus on her class, thanks for the information!”

“A pleasure to help. Thanks for putting up with my nosy curiosity!”

Vee and I waved goodbye and left the guild.

“You seriously need to explain this evolution thing? What’s the deal?” Vee asked with concern.

“Okay, it’s not actually that big of a deal for us,” I said right out of the gate. “Normally, the further a monster evolves, the more power-hungry and crazy it becomes. I had it described to me as they fester an endless desire to grow and evolve further by any means necessary.”

“Holy crap…” Vee replied. “So, are we going to become mindless beasts?”

“No, as I said, it doesn’t affect us,” I immediately dismissed that concern. “I asked Gramps about it when I first found out about it, and he said they disabled that function for us and all the other [Experiments]. But yeah… it’s a little concerning to hear about; apparently, it can even happen to the monstrous humanoid races like goblins and orcs.”

“That’s quite the bombshell you dropped on me!” Vee said excitedly, her enthusiasm bubbling through our telepathic conversation. “So okay… We’re safe… Huh… I guess that explains why you were willing to give me a chance? Cause other than us [Experiments], any other monster will eventually go mad?”

I sighed. “Yeah… I had some goblins I got along with, but the idea of them eventually losing their mind and trying to kill everything makes me hope I never run into them again, as sad as that sounds. And… I’m not exactly comfortable about revealing the truth to anyone else. Not yet anyway…”

“Considering how I was attacked on sight, I don’t blame you,” Vee agreed. “Like… why even bother? Everyone thinks you’re an elf; you seem to have a good thing going on here. Not to mention, it’s a hell of a combat tactic; I mean, you expect to kill an elf, and then bam! Slime monster! Certainly had me fooled.”

“It’s funny; my other friend who knows the truth said I should abandon all this and not even bother with the humans, elves, or dwarves,” I explained.

“Well? What do you want?” Vee asked.

“I’m… not sure. I’d certainly prefer if I could be a slime. I mean, I’d probably still use this form or something based on it to converse with people, but not being held back would be great. I certainly don’t want to abandon the friends I’ve made here, but I also don’t think I could just come out and say, ‘Hey, I’m actually a slime.’”

“I see… Well, hopefully, things work out eventually!” Vee said optimistically.

I certainly hope so…

Vee was still complaining about food, so I reached into my storage to pull her out a snack. What came out instead was my hat.

“I’m not really a fan of eating hats…” Vee replied deadpan.

“I completely forgot about my hat…” I confessed and began trying to think about what had happened. “I think I left it on my decoy when we were having our staring contest.”

“Then why is it in your storage?” Vee questioned.

“Well… It’s a magic hat,” I pointed out the obvious.

“Okay…” Vee muttered.

“It’s attached itself to me. I can’t get rid of it, and it appears back in my storage or on my head unexpectedly,” I explained as I put it back on my head.

“I did think something was missing from your appearance,” Vee admitted. “It’s a very fitting hat.”

“So not even you are immune to its charms,” I sighed.

“Charms? What?” Vee asked worriedly.

“No idea… But it seems to make people think that I’ve always had the hat,”

“That’s a teensy bit creepy… I hope it’s giving you some amazing effect in return?” Vee asked.

“That’s probably the most frustrating part; I have no idea.”

“So… The magically appearing and slightly creepy hat is not beneficial. Why exactly are you wearing it?”

“Obviously for the good looks,” I teased.

“I guess that’s reasonable… I’ll admit it looks good on you,” Vee retorted.

I couldn’t help but laugh at that.

Vee’s little guild crystal must have been doing something, as most dwarves barely gave her a second glance. It was certainly a relief that she would be accepted as my companion. Soon, we found ourselves outside Thern’s family home. I checked the time, and thankfully, it looked like we weren’t too late.

“Well, this is our home while staying here. Assuming they don’t kick me out for bringing a monster home,” I joked.

“I’d say it looks nice, but I don’t think I’m a fan of the entirely square aesthetic. Still a lot better than living in an abandoned mine, I’ll admit,” Vee responded.

I knocked on the door and heard Darmod respond shortly after. “Coming!”

He opened the door and smiled when he saw me. “Syl! It’s good to see you. I trust your mission for ol’ Flintheart was a roaring success?” he asked cheerfully.

“Even better than a roaring success, I’d say,” I said, gesturing to Vee sitting on my shoulder.

Darmod noticed the addition and flinched a little. “Did you tame the monster living in the mineshaft?” he questioned.

“Yeah, her name’s Vee. She’s pretty great,” I said.

“I see…” Darmod muttered, stroking his beard. “Well… Any friend of yours is a friend of mine. Welcome, Vee! Thern is going to lose his mind.”

Darmod began walking inside with boisterous laughter.

“Why am I going to lose my mind?” Thern shouted from deeper into the house, clearly overhearing us.

“Our friend Syl here has a surprise for you!” Darmod shouted back.

“Did she bring back some more obsidianite or some other mythical artifact or something?” Thern questioned, sounding almost tired.

“Or something…” Darmod laughed.

We entered the dining room, where Thern sat alone. It looked like his mom was likely out doing some late-night forging again.

“Now, what did you do this time?” Thern asked before he noticed Vee.

It was a good thing he wasn’t drinking, or he might have spat it out, to his shock and surprise.

“Bloody beards! You went and tamed the monster?” Thern shouted in question.

“Her name’s Vee, approved by the guild and everything,” I stated.

Vee waved one of her little front legs.

“Nice to meet you!” she said mentally, although I was the only recipient.

“Vee says hello,” I relayed.

“I can bloody see that! Gods, how intelligent of a critter is she?” Thern asked.

“Very, one of the smartest I’ve come across,” I answered. Other than Odark, it was true that I hadn’t exactly met intelligence amongst them, although being an [Experiment] was possibly cheating.

Does Simon count? I wondered.

Thern sighed. “I see… I’m surprised you managed to get her to agree to the bond then, or you must have bribed the hell out of her! Then again, I don’t know how you elves do all your taming; I’ve only read and heard that it’s legendary.”

“Well, I am giving her magic lessons,” I admitted.

“Gods, a magic-wielding spider!” Darmod and Thern shouted.

“I didn’t even know monsters could be taught magic unless they were a monstrous humanoid,” Darmod said.

“The worst part is I completely believe Syl will be able to do it,” Thern grumbled. “No matter what insane thing comes out of her mouth, she seems to do it with her full effort.”

“So I take it Vee gets your approval?” I asked.

“If you’re vouching for her, then sure! Although, I’m still going to be adding some warding around my room and bed!” Thern joked, although maybe with a hint of truth.

“Great, I promised Vee here some great dwarven cuisine, and she’s been drooling ever since.”

“I hope that’s our food and not literally dwarves,” Darmod teased.

“No way! I can’t go back to non-cooked food anymore!” Vee protested mentally and shook her front legs frantically.

“Vee definitely wants real food. Not something that’s all beard.”

Both dwarves howled with laughter, and soon, Darmod began cooking up a storm.

“So, you mentioned something spicy to report?” Darmod asked.

I nodded and began explaining the whole mine plot, the bribes, the attack on me, and how they planted Vee. It was quite a long retelling, but thankfully, we had plenty of food to keep us all occupied.

Vee spent the time graciously devouring anything put in front of her while letting out mental squeals of pure joy.

Two dwarves, a spider, and a slime. What a strange gathering. I chuckled to myself.

Chapter thirty-three

Core Deals

When it was time to go to bed, I noted that Thern was true to his word and set up a warding at his door. Even with Vee’s friendly attitude and my reassurance, he seemed determined not to take any chances.

Vee took a spot in the corner of the room near the ceiling and spun a little web hammock for herself. I had to admit it looked both rather cute and very comfy.

As for myself, I wasn’t going to risk sliming out, so I had to use the bed provided and gave out orders for my [Sub-Cores] to be on the lookout for any nightly mishaps that could occur. While I didn’t sense any foul thoughts leaking through our bond, and our cooperation was in her best interest, it still never hurt to be safe.

The next morning, I woke up before Vee. Looking at her, she had somehow contorted herself into being wrapped up entirely in her own web. It looked hilarious, and I had to stifle a giggle.

It’s weird how I’ve become such an early riser lately. Oh well, I have more time to practice.

While waiting for everyone else to wake up, I took the time to practice with [Metal Slime]. I was so close I could taste it, and then I could finally chow down on that spare core of mine. Reminiscent of my days starting out with [Shape Slime], I started going through a gauntlet of replicas and imitations of various weapons and tools.

I also tried mimicking orichalcum, but it was beyond my current level, and the strange metal was turning into a mushy goop. I really wondered how the dwarves used silver slimes for their work. If they had one that had something crazy like adamantine or mithril, then it must be guarded like a national treasure if it had leveled up enough to integrate it without issue.

Or was it perhaps easier for them since [Metal Slime] is their primary trait? Like how [Mana Slime] is always active for me? Which made me wonder what would happen if I evolved away from being a blue slime. I must say I’d grown rather attached to my coloring, but that could be remedied no matter what slime I pick. If I lost my natural Mana capabilities, I could be in for a bit of a shock.

Gramps would need to offer me something amazing to pick an evolution over another mutation, though. Assuming I have some exciting ones left to unlock, I could always go for one of the eye-catching ones I had seen previously, like the alchemic slime.

My thoughts were interrupted by Vee finally waking up. She tried to violently shake herself free until she realized her situation, and then, using her trait, manipulated the threads until they untied and released her.

“Morning,” I greeted her verbally before reaching out with [Telepathy (Lesser)].

Vee accepted the connection after only a brief hesitation.

“Morning…” Vee grumbled. “That was certainly embarrassing.”

I chuckled and wondered how she would react if she saw me blobbing out in my bedtub. I really wished I could use it.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” Vee asked.

“We have a meeting with Darmod and Kaldrour Flintheart,” I replied. “I need to tell them the full story, get paid, and ask them for a few requests on my own.”

“Oh… I hope they aren’t going to be mad about me living in their mine for so long,” Vee answered hesitantly.

“Darmod is going to meet with him first and explain the situation. That way, it won’t be a bombshell when he suddenly is face-to-face with the monster that had been giving him gray hairs.”

“Swell…” Vee responded.

“Don’t worry. Even if the entire city went against us, I reckon we have a good chance of escaping,” I replied. “You could use [Blink] to escape, and I could turn into a worm and tunnel away.”

“The idea of you suddenly turning into a giant worm is frightening and absurdly hilarious.” Vee giggled.

“Yeah… But I still don’t think it would ever come to anything like that; like I said, I’m relatively high up with the guild, and even the elves have sanctioned our bond,” I reassured her.

“And you mentioned having no connection to these elves?” Vee asked.

“None…” I shrugged. “I tried to speak to one, but he ran away. I plan on visiting their embassy directly and trying to get some answers or throwing a bag at them as a last resort.”

“Very strange… But everything about all of this is truly bizarre!” Vee admitted.

I shrugged again. “Wait till you meet Trixie. Then you’ll truly see weird.”

“And she’s the pixie… right?” Vee questioned.

“Yeah, she’s a real prankster, but her heart is in the right place.” I nodded.

“Of course, the fairies and pixies are pranksters…” Vee muttered.

We went downstairs when we heard Thern making breakfast; we both waved in greeting.

“Sleep well behind all the wards?” I teased.

“Like a baby.” Thern grinned. “I hope your room hasn’t become a spider’s den.”

I chuckled.

“I can’t wait to tell Lisa about all the crazy stuff you’ve been up to. If the guild hasn’t already informed her. This takes the cake, even beating out your flying island adventure!”

“Maybe, but there was an army of angry magical horses up there.”

“True… Bloody beards, I hope they set up some kind of culling to get rid of that; otherwise, give it a year or two, and there might be another equine uprising.” Thern chortled.

We waited a while, mostly chatting with Thern until Darmod arrived. It looked like we were using the adventurer’s guild again as a neutral ground and having our meeting there.

Kaldrour was as I remembered him, although he looked much less stressed than normal. He flinched a bit when he spotted the tiny spider on my shoulder.

“I’d say you went above and beyond my expectations. I just wanted my mine back, but you even got testimony of the sabotage attempts against us,” Kaldrour said cheerfully.

“Oh? I thought they said Vee’s testimony didn’t count,” I responded curiously.

Kaldrour grinned triumphantly. “Well! Now that we have an official missive reminding us that the companion of an elf is to be treated as an equal, her testimony has full legal credibility. Honestly, I couldn’t think of a better outcome.”

“That’s great!” I replied happily.

Vee nodded in agreement.

“Not to mention your offer of paying back the repercussions has put you in an extremely positive light!” Kaldrour responded. “And do not worry, with the amount of obsidianite you found, you will still have more than enough leftovers!”

“Good to hear; it’s actually something I wanted to discuss with you,” I replied.

“Is this about your silver cores? I have been sourcing them,” Kaldrour asked.

“Well, I figured I’d ask since both you and Darmod are so well-versed in the merchant side of things,” I explained. “I’m looking for more variety in slime cores, and I also heard mention of a pet violet slime.”

“Oh!” Kaldrour responded. “My wife had one growing up. She absolutely loved the thing until it ended up killing itself. She cried so much at the time, and she used the thing like a nightlight, so it became quite an inconvenience.”

Why!? Why do you damn slimes keep killing yourselves? How can you be that dumb!? You’re giving me a bad name!

Vee giggled across our mental link.

“Unfortunate…” I said, masking the second-hand humiliation I was feeling. “But yes, I heard they were a thing, and I was wondering if it would be possible to get one for me; even the core would be enough.”

“It’s certainly possible, I can start poking around my contacts,” Darmod responded.

“I can ask my wife if she kept the core,” Kaldrour added. “I don’t know if she did; it was ages ago, after all… Either way, I could ask my contacts, too.”

“Wonderful! I don’t suppose it would be possible to buy a pink core?” I questioned.

Both dwarves winced together. “That… You probably have the money, but I don’t think anyone would politically be willing to give one up,” Kaldrour finally responded.

“I was really hoping enough money would grease the hands,” I admitted.

“Normally, I’d say yes, but from what I understand, anyone with a pink core is keeping it for an emergency,” Kaldrour explained. “An elixir made from grinding up a pink core is said to fully heal anyone, even from the brink of death. The fact that live ones can be harvested for health potions makes the cores rare enough already, as why would you sacrifice a steady supply of money?”

“I guess that makes sense,” I reluctantly admitted. “Well… Keep your ears out for any slime cores. Silver is still my priority, but I’d love to get a violet one, and the remainder can go to any others.”

Both dwarves nodded in agreement. It felt good to use the power of two merchants to hopefully fulfill my desires.

I also gave the names of every individual I’d encountered yesterday so that they had a full list of names to investigate—the ones who had tried to bribe me and the ones who attacked me.

Kaldrour was beyond happy. “I honestly think you might have saved my family’s business with this. I don’t know how I can repay you for this.”

“Slime cores, I bet,” Darmod joked as I opened my mouth.

I chuckled and nodded.

“Well, I do have another silver one,” Kaldrour admitted. He placed it on the table and rolled it toward me with the flick of his finger. I hastily grabbed it and couldn’t stop smiling.

“I’m glad to see you’re happy. I’ll make sure we both work on trying to acquire some more for you,” Kaldrour replied.

“Why the hell do you want something like that?” Vee interjected. “Sure, it’s a little shiny, but you’re a slime, not a magpie.”

“I eat them,” I responded mentally.

I felt a little shudder from the spider on my shoulder.

“Well… To each their own,” Vee replied. “I can’t say it looks too appetizing myself… Now that steak we had last night, on the other hand! Delicious! Exquisite! Spectacular!”

I had to hold back my laughter at Vee’s attitude as I stared longingly at the slime core I was twirling between my fingers.

I was so desperate to eat them; I now had two! But I knew there would be no refunds for the lost experience, so I needed to exercise patience, even though it was causing me mental turmoil.

“So, what’s your next plan? More quests? Sightseeing? Going on a spending spree?” Darmod asked.

“I was wondering if there was a dungeon or something nearby?” I asked curiously. “I’d like to start training Vee here and deepen our bond.”

Kaldrour and Darmod both looked at each other and chuckled.

“A dungeon, huh?” Darmod asked.

“That can certainly be arranged!” Kaldrour winked.

“I feel like there’s a joke I’m missing…” I grumbled.

“Sorry for teasing. I’m just surprised you haven’t noticed or heard about it,” Kaldrour responded. “So we dwarves have conquered an entire dungeon.”

“Conquered?” I asked, tilting my head.

“It’s been subjugated,” Kaldrour answered. “We effectively control and regulate its spawns and everything and make a tidy profit out of it.”

“A very tidy profit,” Darmod emphasized, nodding happily.

“How?” I asked. After everything I knew about dungeons and their masters, it sounded preposterous.

“Well, we built an entire city on top of it!” Kaldrour declared and pointed down below us. “The dungeon was themed around elementals, so it’s great for profits! You can either harvest their crystal centers or, in the case of ones spawned out of rare materials, you can harvest their literal body.”

Ugh… An elemental-themed dungeon? That’s terrible for me, but probably good for experience and training…

“Some lucky dwarf encounters a gem golem, and they can make a wonderful profit by reselling its corpse,” Darmod explained.

“It almost reminds me of the slime farms…” I muttered.

“Bah, these are even better than the slime farms, as you get profits and experience simultaneously!” Kaldrour scoffed.

“And you don’t have to worry about an unfortunate accident,” Darmod added. “Nothing like losing your prized blue slime because someone nicked its core.”

It took all my effort not to shudder.

“Wow… Sucks to be a slime, I guess?” Vee joked.

I was not amused.

Chapter thirty-four

Dungeon and Mirror

“So, is there any difference between this conquered dungeon and a normal one?” I asked.

Kaldrour nodded. “The spawns are more regulated, and in some cases, we’ve even ensured only certain types of elementals can spawn by changing the environment of the rooms. The spoils from the elementals are also taxed by the city.”

Wow… The poor Dungeon Master. Has it been bullied into submission? I wondered.

“And if you have any looting skills or Emblems, you are asked not to use them!” Darmod quickly added. “We don’t want to starve the dungeon or break the delicate equilibrium that’s been established.”

I nodded.

Well, it’s not like eating any elementals will help me out since they all seem to come from the same profile. But that probably means trying to coerce the dungeon into spawning a slime for me is off the table. I should probably hold back on sliming out, but there’s no reason for me not to use [Metal Slime] and hopefully get it to the next level!

“No problem. It sounds like a great place to train and get some levels,” I agreed.

“Wonderful. I’ll ensure you have access and that someone guides you to the entrance,” Kaldrour cheerfully replied.

“You need access? Is it not controlled by the Adventurer’s Guild?” I questioned.

“No.” Kaldrour shook his head. “The dungeon is fully maintained by the city itself, and thus, it falls outside the guild’s regulation.”

“Oh…” I mumbled, not really understanding.

“The Adventurer’s Guild was established by humans first; we dwarves took a while to accept its existence,” Darmod explained. “We had our own way of doing things for centuries, and so concessions were made when we finally allowed it to operate within our borders.”

“So… if I said I wanted to train specifically on spells, what would you recommend?” I questioned.

“What kind of magic?” Kaldrour asked.

“Corrosion,” I replied and elaborated in case they weren’t familiar. “Acids and a few afflictions.”

Kaldrour hummed in thought before finally responding. “Probably the rock elementals. That way, you can damage their outside body without too much fuss. If you went to train on something like the crystal or metal elements, you might get some people angry that you’re intentionally damaging the resources!”

“You’re serious?” I questioned.

“Deadly serious. We weren’t kidding when we said we’ve conquered the dungeon and maintained its equilibrium. We’ve turned it into a glorious harvesting ground.”

“Oh… So as long as I keep the crystal cores relatively intact, people won’t mind?” I questioned.

“Pretty much,” Kaldrour nodded in agreement. “There are fire elementals, too, but I worry with their partially incorporeal nature, your magic would immediately destroy their crystal.”

“How do you usually go about gathering their crystal?” I questioned.

“Water, mud, or even enclosing them in an airtight room. Eventually, the elemental burns itself out and dies. It’s a rather brutal method but the best way to gather their crystals unharmed. They are one of the best sources of pure Fire Mana, and we use them to power some of our extreme forges.”

“Makes sense,” I said with a nod. “I guess we will hunt a few earth and rock elementals before eventually going on some quests.”

“Sounds good to me! Earth crystals aren’t used often, so don’t be too beat up if you destroy a few.”

As if sensing my next question ahead of time, Darmod quickly spoke up. “We sometimes grind them down and use them to enrich the soil. It can help with plant growth. Although sometimes they just throw the crystals in a dungeon room to shift the room’s elemental alignment toward Earth.”

“To influence the dungeon spawns?” I asked.

“Bingo!” Kaldrour said excitedly. “If it’s high enough, we get some really good ones.”

I wanted to question that mindset. As far as I knew, the dungeons could seemingly spawn anything they wanted, so either they’d tricked the dungeon, or the dungeon was tricking them.

Or perhaps there are certain rules around the spawning? Is it cheaper to spawn a monster that matches the element in the room? However, that wouldn’t explain the vast variety I saw in that last dungeon…

After finalizing everything, Kaldrour decided to lead us toward the dungeon. Darmod left to immediately contact his merchant suppliers to see what slime cores he could scrounge up.

Vee and I marveled like tourists at all the new sights we saw as I followed Kaldrour deeper into an area of the city I’d never been to. Our destination was a huge set of ornate, heavily guarded double doors.

“Well, this is the entrance to the dungeon!” Kaldrour explained excitedly.

“Great! So which way are the Earth elementals?” I asked.

“I’ll ask the guards for a map while authorizing your permission to enter,” Kaldrour responded.

He spent some time chatting with one of the guards, who then handed over a stone tablet before Kaldrour trotted back.

“Right, you’re authorized to enter, and here is your map,” he said cheerfully, handing over the stone tablet.

“Thanks, Kaldrour!” I said happily.

“No, my friend, thank you!” Kaldrour said with a cheerful chuckle. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some merchants to contact and then some foreman to tell to get back to work!”

He waved goodbye and left the area. I finally scrutinized the tablet he had handed me to understand what this dungeon looked like.

Examining it, I saw engravings of a floor layout with large areas marked with a certain element before going into further detail by room. I was startled at how efficient the layout looked. The dwarves weren’t kidding that they’d subjugated the dungeon, and the entire thing looked extremely square, as most dwarven constructs seemed to favor.

Did they forcibly build it like this, and did the dungeon adapt? Or did they somehow force it to create the dungeon like this? Or maybe the dwarves are friends with the Dungeon Master, and there’s an agreement?

That last possibility made me hesitant about what I revealed during my encounter. Definitely no fully sliming out, although I reckoned the Dungeon Master would likely be sworn to silence by Gramps or Mother.

“So, Vee, are you ready for your first dungeon?” I asked the spider mentally.

“I guess… although if we are just going to fight a few rock elementals, I’m not sure how fun it will be,” Vee responded.

“Well, at least they will make good target practice. Hopefully, we can get you some easy levels in your class before we head out and do some quests. I’m sure that will be much more fun.”

“Sure, lead the way!” Vee agreed. “At least I’ll finally get to cast some real magic and not just coordinate nonsense!”

I had half expected to get another quest to slap the spider, but either Mother wasn’t watching, or she had run out of free points to give me.

Alone in a room was a lithe elven figure staring into what looked like a shimmering mirror of mercury; across from the other side were blurred figures, their appearance hard to make out other than their pronounced pointed ears, which signified their elven heritage.

“I made the snap decision to intervene and prevent the dwarves from interfering with her [Bonded Companion],” Tamnaeth reported. “Regardless of which branch she is from, we would not want to lose such a powerful, tamed asset.”

One of the figures nodded. “Yes, I agree with the decision. To so effortlessly tame a monster of that caliber clearly shows that she is hiding her true levels behind her current class.”

“Has there been any progress in identifying which branch she is from?” Tamnaeth asked, hoping for a positive response. “I’d appreciate knowing whom I’m potentially working with.”

One of the other figures shook their head. “No… Strangely, it seems none of the branches wish to claim this individual’s actions. Either she is deep undercover or a loose agent acting freely.”

Tamnaeth frowned, not happy with the news. He was about to voice his complaint when there appeared to be a commotion on the opposite end of their communication device.

Abruptly, one by one, the figures started dropping to their knees. Tamnaeth could only presume someone important had entered the room and hastily knelt.

The new figure rapidly approached the communication mirror; even separated by such a far distance, Tamnaeth could feel the social pressure weighing down upon him.

“Agent, you’re in the presence of the Feirelle branch,” another elf, clearly an assistant, said.

“Tamnaeth, reporting for duty!” He dropped deeper to his knees. “This sprout is honored for being graced by your presence, and I humbly ask how may I serve the great Feirelle branch on this blessed day?”

“First, confirm the name of the individual you saw,” the assistant responded.

“[Identify] reported her name as Syl,” Tamnaeth responded hastily. “It seemed like a shortened name or nickname, so I presumed it was modified.”

“Describe her appearance as best as you can remember,” the assistant said.

Tamnaeth hastily responded. The more he described, the more agitated the Feirelle branch head seemed to get.

“And she tamed a monster spider, you say?” the assistant asked.

“Yes, a Riftweaver Spider, tier five, named Vee,” Tamnaeth replied.

There seemed to be a commotion between the assistant and the Feirelle branch head.

“Mistress, I understand your agitation, but…”

“Paeris,” a commanding voice echoed out. Tamnaeth felt the urge to kneel even harder. “I do not know or care, but that sounds exactly like my daughter. She even bonded a companion!”

“Mistress… I understand… But, her leaf fell from the sprig; it can’t be her,” Paeris, the assistant, pleaded.

“The description matches her perfectly; she even had her golden oak bag!” she continued. “And now it’s revealed that she has the Tamer class too; this is far too much of a coincidence.”

Paeris tried to say something but was interrupted as she continued talking.

“Her sudden disappearance goes unexplained to this very day, and yet you wish me not to act? No. I will get my answers to why she left home. Either my daughter is alive, or another branch has the gall to imitate her,” the Feirelle branch head said. “Dispatch Llewel to retrieve her by any means necessary.”

“Yes, mistress…” Paeris mumbled.

“Tamnaeth,” she said. Tamnaeth flinched. “Keep an eye on her, but do not interfere. I do not wish for her to flee until Llewel arrives.”

“I understand,” Tamnaeth said, bowing his head.

The imposing woman looked ready to leave but paused and glared at the communication mirror. Tamnaeth thought perhaps he had done something accidentally to offend her when she suddenly waved her hand, and the watery reflection shimmered a vibrant spray of colors until a small black splotch was revealed.

“This device has been compromised!” she declared angrily.

Tamnaeth felt a pit in his stomach beginning to swell; he gulped and was ready to take some of the blame when she raised her hand and waved it again. A crack split the mirror in half, then shattered into countless pieces following an earsplitting screech.

He stared at the sight and let out a sigh of relief.

“At least I’m not taking the blame… But who would snoop on such a meeting?” He couldn’t help but wonder. “Were they interested in snooping on our ongoing relations with the dwarves, or is this related to the Feirelle branch?”

He paused and began thinking. The Feirelle branch was remarkably close to the trunk. Was someone plotting against them? Was one of the outer branches looking to increase its influence, or was one of the other inner branches trying to retain control?

“It’s all certainly possible…” Tamnaeth admitted.

He then thought about his meeting with Syl. She undoubtedly had the [Elven Glamour] trait at an extremely high level, indicating close ties to a branch. The fact that she might have been the Feirelle’s lost daughter was certainly plausible.

“If it is her, why did she disappear only to join the Adventurer’s Guild?” he continued to wonder. “Not to mention coming to visit the dwarven empire…”

He sighed and shook his head.

“This is far above my pay grade. I need a drink…”

Chapter thirty-five

Acid Magic 101

Entering the dungeon was bizarre. The entire thing felt far more clinical than I had ever expected. At first, the guards checked that I didn’t have any controversial Emblem equipped and then had me reassure them I didn’t have any looting skills or traits.

I offhandedly mentioned [Dissection] just in case, which caused the guards to actually look very pleased.

“We will be expecting some good harvests then!” the one guard had cheered.

Once inside the dungeon, the entire thing was labeled with floor markings and signs to indicate the area. Heck, some of them were even color-coordinated!

“Are all dungeons like this?” Vee questioned.

“Not at all,” I immediately answered. “The first dungeon I ever did was undead-themed, and the entire place felt like a rotted-out crypt. The first floor had wandering zombies and skeletons.”

“Wow, sounds almost like a haunted house at an amusement park!” Vee replied excitedly.

“The second dungeon I did was more like an underground cavern, although as we got deeper, the flooring got better. The final room with the boss felt like an almost underground temple.”

“Neat!” Vee responded. “I’m presuming we won’t be able to do anything like that here?”

“I doubt it; they even gave me this!” I replied, gesturing toward a little pamphlet the one guard had handed me. On it was a list of rules and regulations.

“Apparently, killing a boss monster causes unnecessary strain on the dungeon and should be avoided without express permission!”

“Bummer… Well, if getting class levels is as quick as you said, hopefully, we will be out of here, and we can either go find another dungeon or explore the caves!”

“Yeah, there’s some kobolds I wouldn’t mind getting some revenge on… They dropped an entire tunnel on top of me the last time.”

Vee winced. “Yeah… I ran into those little lizard buggers too. However, rather than collapsing a tunnel on top of me, they kept trying to throw chains and nets at me. I think they wanted me as a pet, or perhaps they prefer their food live.”

“Or even try to domesticate you for your spider silk; no doubt it’s super good quality.”

“Gee, thanks! Trying to butter me up?” Vee teased.

“Well, if it gets you to show me some of your traits, then sure!” I teased back.

By now, we had reached the Earthen section of the dungeon, as indicated by the floor tiles, which were now taking on a browner tinge. I pulled out the map and started following it toward the area that spawned the lower-quality elementals.

The room was sealed with a door that didn’t match the dungeon’s decor and a corresponding lever; I pulled it, which raised the door, revealing a room entirely made of loose gravel, rock, and mud.

At the center of the room, attached to the ceiling, was a giant brown crystal that positively radiated Earth essence. Rather than being singular, it looked like it was created by grafting multiple crystals together.

“Wow! Pretty crystal!” Vee exclaimed.

“Looks like that is how they’ve ensured the room is aligned to earth,” I explained.

When we entered the room, the piles of rocks began moving, and a freshly spawned elemental rose from the rubble.

“Right, so I’d suggest trying to kill it by only using [Acid Dart] to familiarize yourself with it. Once you’ve gained some mage levels, you’ll have more skills I can use to help you purchase and make better progress.”

“Sounds good to me!” Vee said and hopped off my shoulder.

She began somewhat clumsily casting the spell, and I watched the familiar luminous dart of acidic energy form and fire at the rock elemental. Immediately after the spell struck, the elemental became enraged and started lumbering toward the source of its ire.

“Unlike with your coordinate spells, you should be able to pour more Mana into the spell construct to empower the spell,” I advised.

“More Mana, got it!” Vee replied with excitement.

More and more [Acid Dart] spells began forming and firing at the elemental. I’d sort of forgotten how the unmodified spell was, and even though Vee was melting through its rocks, it would reinforce its form by collecting from the plentitude of available material scattered about the room.

“Uhh… Not to disparage your teaching, but I don’t think this spell is going to cut it!” Vee replied as she dodged out of the way of a slow, lumbering fist.

“I’ll debuff it a bit then,” I replied, casting a few spells.

Putting on both [Hexed] and [Erode] reduced both its physical and magic defenses, and I hoped it would be enough to give Vee the edge with such a basic spell. When her next spell struck the rock elemental, rather than splattering, it pierced somewhat inside it.

“Whoa! What the heck?” Vee questioned before firing more spells at the monster.

With the aid of my debuffs, the elemental was soon barely holding itself together. A final spell was fired against it, and it was defeated.

“Man… I haven’t struggled against a monster like that in a while. If I used my threads or a trap, I probably could have torn it to shreds in seconds!” Vee replied.

“No doubt. Looks like we have quite a bit of work ahead of us…” I answered.

“Joy…” Vee sighed.

We spent a lot of time slowly pulling a single elemental out at a time for Vee to test her magic against. Although the elementals were not ideal enemies, it was certainly convenient that they would spawn relatively frequently and would not attack us unless we got too close or attacked them first. Effectively, we had a nearly endless supply of target dummies.

Once she had gained a few levels, I started showing her various skills to dump her points into. It didn’t take her too long to unlock [Poison Cloud], but sadly, that would be entirely useless against a rocky foe like this.

When Vee’s Mana bottomed out, I offered her a “Mana Potion,” which she happily drank to replenish herself. I kept the miraculous brew’s source a secret from her, but the effect was immediately noticeable.

I had thought perhaps I could teach her how to create [Dissolve], but she was struggling because she did not have very good levels of [Mana Manipulation]. I had thought that with guidance and [Companion Training], perhaps I could give her a rapidly progressing crash course, but it seemed like that might not be possible.

It’s too bad I don’t have the [Apprenticeship] skill, although I don’t think it would help in this regard. Would Vee even be able to equip the [Apprentice] Emblem if she’s got [Bonded Companion]?

I was looking through all my skills, trying to figure something out, when I came across something that triggered a spark of inspiration, [Ritual Casting]!

“Vee, take this skill when you get your next level up and skill point,” I said and showed it to her.

<[Ritual Casting]

Coordinate with other spellcasters to form Grand Spells.

Each participant with this skill adds to the ease of the spell’s formation in a reduction in time or complexity.

This skill has no levels.>

“Oh?” Vee said, reading the skill. “That sounds cool. Would we be able to make spells together?”

“I think so. I’ve only ever done it with myself, but it should work!”

“Wait… How do you coordinate with yourself?” Vee asked, sounding genuinely baffled.

“Uh… secret!” I waved it off.

“Right…” Vee murmured. “I’m half tempted to show you some stuff to get some answers.”

“Please do!” I immediately agreed.

“I’ll think about it…” Vee muttered before beginning her next fight.

While Vee spent her time fighting, I spent time trying to grind out the next level I needed in [Metal Slime]. It was becoming increasingly frustrating with how close I felt as I wanted nothing more than to crunch down on those delicious slime cores.

Internally, I started creating small objects, such as my metallic needles. I was effectively playing around with the slimy goop in my hands and shaping it for fun. I started with simple things like cubes and spheres before moving on to more and more complex shapes.

At some point, I even created a silver sculpture of Vee by watching her closely. When Vee finished her latest fight and returned to my side, she eyed the tiny spider statue with great curiosity and interest.

“That’s cool… Is my butt really that big?” Vee asked.

“It’s pretty accurate, I’d say,” I replied. I primed the tiny sculpture and placed it on the ground before her.

Vee curiously poked at it before picking it up and examining it closer. She seemed somewhat impressed by the silver replica of herself.

“Couldn’t you make a fortune doing stuff like this?” Vee said as she poked the lifelike sculpture.

“Well… It will only stay like that for thirty-six minutes. After that, it will revert to a bunch of slime,” I answered honestly.

“If you were running a scam operation, that could be pretty good!” Vee nodded. “Although it’s a pity it’s got such a short time limit.”

“Well, I don’t think turning it into tiny replicas was the original intention of the trait. I sort of figured this might be a useful idea to trick enemies.”

“Wait, what is the original purpose?” Vee asked curiously. “And how would you trick your foes? I don’t think throwing a tiny silver spider at someone is the best distraction, although I give it points for absurdity.”

I chuckled as I picked up the silver spider sculpture and tossed it at one of the somewhat inert earth elementals. When the metal clinked against the rock, I triggered the explosion, which detonated and caused the top half of the elemental to crumble apart.

“The hell!?” Vee exclaimed in shock. “It exploded! I know you could create landmines, but that seems somewhat absurd!”

I somewhat ignored her outburst and continued my explanation. I formed a bronze sword between my hands and gave it a tiny flourish. “I thought if I created a sword or something if an enemy took it, I could then detonate it in their hands.”

I threw the sword at the remains of the elemental before detonating it again, causing the last remnants of its life to plummet.

“That’s brilliant and nasty!” Vee blurted. “Did I mention that I’m glad I’m on your side?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“I think your threads were much scarier. I was stacking so many defensive traits, yet they cut through my arms like butter. Sure, it’s not the most mobile of attacks, but the results if it lands are terrifying.”

“I mean, sure… But mine is like a hidden threat; yours is like… manipulative trickery? If that makes sense?”

I tilted my head questioningly, and Vee continued talking.

“They don’t see my attack coming. It’s humane, sort of? Meanwhile, you’ve tricked them into thinking it was something beneficial, and then the table is turned!”

“How’s that a bad thing?” I questioned.

“I’m not saying it’s bad… just… crafty, cunning, deceitful, underhanded…” Vee continued.

“I suppose…” I relented. “But if it works, it works!”

I created a little replica jackelope in my hand and winked at Vee.

“Oh, what the hell!?” Vee shouted. “That’s even nastier than I thought! That looks like an actual rabbit!”

“Yeah, I tricked a wolf once with this. Boom!” I giggled.

“Wait…” Vee paused. “The duplicate you left behind! Were you planning on tricking me and blowing it up?”

“Maybe?” I responded. “I definitely had it guarding the exit, so to speak. It really depended on whether you were in a talkative mood.”

“You sure you haven’t gone evolution crazy?” Vee pressed.

“Just a regular amount of crazy,” I teased. “I mean, I was turned into a slime; nobody comes out of that normal, I think?”

Vee looked at herself and sighed. “Yeah… I guess, as a spider, I can’t judge. Anyway, I leveled up! So I can grab that new skill.”

“Great!” I cheered. “Hopefully, when you take that, I can help train you more directly.”

Chapter thirty-six

Companion Casting

“Okay, so how does this [Ritual Casting] work?” Vee asked.

“No idea! As I said, I’ve only ever done it with myself, but it should be rather intuitive.”

Vee didn’t look too pleased with that response, so I quickly asked her to cast [Acid Dart] and hold it. She somewhat reluctantly did so, and then I tried to reach out to her spell. Thanks to the companion system, we were in a party, so in theory, we were seen as cooperators, and I hoped it would be enough.

I was expecting something similar to when I used [Counter Magic] when I connected to her spell, but the actual results were entirely different. Rather than hooking up to her spell from the outside and manipulating it, the spell seemed to become half mine, and consequently, I took half the burden.

I could sense Vee’s Mana pool and my own sort of working in tandem with the spell.

“Good lord! Is that your Mana!?” Vee responded in astonishment.

“I did say I was a Mana slime!”

“Understatement of a century! That’s insane!” Vee said, visibly upset.

“Yours is also impressive!” I tried to say reassuringly.

“How would you know? You just said you’ve only ever done this with yourself!” Vee countered.

“Shit… right,” I cursed, realizing my verbal screwup. “Well, I’m sure yours will also be impressive once you either level up [Mana Well] or fuse it into [Soul Mastery]…”

“Sure, sure… Blame the traits,” Vee giggled. “Okay, so we’re sharing this spell now. What’s next?”

“Well, I’m going to modify it!” I responded.

“Uh… Be careful?” Vee said hesitantly.

“Don’t worry—I’ve done this countless times! Even if I fail, it’s just a bit of a pain-splitting headache, nothing to worry about. My first time, I brute-forced it until I finally succeeded!”

“Uh…” Vee stammered. “That’s not exactly reassuring! I hope you understand that!”

“Like I said, that was ages ago; I’m much better at it now. Watch!”

“Wait—”

I started manipulating the spell. It was a little less fluid than my normal operations, but by flexing the might of my superior skill levels and calling on some assistance from my personal helpers, I began making up the difference.

“Wait, I thought this was 50-50? Why do you have so many hands? What!? How are you moving it that way? Wait! Slow down! Argghh!” Vee began a string of mental complaints.

“Behold!” I said, marveling at my completed spell. I had reconstructed my improved version of [Acid Dart] combined with [Dissolve].

Vee stared at it silently; I figured she was basking in its magnificence.

“What the hell even is this? Is this the same spell?” Vee questioned.

“Of course it is! I just combined it with an affliction, creating a dart of acid and leaving a continuous acidic remnant depending on how much Mana you feed into it.”

“I… see?” Vee said, tilting her head. “No, sorry, that’s a lie. I don’t see anything.”

I suppressed a sigh and began explaining the magical construct before us. I pointed out the various components one by one, and gradually, Vee started understanding more and more of it.

The biggest downside was that she only had [Mana Sight] rather than [Mana Conception], so she lacked many finer details I was trying to point out. She literally could not see them.

However, when I finished my explanation, not only did I gain a level in [Companion Training], but Vee also happily claimed that she had gained one in [Mana Manipulation].

“Okay, I think that’s enough theory. Let’s fire this bad boy at one of the elementals!” I said eagerly.

“Finally!” Vee said, relieved. “I want to see what this can do!”

I nodded, and then, together, we both finalized the casting, sending the bolt of green luminous energy slamming into the golem and coating it in the affliction.

“Whoa! Awesome!” Vee waved her little front legs happily.

“Let’s do another at a different target!” I said excitedly.

This time, I formed the spell and waited for Vee to join. There was a brief hesitation, but she linked up, and I rapidly shifted it to the superior version. Then we tossed it at another elemental and happily watched our results.

“Oh! It said I discovered [Dissolve]!” Vee shouted. “And I gained another level in [Corrosion Magic]; what the heck? So fast!?”

“I wonder if that’s because I’m forcing you to cast the spell at a much higher level than you normally could? Combining that with whatever boost [Companion Training] is giving.”

“I hope you get [Dimension Magic] soon so we can work together on that! Because honestly, it makes very little sense to me.”

“That’s unfortunately up to Mother, I don’t know when I’ll get my discount.”

“Well, it’s not like we’re in a rush. We can just keep grinding away here for a bit, head home, and build up a bit of a routine. I’m sure she’ll give it to you in no time!” Vee asserted.

“I hope so…” I wondered. “For now, if you initiate spells, I’ll help you a bit by giving them a boost. Let’s see if we can power you up a bit.”

“Sounds good to me!” Vee enthusiastically replied.

I tried assigning Alpha and Beta to assist Vee. I was curious if that would work, but when she cast her spell and saw them automatically reaching out and helping, I felt a mixture of relief and excitement.

I had no idea I could do that with my [Sub-Cores]. I know I had one hold the [Frostclaw] spells for Pelopi, but technically speaking, this was a far more advanced order. They were now joining someone else in their [Ritual Casting] and boosting it. If my cores didn’t become inert when separated from my slime, I could give one to each of my friends, and they’d always have their own personal helper. Think of the possibilities!

I found myself grinning and hoping that one day I’d find a way around my decoupled slime predicament.

“What exactly are your intentions with this?” Gramps questioned angrily. “I feel like you’re directly interfering with my [Experiment] by having her tutor yours. Syl should be going out and killing monsters and evolving, not playing magic tutor to a spider.”

“Her name is Vee now,” Mother said condescendingly.

Gramps harumphed. “I don’t care about her name; I care about the fact she’s delaying my enjoyment.”

“Well… it wasn’t me who forgot to properly clean a soul, now was it?” Mother questioned.

“Once I discovered the oversight, I promptly locked the offending affinity,” Gramps defended himself.

“It still allowed the little slime access to traits it probably wouldn’t have had access to,” Mother retorted.

“Hardly!” Gramps snapped. “While [Core Storage] indeed has some roots with Dimension Affinity, it is a rare trait available to quite a few slimes. How else would they store away their excess slime mass?”

“And what tier are those slimes? No doubt four or five at a minimum, I’d presume? And yet Syl had it at the first tier?” Mother elaborated.

“We all agreed on the [Experiment] Emblem, which gave some assistance with trait selection. Syl is hardly the only one to gain a few gems out of that and only had it for ten levels!” Gramps argued.

“Look at it this way. Now we can potentially look into further collaborations if Syl and Vee stick around together. I’m sure you wish to see more of what such an advanced spider can accomplish? [Rift Thread] alone has wonderful applications…” Mother divulged.

Gramps hummed in thought. He had to admit that it was an intriguing offer, although part of him wanted Syl to eat the spider and mimic its traits.

Although knowing that easily distractable slime, it will be used once or twice before something else leads Syl by the nose. At least I’m seeing some amazing usage of [Nitro Slime] and [Metal Slime]. I can’t wait to see what further slime traits will be combined.

“What you say is… reasonable,” Gramps relented.

“Of course it is!” Mother replied haughtily. “Plus, they might need it with how fast that stupid dragon is progressing…”

“I still can’t believe we agreed to that…” Gramps groaned.

“Well, I’m sure if our spider and slime work together, they can beat it. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful meal for them to share?” Mother pressed.

“You’re a manipulative woman… But I must admit I see the merit in some mutual cooperation,” Gramps acquiesced.

It was certainly a strange situation. While they had certainly predicted a possibility of a [Experiment] bonding to a regular individual outside of the trials, they never expected one to bond with a fellow [Experiment]. Sure, the possibility of mind control or forced subjugation was always an option, but mutual cooperation like this? The stars had certainly aligned bizarrely.

The two subjects were at present in the elemental dungeon, which had long been conquered by the dwarven species. Gramps, in particular, found the event hilarious as he’d never been overly fond of the [Dungeon Masters]; they’d always felt like a combination of brownnosers and scavengers picking at whatever scraps they could find.

Sure, once in a while, one of them would finally prove themselves worthy and get a minor role as an assistant to one of them, but Gramps had always found it beneath himself to have a subordinate like that.

However, perhaps I might have to make an exception for Syl if it ever heads down that road, Gramps admitted.

“Oh? Is that [Ritual Casting]?” Mother questioned as they watched the display.

“It appears so. Syl has made ample use of the skill by using it in tandem with the [Sub-Cores],” Gramps answered.

“Well, this is certainly an interesting training method…” Mother admitted. “Like a clay sculptor sitting behind their student, hand in hand, guiding them into shaping their masterpiece together!”

Gramps harumphed. “How vulgar.”

Mother gave a teasing wink. The result was a surprising success, and pulling up an information log, she saw Vee had made a substantial amount of progress.

“Hmm… That’s considerably more than I would have expected her to get?” Mother queried.

Gramps also pulled up the results and looked it over. “Interesting… Syl has a few experience-boosting traits, and now Vee has one, too. I wonder if there’s a strange feedback loop happening?”

“Something to investigate,” Mother paused. “Eventually…”

“Eventually…” Gramps chortled.

What happened next left both of them a little stunned. Syl started assigning [Sub-Cores] to help Vee and then left her to her own devices.

“Those little helpers are something else…” Mother admitted.

“I must say I didn’t think of assigning them like that. Syl is certainly full of surprises!” Gramps cheered.

“And this will undoubtedly boost Vee’s training speed. Remarkable!” Mother joined in the jubilations.

“S-so, when can Leon join the t-team?” Unc suddenly spoke up.

Both Mother and Gramps flinched and turned to see the individual who had somehow snuck his way in.

“Who’s Leon?” both asked in unison.

“L-Leon! He’s g-great; I think he would make a perfect team m-member!” Unc replied happily.

“No… Seriously, who is Leon?” Mother questioned again.

“He’s an adorable hermit c-crab!” Unc said proudly. “The little guy has really started coming out of his shell ever since his latest evolution. That t-trait you designed for him really helped a lot!”

“Oh… the crab…” Gramps muttered halfheartedly. He’d almost completely forgotten about that subject.

“Really now. You designed a custom trait just for this one?” Mother accused.

“It was part of the deal to step in and fix those errors Syl had caused with the spirits and Mana traits…” Gramps admitted.

“Oh, right…” Mother nodded. “That fiasco.”

“S-so? Don’t you think Leon would be g-great?” Unc asked.

Gramps and Mother turned to each other and began trying to communicate with their eyes and facial expressions alone. Both were a little worried about what Unc had overheard.

“Sure…” Gramps muttered reluctantly.

“Although we don’t know when they will meet up. I presume Leon is somewhere in the water?” Mother asked.

“Yeah! But he’s been heading toward the coast. It looks like he got into some t-trouble with the mermen, and they’ve been ch-chasing him to shore. I’m sure they will meet up in no time!” Unc replied happily.

Gramps pulled up a map between the coast and the Dwarven Empire and chuckled internally. They were practically a continent apart.

“I’m sure they will meet up eventually…” Gramps said, trying to hold back his laugh.

“W-wonderful!”

Chapter thirty-seven

Training Experiments

Vee and I spent almost an entire week making periodic visits to the elemental dungeon. Surprisingly, the biggest hurdle was not the experience but her skill progression as she rocketed through the early levels of Mage, thanks to the plethora of monster experiences, even some of which I had siphoned off.

Unfortunately, Vee did not have [Prodigy], and trying to share it with her didn’t seem possible, as it appeared as a garbled message when she viewed it. Clearly, it was a leftover from my previous life that Gramps must have left behind, either intentionally or accidentally, and that was why I got access to it. Likewise, my Dimension affinity was subsequently locked.

Not that I can complain about that too much. At least I can unlock it with trait points, which I can’t say about other rare affinities. I somehow doubt there’s a slime core that would grant me that!

I tried to give Vee as much guidance as possible, which helped my [Companion Training] skills grow exponentially.

<Proficiency gained. [Companion Training LV 4] improved to [Companion Training LV 5].>

Even [Prodigy] couldn’t explain this rapid growth. I could only speculate it was due to the nature of my lessons being so advanced that I was getting some disproportionate experience bonuses due to perceived difficulty. After all, the system probably never expected an intelligent monster to be trained, and anyone who successfully taught a normal spider magic would deserve to be significantly rewarded.

I knew we also needed to nurture our [Companion Bond] to receive further boosts and features, so I started trying to confide more in her. The results were mixed, but it seemed an easy way to her heart was through her stomach.

<Bond Growth: Flamelet.>

This is higher than Kindling… right? I couldn’t help but wonder.

We were in the same situation from this whole [Experiment] ordeal, so cooperation was mutually beneficial.

During our magical training, I finally reached the next level of [Metal Slime]. Once that was met, I wasted no time eating both the silver slime cores I had been waiting for.

<Proficiency gained. [Metal Slime LV 4] improved to [Metal Slime LV 5].>

<Slime (Silver) Core absorbed. Trait [Metal Slime] gained.>

<Existing Trait [Metal Slime LV 5] improved to [Metal Slime LV 6].>

<Trait [Shape Slime LV 1] integrated into [Morph Slime LV 8].>

<Slime (Silver) Core absorbed. Trait [Metal Slime], [Shape Slime] gained.>

<Existing Trait [Metal Slime LV 6] improved to [Metal Slime LV 7].>

<Trait [Shape Slime LV 2] integrated into [Morph Slime LV 8].>

I was a little sad not to get to the next level of [Morph Slime], but at the end of the day, I really wanted the [Metal Slime] levels. I promptly started trying to see what new metals I had access to. A plethora of alloys and high-quality metals had suddenly become available; steel, electrum, lead-silver, and even orichalcum. The latter was extremely exciting because I found out that it was effectively the evolution of enchantable metals!

Move over gold and electrum; there’s a new boss in town!

Orichalcum was highly Mana-conductive and yet far more durable than gold! This meant that creating an entire enchanted weapon was much more reasonable, and it was in extreme demand as you could use it in vast quantities without risking the structural integrity of your forged goods. This also explained why the Flinthearts were in such dire circumstances with their mine being taken over.

Adamantine and mithril seemed still out of reach, although I was willing to bet that the next level would unlock at least one of them entirely. Obsidianite, despite being described as on par with adamantine, was even further out of reach, making me wonder how the system was judging my usable materials.

Now having access to much higher quality metals, I had begun trying to experiment with [Rune Engraving] while my [Sub-Cores] assisted Vee.

The idea was simple: Create a metal sword out of slime and then try enchanting it. Since the slime was all part of my extremely malleable body, I could engrave it directly from memory without needing a tool. It seemed far too easy, and I had expected it to fail, but surprisingly, it worked!

My first trial run of creating a silver sword with enhanced durability was a resounding success, so I moved on to recreate the childhood dream of all budding enchanters: the flaming sword!

Well, at least Greg said it was the dream of all enchanters. I could make one out of magic or add [Blaze Slime] to the mix.

During my time as Sylvester, I only got the basic enchantments, so I could only add a low-grade fire enchantment. But after almost no time at all, I suddenly held a steel blade with golden etchings along the flat of the blade and blazing with magical flames.

“Okay! That is so damn cool!” Vee exclaimed with excitement, seeing the blade.

I flourished it a bit and grinned.

“Yeah, it looks great, but the reality, it’s kind of shit compared to everything else we can do,” I pointed out.

Vee sighed. “I think you just destroyed the hopes and dreams of young boys everywhere.”

“Well, not everyone can be a shapeshifting slime who’s collected seven other slime powers,” I teased and quickly added. “Or a dimensional murder spider! Hell, even the axe one of my friends found in a dungeon was better than this. It had a blade that could cut ghosts!”

“True…” Vee admitted. “Also, wow, you’ve eaten seven other slimes?”

“I’ve eaten a lot more than seven. But if we count unique slime cores, then yes, I’ve added seven to my collection. I hope one day to collect them all!”

“And then take over the world?” Vee joked.

“Well, Trixie said I could probably do that if I took the Queen evolution,” I joked back.

“Please don’t!” Vee pleaded. “I can’t imagine the world being overrun with slimes like you!”

I chuckled. “That’s the best part! Would you even know they were slimes? Maybe they would all just be looking like humans living among us.”

Vee gasped. “I hadn’t even considered that they would inherit that from you. That sounds like something out of a horror movie. You’d take over a city and slowly replace its population with slimy doppelgangers!”

I shrugged. “I actually have no idea. I hope they’d inherit something from me. But for all I know, I’d just plop out a bunch of mindless blue slimes.”

“Do you have no plans to change your base species?” Vee questioned. “Having changed species before, I must say the boost I got to my body was particularly consequential. Suddenly, I was far faster and stronger than before. It was a much bigger deal than my Mutation unless I count this last one, which seemed to combine both types.”

I hummed while trying to digest Vee’s information. “I’m not sure… Maybe if I’m offered something extraordinarily unique? I’ve grown quite fond of being a blue slime, although I could always change my color back,”

“Which is totally unfair, by the way!” Vee quipped.

I stuck a cheeky tongue out before continuing. “But how would that even affect me? I don’t exactly have a body, per se. For some reason, I get the feeling I wouldn’t get as big of a boost by changing my species as you did.”

“I mean… You don’t truly know that, right?” Vee asked. “Gut feeling is good and all, but I definitely noticed a significant upgrade for myself. Just saying…”

“Yeah, I agree…” I admitted. “If I get a really tempting offer, like for an extinct slime, then I probably will. The mutations have seemed far better for me, but who knows what my next evolution will offer me? Probably something really good if I look at what tier five offered you.”

“Yeah! Positive thoughts!” Vee cheered.

“I’m glad you’re so optimistic! We should try adding Dimensional Mana to a projectile spell construct again!” I said with a fiendish grin.

Vee’s horror and dismay bled through our telepathic bond.

“Oh no… not again!” she cried.

That experimentation had been particularly unsuccessful for us. Well, for Vee, since I still didn’t have access to Dimensional Mana. Even with my own version of a magical training boot camp, Vee’s [Mana Manipulation] was still woefully inadequate.

I had tried begging and pleading with Mother to give me the discount so I could help Vee directly, but perhaps she couldn’t modify the quest anymore. Vee suggested she was just “being a bitch” and was likely delighted by Vee’s mental suffering.

Vee received intense backlash whenever she tried to work with the Dimensional Mana and spells constantly fell apart. One time, it was so bad I even gave her a healing potion to help her recover; another time, it had almost emptied out her entire Mana pool!

Seriously… Who gives someone [Dimension Magic] to start with? Even though I can’t remember anything about my past life, I bet I had at least one basic magic to work with! It’s a pity I don’t remember anything, or I could have pulled some lessons from my past life. Assuming past me actually could cast some [Dimension Magic] spells.

While Vee struggled to get some type of result from the stubborn advanced magic, I continued trying to see what I could accomplish with enchanting [Metal Slime]. Spurred on by my memory of Ian’s amazing dungeon axe, I wanted to try replicating the effects of that and the spell-storing ring I had given Eliza.

I had thoroughly memorized the enchantment for both and even requested my [Sub-Cores] keep their own record of them. Whether it was useful or not without understanding was a mystery, without even considering if my [Rune Engraving] level was sufficient.

I began trying to create a replica of the axe to aid in reproducing the engraving. Then, I started working with shifting to place the enchantment on the axe.

The axe replica in my hands exploded into a burst of slimy goop, thoroughly coating my nearby vicinity. I blinked a few times in confusion and then remembered how dangerous a failed enchantment could be.

It’s a good thing that was only slime, or that could have been dangerous!

I heard Vee giggling, no doubt amused at seeing me fail so spectacularly.

I kept repeating my process carefully and methodically, trying my best to ensure I wasn’t screwing up the enchantment somewhere. After my third failure, I began to get annoyed.

Wait… Perhaps I need to use orichalcum instead? I’ve been using steel since it seemed the best for weapons at the current stage, but maybe the enchantment is too powerful, and it’s overloading it?

I tried again, this time using orichalcum, and got much further along before the weapon exploded, albeit in a considerably less violent fashion. I kept trying and eventually concluded that perhaps my [Rune Engraving] skill was not up to scratch.

Well, at least I know what I will add to my training regime. I hope Greg doesn’t find out that it’s still at the first level after all this time.

I moved on to the spell ring with the ghost-killing axe out of reach. I used my [Sub-Cores] to shape the blueprint in ordinary slime to examine it in better detail.

From what I could see, this enchantment had three main components: the circular enchantment, which housed the spell inside the crystal sphere on the ring; an enchantment around the ring that allowed the user to interface with the magical item; and a final enchantment that linked the individual spherical enchantments in each orb to the ring and provided vital protection to the user.

Ugh… I wish I had more practice with spherical enchantments. But… in theory, I don’t need to copy everything. I don’t need a wearable ring; I just need a sphere that can hold a spell and then release it violently. I don’t even need the safety features!

The idea I had in my head was a sphere of orichalcum slime, enchanted to store a spell and then primed to hold its form. Then I throw in a spell, probably a good [Chain Lightning] or something equally powerful, and toss the ball at something.

And then… Boom!

I chuckled to myself as I began experimenting…

Chapter thirty-eight

Sharing is Caring

Time flew by, relatively speaking. I was highly immersed in my experiments while offloading a lot of my magical training workload to my [Sub-Cores].

The bottleneck was definitely Vee’s skill training, as she was rapidly gaining levels in her basic class from the elementals even though I was siphoning some of the earned experience through our [Bond].

Speaking of which, my class and race levels felt extremely stagnant from this endeavor. Despite the countless elementals Vee had slain, I’d only gained a single level in both.

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 6.>

<12 Trait Points are now available.>

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 11.>

<16 Skill Points are now available.>

We should probably move on to some higher-quality monsters.

I hoped to get Vee to an intermediate caster class before we stopped using the dungeon, but it was beginning to feel like that wouldn’t happen anytime soon.

Vee had been tempted to spend some of her skill points on upgrades, but I warned her away from that and instead gave her more skill options from my collection.

Of note was teaching her [Identity Block], [Identify], [Mana Suppression], [Meditation], [Multitasking], and even [Aerial Finesse]! The latter was an unforeseen boon, giving Vee much-needed extra three-dimensional movement while teleporting about or swinging around using her threads. She loved it.

Vee already had things like [Sneak Attack] and [Stealth]. I’d tried seeing if I could give her [Identity Fabrication] as it would be useful to go incognito, but it told her she lacked a form of shapeshifting or illusion.

This was also finally the tipping point for Vee to share some of her own findings.

<[Blink]

Teleport a distance into any unoccupied space.

You can move through almost anything, but you will be shunted and take appropriate damage if you attempt to enter an occupied space.

Skill level determines Mana efficiency, traveled distance, and reduces damage from shunting.>

Of course, this was a no-go for me; I lacked the affinity until I paid the unlock fee. I kept checking to see when it would be further discounted, but there had been no change in that regard yet.

While it seemed inferior to [Wind Step] and [Thunder Step] in terms of distance traveled, the ability to go through things was something I’d love to add to my repertoire.

<[Spatial Sense] This trait allows the user to sense spatial rifts and areas of expanded space. It also allows one to determine the dimensional coordinates of objects and individuals.

Higher trait levels determine the accuracy of coordinates and the detail of spatial anomalies detected.

This trait can be used with existing vision or at 5m per trait rank to see within a radial perimeter.>

This trait was baffling, and once again, I was denied it because I lacked the affinity. I’d asked Vee how she had used it to “see” me since I couldn’t comprehend it from the description alone.

“Oh. I used the radial perimeter feature, and then I tracked your individual coordinates moving,” Vee explained.

“You tracked my coordinates moving…?” I asked, feeling genuinely baffled.

“Well, you were the only thing moving in the mine, so it was relatively easy to track, except when you moved out of the radius,” Vee answered.

I could only accept her answer and hoped I’d understand it better once I had the affinity and tried it myself.

<[Trap Mastery]

Your traps are harder to detect based on skill level and receive an additional synergy bonus with [Sneak Attack] and other similar skills.

Works with, but is not limited to, traps, tripwires, lures, pitfalls, snares, and triggered or time-delayed attacks.>

This was the real prize I got from Vee, and no doubt how she had earned those other classes. Apparently, it had come with her evolution and had rapidly leveled up since using her thread to incapacitate her foes had become her primary method of attack.

<Skill [Trap Mastery LV 1] obtained. Skill Points remaining 15.>

Vee also showed me [Phase Out] and [Shrink], but both were sadly incompatible with my race. The latter was pretty useless to me unless I wanted to reduce my core to a smaller size. However, [Phase Out] seemed like an amazing escape option, shifting your body partially to a different dimension.

I guess I’d need to mutate into some kind of dimensional slime to be able to take that. Maybe if I unlock the affinity and start messing with the magic, I’ll get some good options?

There was a frustrating lack of progress on the [Dimension Magic] front. I’d thoroughly trained Vee through the basic ranged attack spell construct, and she could even manually create a ranged acid spell without resorting to the system provided [Acid Dart].

But… the Dimensional Mana refused to play ball, and the construct continued to violently unravel and give Vee a mind-splitting backlash. Either Vee’s level was still insufficient, or we were missing a crucial component.

If I think about it logically, what would firing a bolt of Dimensional Mana do to something? Fire Mana burns, Lightning Mana shocks. Dimensional Mana… Teleports? Makes things bigger on the inside? Sets coordinates?

It was a confuddling conundrum, but when looking at Corrosion Mana, I finally figured out why we were probably failing; Dimensional Mana had far too many base concepts.

With [Acid Dart], the spell only used the acidic component of the Corrosion Mana. Likewise, [Poison Cloud] only used the poison component. You’d need to fiddle with the spell quite significantly to create [Poison Dart], which both Vee and I did for the juicy experience bonus.

I tried my best to assist Vee in breaking down the Dimensional Mana into components, telling her to reference her two existing spells, but her [Mana Sight] was not up to scratch. Which meant it was another component that needed to be added to our lesson plan.

My plan for training her in this and utilizing [Companion Training] was to try to help her scrutinize and recognize the individual components of all of my [Corrosion Magic] spells.

I’d also attempted to teach Vee how to cast spells beyond her aura, as Trixie had done for me, but Vee wasn’t willing to spend too much time on the endeavor. Even with the benefits explained to her, she wasn’t willing to sit around for hours attempting it like I had done.

Either I have unparalleled focus, or I’m a very boring slime…

With enchanting, I was making some progress in creating my spell orbs, as I was now calling them. After hours of trial and error, I had finally reached a point where they would store something. The only issue was anything stronger than [Kindle], [Water Orb], or any other first-level spell would cause the enchantment to fail.

I’d then spent many more hours trying to determine why or where I’d gone wrong. I even tried increasing the size of the orbs, thinking that perhaps I needed the enchantment to be bigger, but that seemed to make no difference other than allowing a stronger version of those spells to be stored.

I finally concluded that perhaps my [Rune Engraving] level was the limiting factor. I was deeply frustrated, but I supposed I could only blame myself for slacking on the skill.

Even so, it was a great proof of concept. I created a few orbs, primed them, filled them with [Spark], and threw them like tiny spherical bombs at an elemental before detonating them. My choice of magic was subpar against an earthen foe, but the resulting light show was certainly impressive, as when the orb exploded, the stored spell went off violently.

“Yes!” I cheered at the results.

“Did you really need to create magical bombs?” Vee questioned. “I think you’ve got enough killing power already!”

“But imagine! I could build up a stockpile and unleash them all at once!” I tried to argue my case.

“You can already cast like ten spells at once. Do you really need a stockpile of magical bombs?” Vee argued.

“True… but what if I run out of Mana?” I tried to reason. Vee just stared at me. “Okay… yes, bad excuse from the self-proclaimed infinite Mana slime.”

Vee giggled.

I shrugged. “I could give it to friends. Hell, I could give you some bombs, and then you could throw them, use some magic you don’t have access to!”

“I don’t think I’d like to carry bombs that can potentially lose their form when your traits limit runs out and no doubt discharge their stored spell!” Vee protested.

“Ugh… That’s a good point. Even if letting the primed state expire is harmless, the enchantment would break!” I sighed. “Well, at least it’s good for my landmines, as you called them. I could put [Erode] on them to lower the enemy’s defense.”

Vee surprisingly nodded. “Okay, I guess that’s a good point. If you and I ever figure out this [Dimension Magic] thing, imagine it teleports the enemy away. Or, what if it teleports an enemy into more landmines!?”

I burst out laughing. “And you said I was the scary one. That sounds absolutely diabolical!”

Through our connection, I could feel Vee’s embarrassment.

“I… Uh… You’re a bad influence on me!” she cried out.

I laughed again. Still, teleporting landmines certainly sounded fun.

Speaking of our [Bond], it had certainly grown rather quickly.

<Bond Growth: Torch.>

While Mana appeared to be all related to water with its ebbing and flowing descriptors, bonds were apparently based on fire, and the stage after flamelet was torch.

The main noticeable difference to recent improvement was that I could sometimes get a vague feeling of Vee’s mood or intentions, even without us using [Telepathy (Lesser)] to link up. I had to imagine that we would potentially have a permanent link at the even higher levels without me needing to use the trait.

A few times, Thern joined us in the dungeon, which meant I had to restrict my personal training and give Vee more “hands-on” teaching than I had previously provided.

Thern was dumbfounded by the absurdity of me teaching a spider the art of magic, but could only chuckle, cheer, and drink when he witnessed the results firsthand.

“You know… I think I could make some good money by betting on you!” Thern joked. “Get you to talk about your next absurd goal in front of others and then wager on you accomplishing it. Conquering a floating island, harvesting obsidianite, and now teaching a spider to be a mage!”

Vee waved her little front legs in protest.

“No offense, Vee!” Thern chuckled. “I fully understand you’re a smart girl, but it’s still absurd!”

Vee made a shrugging gesture in response.

I could only laugh.

It must have seemed like a major accomplishment to anyone who didn’t know that Vee was a special case. Or, perhaps, this was the average thing an elf could do. Jasgra certainly seemed to believe it.

At one point, I was minding my own business trying to level up [Rune Engraving] while Vee worked with the [Sub-Cores] when a cacophony of notifications went off.

<Proficiency gained. [Sub-Core Alpha LV 5] improved to [Sub-Core Alpha LV 6].>

<Proficiency gained. [Sub-Core Beta LV 5] improved to [Sub-Core Beta LV 6].>

<Proficiency gained. [Sub-Core Gamma LV 5] improved to [Sub-Core Gamma LV 6].>

…

…

<Proficiency gained. [Sub-Core Iota LV 5] improved to [Sub-Core Iota LV 6].>

<Proficiency gained. [Sub-Core Kappa LV 5] improved to [Sub-Core Kappa LV 6].>

Oh! It finally happened!

I was so excited; my hard-working [Sub-Cores] had finally earned their much-deserved level up. Poor Alpha had been helping its brethren catch up for so long.

Sadly, it was a little hard for me to tell how much they had improved. I could vaguely tell they were firing off spells slightly quicker and perhaps responding to orders better, but it wasn’t like I had taken exact measurements of their performance beforehand.

Speaking of absurd leveling, though, the award for most ludicrous, without a doubt, went to one trait in particular…

[Derived Element (Air) LV 6]

All my traits and skills had gotten stuck at level five; this one just breezed past!

I’d progressed in a few other skills and traits during our time here.

[Essence Sight LV 4]

[Eagle Vision LV 4]

[Tremor Sense LV 5]

[Electro-Magnetic Sense LV 5]

[Wind Step LV 3]

Regarding the elemental crystals, we seemed to be making a tidy profit from our routine incursions. A few times, we were asked if we wouldn’t prefer to hunt some of the more profitable elementals, but the dwarves changed their tune once the idea of us potentially melting some of the rarer resources came up.

“I think we should add some variety,” I suggested.

“What do you have in mind?” Vee asked as she finished off another rock elemental.

Now that she had her own [Erode] spell, she had become rather proficient in slaying them, although I still let my [Sub-Cores] give her an artificial boost.

“I was thinking kobolds… Or maybe something big, like another worm?” I questioned.

“I’d prefer kobolds since they are easier to kill… I don’t think I could handle a worm,” Vee replied.

“What? The worms are pretty easy; you just need to target their mouth!” I replied, astonished.

“Target their mouth with what? I have a few acid and poison spells; otherwise, I can make coordinates,” Vee replied.

“[Rift Thread]?” I replied sheepishly.

“Yeah, but I thought the point was to teach me magic, not just kill things for fun ’cause you’re bored,” Vee teased.

I sighed. “You’re right. Well, maybe we’ll find a lesser dragon or something cool with the kobolds?”

“I certainly hope not. That sounds terrifying. A dragon?” Vee sounded aghast.

“Emphasis on lesser. I’m sure with a killer slime and spider, it would be no match for us!”

Vee made a shrugging gesture. “Sure, why not? Especially if it gets me out of you telling me to ‘imagine myself as a rock’…”

“Hey, the rock method works!” I defended Trixie’s training method. “I’m evidence of it working, no problem.”

“You’re a Mana slime with like a super core brain…” Vee replied. “You’re anything but normal.”

Sadly, I couldn’t argue with that. Still, I was excited for a change of scenery and a chance to test my spell orbs.

Maybe I can even have Vee fight some of my slime? Would that count as training? I wondered as I plotted our next course of action.

Chapter thirty-nine

Combat Trials

“It feels good to be out of the city!” I exclaimed excitedly.

“I guess… I hope you packed me a lunch in your storage?” Vee questioned, her tone more playful than demanding, as she sat on my shoulder in her extremely shrunken form.

“You better be careful, or you’ll become a bloated spider…” I teased.

“Ha! Even if that were true, my stomach is in a pocket dimension, so I can eat as much as I want without changing physical size!” Vee smugly snapped back.

“I have to say that’s a weird ability for a spider…”

“A dimensional spider,” Vee quickly corrected. “It’s not as useful as your storage, though; I can’t use it to store and retrieve stuff unless I feel like vomiting. Where you can just pluck things out willy-nilly.”

“Agreed. Honestly, without it, I’d have to either be a lot more frugal with my usage by having almost no reserves or take up a much larger form,” I said as I gestured to my elven body. “I don’t think I could have this form unless I reach some level of super compression or something… Actually, maybe uncapping [Morph Slime] would do that?”

“You going to show off some of your shapeshifting for me since we will be deep in the kobold caves?” Vee questioned.

“Might as well… It’s been some time since I got to stretch out the slime, and as long as I manipulate my profile, it should be good.”

We continued to mentally chat as we walked to the fungal cavern, waving to the occasional patrol through the tunnels but minding our own business otherwise. Once we reached the cave, I immediately started poking around with [Tremor Sense] to see if I could spot any tunnels.

“Not sure if your [Spatial Sense] can detect any kobold tunnels…” I suggested.

“I’ll give it a shot, but I don’t think its range is as good as your [Tremor Sense],” Vee replied.

We spent some time scouting out the rocky outskirts of the cavern, and eventually, I found a hidden entrance buried under rock and rubble.

“Jackpot!” I said excitedly.

Using my recently acquired [Earth Magic LV 4], I finally got to put [Sand Pit] to use and started transmuting the rock and rubble to clear a path for us. Once the hole was big enough, we both jumped in.

My magical digging must have notified the kobolds, as shortly after our arrival, a small detachment attacked us. Vee began throwing out [Acid Dart] spells, artificially boosted by the [Sub-Cores] I had assigned her.

Since we were entering an enclosed space, our poisonous and acidic fumes would undoubtedly become prevalent; I cast the [Zephyr Shroud] buff on her to keep her air supply fresh and clean.

As for my own magic, I had [Force Bolt], which I had not really tried that much since acquiring it. I cast it at one of the kobold geomancers at the back, fully empowered and with an upward direction set to the max.

When the arcane projectile struck the kobold, his body was dramatically flung upward, and when he crashed against the ceiling, his relatively frail body became pasted.

“Holy shit, you gibbed that guy!” Vee shouted while she continued to melt the kobolds with acidic magic.

Some of the kobolds began trying to retreat when I withdrew one of my spell orbs and used [Slime Shot] to fire it like a cannon. Once the small orichalcum orb struck the kobold, it exploded, followed by a surge of sparking lightning.

I knew lightning was the way to go! Those rock golems were just the exception!

The retreating kobolds didn’t survive the blast, and Vee easily finished off the remaining ones.

“This feels almost like bullying…” Vee commented.

“Yeah, these low-level kobolds aren’t much,” I agreed. “But once we go deeper into their domain, we will start seeing real resistance. The only reason I sort of went all out was in case they start trying to collapse the tunnel on us when they retreat.”

“Oh, I fully agree with that decision. I’d rather not have the entire mountain dropped on my head!” Vee replied.

“Well, since Thern didn’t come with us, it won’t be as bad. I’m a good burrower, so we can dig ourselves out or toward them,” I explained.

“You can turn into a mole or something?” Vee asked.

I grinned, and since the coast was clear, I shifted into the badger. I had defeated that long ago. While my slimy form shaped itself, I could hear Vee’s exclamations of surprise and shock as I changed right before her eyes.

“Or something…” I responded as I lifted up one of my sharp front claws.

“I definitely didn’t have a giant scary porcupine badger on my bingo card!” Vee responded. “Still… I know you said you could change your form, but seeing it is another thing entirely!”

Feeling like showing off, I transformed into a miniaturized version of the magma-forged worm I had fought.

“Don’t worry, Syl, even if you’re a worm, I’ll still be your friend!” Vee responded before giggling like a schoolgirl.

I didn’t understand why she was laughing, so I tilted my wormy head confusedly. “Thanks? Even if you’re a spider, I’ll still be your friend.”

Vee sighed. “Sorry… Something from my scrambled memories.”

I chuckled and changed into one of the spiders I had fought. “No problem, spider friend!”

“Okay, show off…” Vee teased. “Let’s go deal with the kobolds before they decide to drop the mountain on us.”

“Sure thing,” I replied, taking on my blueblin form.

“I think I preferred you as a cute elf…” Vee replied.

“Yeah… But I can’t use tentacles and slime as an elf,” I replied. “At least this way, if anyone spots me, I can pretend to be some strange unknown monster. Speaking of which, you should activate [Identity Block] and hand me your tag.”

“Makes sense… I’m still shocked you managed to level up the skill for me while I slept!” Vee replied as she effortlessly plucked the thread and flicked the tiny guild tag to me.

I carefully grabbed it and deposited it in my storage for safekeeping. As for how I power-leveled Vee’s skill, I simply had her activate the skill before bed and had my [Sub-Cores] spam [Identify] repeatedly on her. If we were going to work together, she would need a way to prevent her identity from leaking out.

Maybe once Trixie finally shows up, she can help? She’s certainly done something with her own profile, so she could perhaps craft an illusion for Vee?

I still hadn’t seen any sign of Trixie. I had even started taking her coin out at night and leaving it in a pocket rather than inside my [Core Storage] during the day. I hoped she was just running late and not in any kind of trouble.

She probably lost track of time catching up with her friends and family. From what she said, she was captured for an extremely long time.

The kobolds began acting slightly differently now that I had taken a different appearance. They still hissed and screeched with reptilian rage, but now there were accusations of goblin invaders trying to seize their territory.

I personally found the situation somewhat hilarious and wondered how often monstrous humanoids fought for territory. I certainly hadn’t seen or heard any mention of goblins in the dwarven Adventurer’s Guild, so I thought they were nonexistent in this region.

Since the kobolds were throwing bodies at us, I had plenty of material to replenish my slime mass and constantly test my spell orbs with. I had hoped that by continually crafting them, I’d be working on multiple skills and traits simultaneously.

[Metal Slime], [Nitro Slime], and [Morph Slime] were the obvious traits gaining experience from each crafted orb. Meanwhile, on the skill front, I had hoped I was training [Rune Engraving], [Mana Manipulation], and whatever type of magic I placed inside them.

[Lightning Magic] was still my go-to, as I loved its sheer raw power, but I started including my other elements to avoid them falling behind. [Earth Magic] and [Air Magic] both needed to catch up to level 5, while [Fire Magic] and [Water Magic] were no doubt both close to level 6.

Rather than make any ice bombs, I just kept [Glacial Aura] active. The aura was significantly effective against the kobolds, and now that Vee was my companion, she was automatically excluded from the negative effects.

I didn’t bother with acid bombs, as my [Corrosion Magic] was undoubtedly getting a good workout with my [Sub-Cores] assisting Vee. She was getting a thorough workout thanks to the seemingly endless supply of kobolds swarming at us, and I’d give her a “Mana Potion” to keep her reserves topped up and healthy.

“You know…” Vee spoke while we were taking a short break. “Those spell orbs… Once you have [Dimension Magic], they might become absolutely terrifying!”

“Teleporting them rather than shooting them?” I asked.

“Exactly!” Vee responded excitedly. “I’m sure then it would count for [Sneak Attack] and maybe even [Trap Mastery]?”

“I could give you some orbs, and you could try teleporting them for me?” I asked as I formed one in the palm of my hand.

“I wish… But unless I combine it with [Rift Thread] and make a portal, that seems like it’s impossible at the moment.”

“Hmm… Maybe we should do that anyway? Try to push your [Dimension Magic] to level 3?” I offered.

“We could… Although we would need to set it up beforehand?” Vee began thinking.

“Or… Maybe I could set portals up and then teleport the exit portal? Would that work?” Vee questioned.

“Go for it, I’ll make sure no kobolds ambush us while you work,” I offered.

Vee nodded and began spinning some of that impossible thread. She created two circular frames from her web before reinforcing them with additional threading. To my surprise, she lifted them up as if they were solid rings, and after examining them closely, she began casting her two spells.

I tried my best to examine the spells, but they were utterly alien to me, even if I could vaguely recognize them as Dimensional Mana now. I couldn’t help but think Mother was callous, expecting Vee to suddenly comprehend all this without guidance. The fact that she had figured out how to make portals with the spells alone was already miraculous.

When she was done, the two discs shimmered vibrantly. She immediately tested her work by placing a leg through the one portal, and it poked out of the other side.

“Okay, the portal is set up!” Vee said excitedly. “Although I worry about the portal’s integrity if I teleport it. These usually stay at fixed points, and I’m not sure what effect such drastic movement would have on them.”

“Well, we will throw through a spell orb, so it should be fine?”

“Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t recommend one of us going through a potentially unstable portal…” Vee shuddered. “Who knows where you could end up?”

“Probably wherever the original Kappa went…” I replied with a chuckle.

“Kappa?” Vee asked.

“A brave coworker who sacrificed itself for the greater good,” I answered while failing to hide my cheeky smile.

“Sacrificed how?” Vee asked with a hint of worry.

“I was trying to see if I could further expand space…” I began trying to explain. “I put expanded space on top of another expanded space, and Kappa went poof into a pinprick of a tiny void hole.”

Vee remained silent, and I could sense her dumbfoundedness at my previous statement. “Did you accidentally create a black hole?”

“Yes? No..? Maybe?” I replied confusedly. “I’m not sure what that is. It was certainly a black void hole… if that counts?”

“You know… Forget I asked. I think the world would be safer if we avoid going down that rabbit hole,” Vee replied, hesitantly chuckling. “How about we try out these portals instead?”

I nodded and pulled out a bunch of spell orbs I had prepared. Vee stared at my small stockpile, and I could sense a hint of exhaustion from her. Vee positioned the one portal on her back with a makeshift harness she had created with more thread wrapped around herself.

“Okay… So, I’ll teleport the exit portal and give you the go-ahead, and then you can throw your balls through the entrance portal on my back.”

“Sounds good to me!” I replied excitedly.

“… Just checking… but they won’t detonate unexpectedly, will they?” Vee asked nervously. She kept glancing at the metallic balls clinking together as I walked.

“I fully control when and where they explode,” I answered, hoping to relieve her. “I can set up triggers, but I figured that manual detonation would be better for an experiment.”

“Perfect!” Vee replied, relief flooding through our connection.

We continued our journey deeper into the tunnel when the perfect test opportunity presented itself. The kobolds had set up a small barricade and were hiding behind it. They hurled hisses, insults, and threats at us when they spotted us.

Vee wasted no time, manipulating the exit portal between her front legs. I had expected some magical poof or flashy display of otherworldly energy, but instead, it simply vanished as if it were never there in the first place.

“Bombs away!” Vee informed me, a nervous hope in her emotions.

I grinned and began tossing the balls through the portal. Thanks to my connection to them and being able to pinpoint their location, I felt each orb vanish and appear behind their fortification.

Vee and I shared a glance. She raised one of her legs, and I gave her a thumbs-up in return.

“Boom!” I giggled and flipped the metaphorical detonator on every spell orb simultaneously.

Chapter forty

Kobold Outpost

The kobolds’ cacophony was immediately drowned out by an all-encompassing explosion that echoed throughout the cavern. Following the blast were powerful discharges of lightning, gouts of flame, a deluge of water, a gust of air, and rocky shrapnel.

Concerned about Vee’s safety, I threw up a rocky wall using [Rampart] between us and the point of the explosion.

Notifications soared through my head, and Vee must have been experiencing something similar, as her gasps and surprise could be heard through our mental link.

“Holy shit! We did it!” Vee screamed excitedly, then added. “Holy shit, what have we done? How many did you throw through?”

“Enough?” I replied with a giggle. It was glorious.

When the energy had finally dispersed, we peeked around the corner to take a gander at the result. Almost nothing had remained of the kobolds’ makeshift barricade, and it looked like there were no survivors.

Vee used [Blink] to appear on the ceiling, then quickly maneuvered around to confirm we had no hidden foes. “I think we got them all… That was crazy, I can’t believe it worked!”

“Definitely ups the value of [Dimension Magic]… I can’t even imagine what a fully fledged archmage could do with it,” I responded.

“You mentioned it was super rare, right?” Vee questioned.

“Gramps made it sound like I only had it because of the Reincarnation Points I had spent in my prior-prior life,” I answered honestly. “With monsters, it seems like as long as you evolve that way, you can gain the affinity, although you have to meet some hidden requirements to unlock it as an evolution option. I can only suspect that your shrinking must have counted as a foray into [Dimension Magic].”

“Huh… If that’s the case, then I probably unlocked shrinking because I kept crawling into tiny gaps to hide…” Vee responded. “Good thing I’m not claustrophobic, or I’d have never gotten it.”

“Sounds about right. I got offered an aquatic mutation just because I had spent considerable time near a pond, and I got offered gluttonous just because I ate a lot.”

Vee burst out laughing. “Judging by all the kobolds that have vanished as we explored, I can absolutely understand that.”

I shrugged as I formed [Pseudopods] to collect the spoils. “If I want to use [Nitro Slime], I have to expend my slime. Likewise, anything I shoot off with [Slime Shot] is probably not coming back.”

“Hey, I’m not blaming you,” Vee quickly replied. “You’re effectively using your body as an expendable resource, so it makes perfect sense you want to stock up on as much as possible.”

“Yup. I can’t take on bigger forms without it,” I explained. “Other than having variety, one of the reasons I like magic is that it’s a good backup plan in case I can’t use slime or I’ve run out for whatever reason.”

Vee nodded. “Well, I’m glad that [Dimension Magic] is rare, or I suppose there would be many people doing things similar to this…” Vee gestured around to the blast site.

“You know… I wonder if that’s why I was poisoned?” I speculated.

“Your past life?” Vee questioned. “I thought you said your brother was worried you’d take his position.”

“That’s what Gramps said, but…” I mumbled. “I’m not sure much about siblings and whatnot since my mind is a mess, but I’m pretty sure killing family isn’t normal?”

“Yes, Syl. Killing your family is definitely not normal…” Vee answered deadpan.

“Well, perhaps my brother was egged on by someone else?” I questioned rhetorically. “If someone outside of our family knew [Dimension Magic] was a potential threat, then my jealous brother becomes a pawn in a scheme to take me out.”

“That’s a lot of speculation…” Vee admitted. “But judging by how crazy some of the nobles of this world sound, it’s plausible. Hell, it might have even been another race; maybe the dwarves or elves didn’t want humans to have a dimension mage?”

“The plot thickens…” I joked.

Vee giggled. “Well, moving on, I finally got offered a new spellcaster class!”

“Shadowcaster?” I guessed.

“Spoilsport!” Vee whined. “But yeah… You were right that I had a lot of overlap from rogueish skills, and my spellcasting skills aren’t high enough to qualify for a pure caster.”

“You going to take it?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m tired of being just a mage for over twenty levels!” Vee replied.

“Yeah, that dungeon gave you a lot of levels…” I mumbled. “It’s a pity you’re lacking skill experience boosters.”

“Well, other than your [Companion Training] one…” Vee pointed out.

“But imagine the stacking bonuses we could get if you had another!” I replied excitedly.

“I’ll get it eventually; it’s not like we’re on a time limit, are we?” Vee questioned.

“No… I just want [Dimension Magic]…” I admitted. “The temptation to buy the unlock without the discount grows each day…”

“Patience is a virtue… or something?” Vee joked.

I groaned. “Let’s get back to fighting kobolds…”

Vee [Blinked] and appeared next to me. “Onward!”

Our fireworks show had the kobolds excessively on edge. We’d definitely abandoned any hint of subtlety with that display, and now they were beginning to preemptively collapse tunnels before we even arrived.

At first, I started using tendrils to dig and melt away the rock, but once they discovered we were still continuing, they started becoming much more thorough with their actions.

“They must have a very powerful geomancer on their side…” I muttered, quickly casting [Rampart] to reinforce our current position with stone pillars.

“They’re very determined to bury us…” Vee replied with a sigh. “Should we consider turning around?”

“I want us to at least get your next level of [Dimension Magic]…” I replied. “If it’s got a usable spell, then we can help you practice more.”

Vee gestured around to our rocky surroundings. “Well… what’s the plan then?”

“I think it’s worm time,” I answered.

“Works for me. I’ll follow from a safe distance then,” Vee said as she skittered backward.

I nodded and once again took on my wormy form; I started small until I started digging down into the rock, then once I had more space to work with, I rapidly started shifting to its full size.

“Holy shit!” Vee exclaimed. “I really need to stop trying to apply reason to you! I know you said you ate a worm and could transform into one… But I had assumed it was a relatively normal one! This is at least double the size of the ones I saw!”

I chuckled and continued our conversation as I dug toward the largest open cavern I could feel. “I could technically make it bigger than the normal one, but pushing it too far makes the form unwieldy.”

“I thought you said you were a mimic slime?” Vee asked as she kept [Blinking] after me to keep pace.

“Mimic was the first one,” I answered. “Then I mutated further into Chimeric Mimic. Now I can mix and match my forms without being restricted to an exact copy.”

“I’d complain that sounds like special treatment, but it sounds like I got an entire evolution combination based on my species and a mutation judging by the fact I lost the prefix…” Vee shrugged.

When I neared the earth cavity, shards of stone suddenly burst out to pierce into my form while the entire rocky surrounding trembled fiercely. I could visibly see the abundance of Earth Mana flooding my surroundings, and it seemed the suspected geomancer was attempting to stop me from reaching the cavern.

“Uh… is someone attacking you?” Vee asked, sounding unsure.

“I think it’s the geomancer kobold…” I replied. “I’m being attacked by Earth magic, but this form is stupidly resilient even before I started adding other traits to it.”

“Other traits…?” Vee questioned.

“Dragon scales… Blaze slime to heat up the scales, among other things…” I explained.

“You gave a worm dragon scales? You ate a dragon?”

“Lesser dragon scales; it was from a salamander. Apparently, dragons can breed with pretty much anything, and it’s highly compatible…”

“It’s a bloody worm, Syl!” Vee screeched mentally. “Why on earth would a dragon breed with a worm!? No! Do not answer that! I need my mind bleached…”

“Good, because I’m about to breach into the cavern!” I informed her as my wormy form struck against the wall.

It was an incredibly dense stone, and if not for this worm being utterly ludicrous in its digging capabilities combined with [Acid Slime], I might have struggled. But with a triumphant roar, I broke through and was promptly assaulted as a hail of spells and projectiles crashed into my wormy form.

The open cavern looked like a miniature fortress; its walls were lined with kobolds of various classes and weapons. The fortifications seemed likely crafted from [Earth Magic], as they appeared unnaturally carved or abruptly erected from nowhere.

I noted that they seemed to have a small division of captured badgers and other subterranean monsters. Suddenly, the dwarves’ dislike of the tiny lizards made sense; they were far more militarily organized than anything the goblins ever did.

“I think we discovered one of their outposts!” I informed Vee. “Be careful to not get caught in the crossfire.”

“Roger!” Vee responded before I sensed her momentarily vanishing via [Blink].

I sensed Vee teleporting deeper into the cavern through our bond before she grappled herself up onto the ceiling. The small army of kobolds was so focused on attacking the giant worm that nobody even noticed the tiny dimensional spider.

Once their initial attack didn’t do any apparent harm to the giant worm in front of them, one of the leaders surprisingly called for the kobolds to halt their attack. They then launched a satchel filled with ores using a makeshift catapult off and away from the settlement.

Oh, they clearly know the worms seek minerals to eat. I guess it’s standard procedure for them to lure them away if they get too close. Too bad for them; I’m not actually a worm!

When I didn’t immediately lunge for the bag of minerals, the kobolds seemed to know something was up, and as if in unison, they launched another attack wave against me. Spells, spears, bolts, and arrows crashed against my worm form’s scaled hide, so I lunged toward the kobolds.

Some of their elites appeared to be waiting for that, as attacking a worm meant giving more direct access to the large open cavity, which was the mouth. Makeshift bombs and canisters containing strange fluids were thrown in, and I received half a dozen notifications of random lesser poisons being unlocked for [Poison Slime].

I let out a roar and began thrashing about, crashing into their walls and breaking through their fortifications.

“Syl, you okay!?” Vee’s slightly panicked voice asked.

“Oh yeah, they tried to poison and explode me, but I’m resistant and immune to both,” I answered.

“That’s kind of hilarious. Disguises are pretty overpowered if enemies keep trying to target weaknesses you don’t have,” Vee pointed out.

“Like going for the head?” I teased.

“Look here, you…” Vee grumbled. “If you were anything but a slime, that would have worked. I’m pretty sure even normal shapeshifters die without a head!”

Having a mental conversation with Vee while thrashing about as a giant worm was surreal. Some of the braver kobolds had even started mounting my body with hooks and claws while trying to find joints between the carapaced plating to stab at.

“So… what’s your plan?” Vee eventually asked.

“I… kind of want to explode…” I admitted.

“You… want to explode?” Vee repeated, sounding extremely unsure. “Like self-destruct? Why?”

“I think a big enough explosion will finally get me my next level of [Nitro Slime]!” I informed her.

“Sure… Go for it…” I could sense Vee’s reluctant agreement.

I giggled and began my preparations. I let my [Sub-Cores] somewhat auto-pilot the body while beginning to form a multitude of spell orbs inside myself. If I was going out with a bang, I wanted it to be the biggest bang possible.

I also needed to ensure a route to escape, so I made a slime encasing to house all of my cores. The plan was to prime everything moments before firing out the encasing toward the ceiling, detonating the wormy body, scattering the orbs, and then detonating them.

Completely over the top? Definitely. A waste of slime? Probably. But I was nearing the limit of [Core Storage] again, and unless I started being a bit more extravagant, I’d be running out of room soon enough. I’d been eating remarkably well recently and could hopefully find another worm or two to eat, probably?

Show time!

Chapter forty-one

Self-Destructing Worm

“Uh… How big is this going to be?” Vee asked nervously.

“Big!” I responded gleefully. “Make sure you’re at a safe distance.”

“That’s… ugh… great…” Vee mumbled, and I sensed her teleporting and putting greater distance between herself and my worm body.

The kobolds kept attacking my body, with great aid from a full contingency of geomancers. Together, they were pulling out large spires of rock and trying to form makeshift shackles to prevent me from wiggling about.

Makes sense… The mouth is the diggy part of the worm, so it would be a good way to restrain one.

I had to applaud their ingenuity and felt somewhat bad about what I was about to do. But… the levels wouldn’t come themselves, and I had somewhat of a grudge against the little lizards for their continued tendency to drop entire tunnels on me.

Plus, they had tried to capture Vee; hell, they’re trying to capture me right now, from the looks of things.

One larger kobold was gleefully rubbing his palms together as if he’d made the score of the century.

<Itzux [Chieftain]; Enlightened Kobold LV 22; Warlock LV 41. Elemental Affinity: Earth, Fire.>

Yeah… Screw you, buddy; I’m not some pet for you to control. This whole situation is going to blow up in your face.

After making all my preparations, I primed everything, which caused the worm’s body to remain still. The kobolds began cheering as they rapidly created more earthen restraints.

I split open a large opening in the worm’s body, which caused the kobolds near that body segment to retreat while frantically pointing and panicking. Then, with my biggest [Slime Shot] to date, I fired out my slime capsule, housing all my cores to safety.

The kobolds hissed and pointed. They looked extremely wary, and a few potshots were fired at my rapidly flying slime pod. Instead of taking the blow, I rapidly morphed my pod into a new body and triggered [Wind Step] into a huge chain of [Thunder Steps] to frantically escape.

With a big grin, I triggered the detonation.

Boom!

I had expected a large explosion, as this was the most [Nitro Slime] I had used to date. My expectations were severely underestimated.

Suddenly, with a deafening roar, the slime reached a critical mass and erupted in a dazzling explosion of color and energy. The abrupt flash illuminated every corner of the cavern, scattering kobolds, slime, and explosive force everywhere.

The sound was like hundreds of thunder strikes going off at once; I had never heard anything like it. Rock and debris were tossed aside, kobolds were rag-dolled around, and, more importantly, the spell orbs were explosively distributed further around the cavern.

Some detonated immediately, crashing too violently into an object, but most of them seemed to endure the blast to unleash their payload when I triggered them. I knew [Nitro Slime] gave me an explosive resistance, but it hadn’t occurred to me that it offered this much defense against blasts.

As the chaos settled, the remnants of the explosion sparkled like gemstones across the cave floor. A sea of spell orbs littered the ground, and slimy remnants scattered about.

I’d almost suspected I wouldn’t need the secondary detonation, but then I noticed there was actually a large number of surviving kobolds. Who knew what lifesaving skills, traits, or magic they must have used.

As for myself, while I had retreated in the distance, I was still caught in the shockwave and sent hurtling deeper into the cavern myself until I splattered against a rocky wall. My blueblin form was tough, but the impact splattered me like an egg; however, my dense, slimy interior prevented my cores from crashing against the rocky wall too violently.

As for my own core, I did indeed strike against the rock, and I was filled with a horrifically abrupt pain that echoed throughout my entire being. If not for my own self-inflicted [Defy Death] training back in the day, I might have said it was the worst pain I had experienced.

When I recovered from my brief daze, I looked at how my [Sub-Cores] had fared. I had expected some damage, but thanks to the enchantments I had engraved on them, they looked in very good condition, rapidly sealing up thanks to the repairing enchantment. However, my core felt terrible, and I had to start wrapping it in slime and trying to recover it.

I somewhat regret not putting physical defense and repair on my own core… But I’m sure my magical and mental resistance enchantments will pay off one day…

“Holy shit, Syl… Are you okay?” Vee questioned mentally. Her voice rattled in my mind like a bad headache.

“One… moment…” I replied as I triggered the secondary explosions.

While the previous explosion was dazzling and insane in its sheer scope and size, this multitude of explosions was like a kaleidoscope of color as various spell orbs detonated and violently unleashed their stored spells.

Vee squeaked in shock, and I felt her teleporting away again.

Far too many notifications were blaring through my mind, and I ignored them as I pried myself off the cavern wall. I groaned as I tried my best to nurse my slightly cracked core and then took a glance at what was left of the explosions.

“Well… There was a kobold outpost there…” I muttered out loud.

It was utterly insane. Where my wormy form had once lain restrained to the floor, there was now a massive scar deep into the ground. What was once stone fortifications were now rubble, and shifting over to other visions, I could see the entire area was now a chaotically scrambled mess of magical essences.

“Who knows what this mess is going to spawn… I’ve completely wrecked the natural earthen essence of the area…” I mumbled a little regretfully.

I knew I was messing with some extremely risky business. Greg had always warned me about the potential dangers of enchanting, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the spell orbs were what caused such intensely chaotic essence.

A sort of resonance with the orichalcum? Or perhaps because of my [Mana Slime]?

I had no concrete answers and could only make guesstimates. Too many combining factors were at play due to my tampering with and playing around with many interlocking traits and even throwing magic into the mix.

I looked over my notifications and nearly lost myself in their endless scroll. So many things had gone off, including the now overly familiar error of killing a [Chieftain] and not being qualified to usurp the Emblem.

In my recent excitement, I had forgotten to look over the notifications that awaited me after our portal bomb trap testing. Before I went through everything, I ordered my [Sub-Cores] to start collecting what potential slime mass they could find among the debris and ruin.

<Proficiency gained. [Trap Mastery LV 1] improved to [Trap Mastery LV 3].>

Wow, I completely skipped over level 2; I didn’t even know that was possible.

<Proficiency gained. [Companion Training LV 5] improved to [Companion Training LV 6].>

And the award for the most ridiculously fast leveling skill goes to… Seriously!? I can’t believe you’re level six already! Was it because of our coordination? Because of the absurdity of the outcome? I think Vee being fully intelligent is breaking this skill…

I started going through them and trying to consolidate and summarize all my gains from these multiple encounters. It certainly didn’t help that I had such core-splitting pain. But before I summarized, I looked for the notable gains, especially in the magic department!

<Proficiency gained. [Fire Magic LV 5] improved to [Fire Magic LV 6].>

<[Fire Magic LV 6] spell [Fireflies] learned.>

I finally got the spell Dewi talked about! I think he’d be upset to hear that I’ve been slacking on [Fire Magic]… But on the other hand, Lightning!

Despite its slightly underwhelming name and lack of oomph compared to the tried and true [Fireball], [Fireflies] was a marvel of magical concepts. It created multiple tiny flaming projectiles that would then fly and seek out a designated target.

I couldn’t wait to start dissecting the spell, taking its homing component apart, and seeing if I could apply it to other spells. Not to mention the ability to split a single spell into multiple projectiles! For far too long, I’d had to manually cast multiple spells if I wanted to blanket an area, and now, by splitting a single spell up, I could cover a much larger area at the cost of reduced power.

<Proficiency gained. [Air Magic LV 3] improved to [Air Magic LV 4].>

<[Air Magic LV 4] spell [Cyclone] learned.>

[Cyclone] was also interesting. It was almost like a debuff adjacent. Rather than directly target an enemy, you targeted an area, and it would create a spiral of sucking wind toward that point. Effectively, you could trap someone in it or at least direct things toward them.

Like other spells? Combining this with [Caustic Cloud]… The results could be absurdly deadly! Or perhaps even [Vaporize Slime]? I’ve neglected the trait since it didn’t have levels, but combining it with [Cyclone] and [Poison Slime] could be glorious.

Unfortunately, that was it for my magical improvements. I was hoping for [Earth Magic LV 5] and [Water Magic LV 6], but I had not used them enough.

Ice and Lightning are probably even further away from their next level… I only recently got [Corrosion Magic LV 6], and it’s undoubtedly my most used affinity since I use it with every other affinity, thanks to the debuffs and afflictions.

<Proficiency gained. [Nitro Slime LV 6] improved to [Nitro Slime LV 7].>

Explosions! More explosions! Seriously, thank you, Gramps, for this amazing trait! You really outdid yourself with this one!

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 7.>

<13 Trait Points are now available.>

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 12.>

<16 Skill Points are now available.>

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 8>

<14 Trait Points are now available.>

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 13.>

<17 Skill Points are now available.>

Two levels in both my class and race… That’s pretty crazy, considering the experience is being split with Vee, but on the other hand, there were just that many kobolds.

<Class Glyph Mage has been unlocked.

Would you like to swap classes?>

Nope, but good to know! I guess all my exploding spell orbs were enough to qualify me. I’ll consider it at some point, although if the only effect is placing temporary hazardous enchantments using [Rune Tracing], I might give it a skip… My spell orbs using [Rune Engraving] are already superior to what I saw Thern pull off.

<Class Trapper has been unlocked.

Would you like to swap classes?>

Tempting… Very tempting… But I need to stick with Elementalist for now. Who knows what I’ll get at level 20 or 30?

<Proficiency gained. [Rune Engraving LV 1] improved to [Rune Engraving LV 2].>

Finally! It only took creating hundreds of exploding spell orbs to finally get it! I’m sorry for slacking, Master Greg!

Vee had returned at some point. “Are you done exploding things?”

“Yes… for now,” I answered. “Sorry, I was going through a lot of notifications.”

“Tell me about it… You skyrocketed my class levels with that stunt,” Vee replied. “Should we go home? I’m honestly feeling exhausted after… that.”

“Might as well. No rush, right?” I said with a chuckle.

“No rush…” Vee sighed. “Says the slime, who turned into a giant worm, broke into a kobold stronghold, and then exploded everything!”

“On the plus side, I got my next level in [Nitro Slime]?” I said with a smile.

Vee sighed again. “I’m hungry… and tired… I need a nap…”

Having returned to my elven form, we escaped from the smoldering remains of the kobold tunnels. While I had expended far more slime mass than I had ever previously, I had no doubt gained a large amount of experience I wouldn’t have under more routine and regular circumstances.

“Well, that was… fun?” Vee said.

“The explosive finish was certainly a spectacle,” I replied with a grin.

“I could have done without that… I thought it was the end of the world. You effectively made a magical worm nuke! That was utterly terrifying.”

“Nuke?” I questioned.

“No!” Vee shouted. “Forget I said anything… I think it would be better for everyone.”

I shrugged and gave a short chuckle. “Sure. Either way, I think we made some good progress. Good levels, good training, some decent experience.”

“I have to admit you’re right,” Vee responded, albeit with some reluctance in her tone. “Our cooperation with the portals was certainly worthwhile. If we mess around with them again, I think I’ll reach the next level of [Dimension Magic] soon enough.”

“That’s something to look forward to,” I replied positively. “Hopefully, it gives you a usable spell on its own at the third level, or we have a breakthrough in trying to make a dimensional projectile or something more practical.”

“Now that would be great,” Vee giggled.

“And we still need you to break through your Mana aura… Then you can cast spells without their anchor point!” I said excitedly.

“Oh no… Not more ‘be the rock’ training…” Vee groaned.

“Hey, it really worked, trust—”

“Syl, look out!” Vee interrupted with a screech, and I sensed her rapidly teleporting away.

Before I could respond or sense anything, notifications rang in my mind.

<[Sanguine Dream] has been sampled. [Poison Slime] updated.>

<Proficiency gained. [Poison Slime LV 6] improved to [Poison Slime LV 7].>

And a massive black blade burst outward from my chest. Someone or something had stabbed me from behind! I glanced at the source and saw a lithe shadowy creature grasping the blade it had thrust through me.

Chapter forty-two

Shadowy Elf Assassin

“Nothing personal, girl… It’s just business…” the dark, broody voice muttered as he pulled back his blade. A spray of red came out with it.

I clutched at the “wound” and turned to see my assailant. He had a shadowy form clinging to him that obscured almost all of his features. None of my senses could see him; it was as if he had no life, Mana, or even presence.

<Blocked.>

While I was frustrated at having my [Identify] blocked, what couldn’t be hidden was the pointed ears on his body. An elf had attacked me.

“Why…?” I mumbled, hoping that [Acting] was doing its work.

“Like I said, nothing personal…” the shadowy elf muttered. “I’m just cleaning up loose ends that the humans should have finished.”

Humans? The Stantons? Does this have to do with why Sylthaeryn was murdered?

He then reached for the bag at my side—the bag she had entrusted to me all that time ago. Part of me wanted to just let it be taken. She said to give it to an elf, and he was one… But if he was part of the plot that killed her in the first place, then I couldn’t allow that to happen.

Plus… He attacked me, and I still haven’t finished my elf profile…

I made the snap decision to fight back rather than feign death, and I reached for his hand. He must have had a skill or trait to sense it as he rapidly retreated.

“No point in fighting it, girl… The poison will kill you soon enough; why suffer for your last moments?” the assassin tried to reason.

I snorted. “I’ll go down fighting!”

I launched [Lightning Bolt] at him, but he dodged. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and began swooping toward me like some kind of shadowy creature.

“Syl!? What’s going on?” Vee asked with worry.

“Elf assassin trying to kill me; he thinks I’m the elf who died back in the forest…” I explained telepathically while I launched a barrage of [Fireball] spells at him.

The elf must have had some advanced form of [Evasion] as his dodges were almost poetic in their execution. Before this, I would have said Whitney was one of the most agile people I’d ever seen, and he made her look like a clumsy toddler.

“Can I help?” Vee asked.

“If you can find an opportune moment, then do so; I don’t know what level he is, so he might be dangerous. Don’t risk your life if you don’t need to!” I warned Vee.

“I’m not going to just watch you die!” Vee replied.

He crashed against an [Aegis] spell I formed to block him and shattered it in a single blow. Then he pulled out a second blade, much longer and thinner than the shortsword he had first stabbed me with.

“I hate fighting mages…” he grumbled to himself.

“The feeling is mutual,” I snapped back.

I used [Earth Magic] to cast a giant [Sand Pit] spell between myself and him, hoping the terrain would be beneficial, but he seemed entirely immune to the hazardous terrain.

“I’m not going to die…” I informed Vee. “I have a death prevention trait… And he thinks I’m an elf… In the worst case, I can pretend to be dead. You, on the other hand, don’t have a second chance.”

Vee didn’t respond, but I could sense her hesitation through the connection.

I kept up the dance with the elf assassin, trying to barrage him with various spells. Subtly casting debuffs on him worked, although while observing him, I watched as they seemed to fall off him one by one at set intervals.

A trait or skill to remove afflictions? Or maybe magical equipment? I wish he wasn’t covered in that shadow cloak so I could get an idea of what is going on under the hood…

Even when I brought in [Sub-Cores] to blanket him with spells, he either dodged them all with inhumane grace or vanished into the safety of a shadow.

“Your profile originally said you were a marksman… But to think you swapped to becoming such a powerful caster in such a short time… It’s almost a waste,” the assassin mocked.

“I didn’t know combat banter was part of an assassin’s repertoire?”

“It helps keep the opponent on edge and opens them up to mistakes…” the voice replied, echoing from an unknown location.

I felt a blade running through my side, but it was all superficial despite the blood show Alpha was putting on.

“Like so…” the voice mocked as he vanished again. “Although I’m dumbfounded at how much [Poison Resistance] you must have. That dose was large enough to put down an elephant, yet you stand and fight…”

“Maybe you got a shitty batch,” I quipped back.

“That’s a frustrating possibility… If that’s the case, I’ll need a new supplier…” the voice replied, now revealing himself standing on a rocky outcropping.

Using [Nova] and all my cores, I surrounded him with spells, all pushed out beyond my Mana aura, hoping to catch him off guard. Either the assassin had ice running through his veins, or my surprise was a failure, as when the fiery explosion erupted, he simply chuckled as he cut me again.

“I really thought that would have worked…” I muttered.

“You’ve clearly spent too much time among the humans if you thought that would be enough,” the assassin taunted. “Any novice mage is expected to be able to do that.”

I clicked my tongue in annoyance and started pulling out spell orbs, which I lobbed and occasionally shot out at the assassin. I had hoped that the detonations would finally catch him, but other than causing what I assumed was a minor burn, it seemed he had gotten out relatively unscratched.

“Fascinating… I can’t say I’ve seen orbs like this before…” The assassin admitted.

“It’s just some basic enchanting; I’d expect any novice enchanter to do it,” I taunted back.

The assassin let out a dark chuckle before suddenly I was stabbed again.

I faked a wince and clutched at where the wound had appeared.

“No witty banter?” I teased.

“While it has its uses, I think it’s run its course…” the assassin admitted.

Looks like he’s going to stop fooling around…

Using my connection to the ground, I began doing some tunnel digging with my cores and tendrils. [Acid Slime] meant that I could easily branch out and expand underground. Meanwhile, I left behind a singular core in my elf body to maintain the form.

I kept using as much over-the-top magic as I could throw out. [Chain Lightning], [Shatterquake], and even blanketed an area in [Caustic Cloud].

That last one actually got the assassin to react. “How truly awful, and to think you call yourself an elf… With foul magic like that, putting you down would be doing the world a service.”

Meanwhile, my underground workers began spreading out like a tree spreading its roots. Once thoroughly situated, I started tendrils to the surface to plant landmines, hoping to catch the assassin.

I also let Vee know I was blanketing the area’s surface with landmines, just in case she decided to make an appearance.

“I’m looking for a good opportunity, but he’s so fast and jumpy… I’ll stay away from touching the ground, though,” Vee responded back.

Calling him fast and jumpy was an understatement, and I felt like I was literally jumping at shadows because of how absurdly fast he was. Even tasking my [Sub-Cores] with attacking him with magic had proved too much for them; he was just beyond us.

However, all his dodging around finally bit him in the back when he triggered a cluster of mines, and the detonation caught him off guard. He cursed a foul string of words, and when I next saw him, his shadowy cloak looked severely damaged and singed.

“I don’t know how you did that… But you’ll pay…” he grunted.

“Big talk from the guy who’s trying to kill me,” I taunted.

“A quick and painless death would have been my mercy,” the assassin snapped back. “But I suppose that is beyond you now. I’ll ensure you suffer as much as possible before your final breath.”

He coated his blade in a blackish-red poison. It looked oddly familiar, and I couldn’t help but blurt it out. “Bloodrot?”

The assassin chuckled darkly. “Good… I’m glad you’ve heard of it. Now you’ll suffer and rot until your final breath, and no potion or healing will save you.”

He also made a gesture that reminded me of Jet. He ripped his own shadow off of himself and threw it toward me. The shadowy mass writhed unstably before bursting into three small shadowy creatures.

The shadow creatures didn’t trigger my landmines, and as I contemplated the best way to deal with them, I cast [Hex] and [Mana Burn] on all three. I couldn’t think of any other method to deal with semi-intangible creatures, and unlike the elf, this affliction and debuff stuck around.

The elf assassin began his dangerous approach, armed with two types of poison now and an almost feral savageness now that he’d been wounded. His jests had ceased, and now he seemed to just want to inflict as much physical pain as possible.

I lashed out with spells to strike him and tried to defend myself with [Bubble], [Zephyr Shroud], and [Arcane Armor]. To my spellcasting persona’s dismay, he must have been highly trained in methods of countering defensive spells as he practically slipped past my defenses to land his blows.

[Sneak Attack] and [Assassinate] mention bypassing defenses… So, I guess he’s using something like that.

With each blow he struck and failed spells on my part, he seemed to be growing more and more confident. I caught him in a [Nitro Slime] trap one more time, but now he was too hesitant and frequently seemed to avoid the ground entirely.

When his shadow creatures dispersed, he seemed mildly annoyed but still retained his confidence. I couldn’t think of any further preparations to be made, so I figured now was the time to slime out.

I retreated the core in my elf body into the ground but close enough to maintain the form and then primed the body. Setting the entire body on a hair trigger to detonate when he touched it. I also laced the inside with as much nastiness as I could think of, such as a steady supply of razor-sharp shrapnel made out of a combination of [Metal Slime] and [Poison Slime] while returning the favor of Bloodrot.

I missed him emerging from the body’s shadow, but when his blade touched, the trigger went off without even a second of thought. The detonation was immense as my body was entirely made up of some of the best of the best slime.

Of course, my body would be the highest density possible, and while it was a painful loss of slime, defeating this foe would be a much greater reward.

His body was sent scattering to the ground, and his remaining shadow seemed to be trying to protect him. He was groaning painfully on the ground and rapidly feeding himself pills and potions.

That was when I emerged from the ground. My “body” resurfaced nearby, and tendrils of slime burst out. Without my [Sub-Cores] thoroughly distributed, controlling this quantity of spread-out slime mass would have been extremely difficult.

My slimy tendrils tried to grab him, but even injured, he was absurdly fast. He cursed and muttered.

“What the hell is this!?” the assassin demanded.

“Me…” I chuckled darkly, trying to best imitate his creepy tone.

The assassin burst out laughing as if all the puzzle pieces fell into place. “The girl was already dead… I got sent out to kill some creature wearing her skin… What rotten luck…”

Tendrils continued to burst out from the ground, and the assassin continued to dodge.

“No wonder my poisons didn’t work… And even I’ve been infected with Bloodrot?” he continued to curse.

“On the plus side, you’ll be a wonderful meal for me…” I taunted.

The elf actually shuddered. “No… I’m getting far, far away from here, demon!”

More and more tendrils burst out and started firing slime at him. Now, I was holding nothing back and ensuring I detonated as much [Nitro Slime] as possible with lacings of various other slime traits.

His panic was palpable as he tried to retreat as much as possible. What was once a shroud of shadows was barely scraps, and his elven body was now visible.

I’m not letting you get away!

I ordered all my [Sub-Cores] to catch him by any means necessary.

“Hey, Syl, try to lure him over in my direction!” Vee’s voice suddenly sounded serious.

I acknowledged and relayed it to all my cores. We began forcing his hand to change his retreating path. His pills and potions must have finally kicked in as he was starting to pick up the pace.

“Sorry, monster, looks like I’m going to live to tell the tale!” the assassin taunted.

I growled in frustration.

No! No! No!

This was something I had always worried about; someone finding out the truth and escaping.

I shouldn’t have revealed myself. Why did he survive my body bomb? What else can I throw at him?

Pessimism oozed out of my very being, watching the shadow elf getting farther and farther away.

Suddenly, my negative thoughts were flooded with a counter emotion. Confidence. The source could’ve only been Vee, and I wondered what she had planned right before I witnessed the most absurd sight ever.

The elf’s body soared off into five arcing segments. I blinked in confusion.

“Don’t run into the [Rift Thread]!” Vee warned.

I paused, and realization struck me as Vee continued mentally talking.

“I set up an entire web net here, and it looks like our elf assassin is utterly blind to it!” Vee continued, and now I understood where the confidence had come from.

The little spider had done it!

Chapter forty-three

Tangled Web

I quickly checked my notifications to ensure he was actually dead and that it wasn’t some trick.

<Elf LV 48; Umbral Wraithblade LV 54; Baker LV 33 defeated. Experience gained.>

Did we just get attacked by a baker?

“Well, everyone has to have hobbies… Or maybe it was his cover story? Baker by day, assassin by night,” Vee replied with a giggle. “You’re talking your thoughts aloud again, by the way…”

“Oh… sorry…” I mumbled.

“So… Good news, or maybe bad news?” Vee spoke up again. “Apparently, I usurped some [Elven Legacy]?”

“That’s very good news, actually…” I answered. “Assuming nobody finds out… Otherwise, you sort of have a small target on your back.”

I felt Vee shudder. “They can’t see it, right? I have that [Bonded Companion] one showing.”

“I was warned there might be either a rare skill or Emblem that would let someone see your profile, but it’s exceedingly rare,” I answered truthfully. “No one would assume you have it, whereas everyone who knows about the Emblem knows I have it when I go around in my elf disguise.”

“Right… So all elves have this…” Vee mumbled, probably reading the description. “Interesting. The buffs seem very good; I can understand why someone would be after it.”

“On the positive side, it means your magical training just got easier,” I pointed out.

“Less time required for brain hurting is always ideal… But what will we do about the fact that the elves attacked you?” Vee asked.

“Grab our stuff and leave?” I answered. “The only reason I was sticking around was to wait for Trixie and get my slime cores. But if assassins are coming after me now, there’s no reason to stick around.”

“Should you say anything?” Vee suggested.

“Why?” I asked as I liked the idea of getting out before the fire got out of control.

“Well… you’re the one who said you’re kinda a big-shot adventurer,” Vee began answering. “Surely, attacking a Gold rank is bad, right? Not to mention you’re friends with one of the dwarven nobles, which has got to be a faux pas?”

“You’re right… And there’s the possibility the elf ambassador didn’t know about this assassin,” I replied.

“What makes you say that?” Vee asked.

“He said he was trying to finish the human’s job…” I answered with a sigh. “It seems like whoever wanted to kill Sylthaeryn really had it out for her… He also tried to take the bag. I had originally tried to give it to the ambassador, but he refused to take it, making me believe he might be clean.”

“Talk about a big mess… Can’t you change your elf disguise?” Vee suggested.

“I could… But how would I suddenly explain looking completely different?” I replied.

“Magical plastic surgery?” Vee giggled.

I had no idea what she was talking about and could only shrug.

Vee sighed, likely upset about my lack of understanding of her joke. “I’m surprised you even copied her in the first place.”

“Back then, I could only copy things exactly,” I explained. “I also didn’t have a complete elf profile, so she was the only base model I could compare it to, if that makes sense.”

“Kinda?” Vee answered.

“Speaking of which… I better go collect the elf. I need to complete the profile and see if he has any magical goodies for us,” I said and began searching for his remains.

It didn’t take long, and Vee helped me locate them. I promptly ate what I could while separating out and cleaning any loot.

<Profile [Elf] complete.>

To think I’d complete this profile so randomly after all this time. Pelopi always joked that I was a super magical elf assassin and was literally attacked by a shadow elf assassin. Perhaps there was some truth to her words there…

I was eager to examine the new traits I had unlocked, but first, I examined the gains I had received from defeating such a strong foe.

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 9.>

<15 Trait Points are now available.>

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 10>

<16 Trait Points are now available.>

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 14.>

<18 Skill Points are now available.>

Two race levels and a class level! And that’s after splitting it with Vee! That guy was a bounty of experience. Also, it really shows how powerful Vee was against a normal flesh-and-blood enemy. Those [Rift Threads] are terrifying.

Unfortunately, few remains were found. One of his weapons survived the encounter, but his armor and shadowy cloak were torn to unrecognizable shreds. He had an intact ring, but his amulet was cut in two.

Before trying to look through the goods, I first wanted to finally look through the now completed elf profile. I was excited to see the missing traits and knew they had a high chance of being amazing.

<[Elven Bladedancer]

One of the chosen paths, the elven bladedancer, is enticingly beautiful as it is deadly as they dance about the battlefield.

Finesse weapons will receive a proficiency bonus to accuracy and damage based on trait level.

This trait allows partial strength replacement with dexterity when using light melee weapons, scaling with trait level.>

Does slime count as a light melee weapon? What about pseudopods? As always, these elf traits seem absurd…

<[Elven Magus]

One of the chosen paths, the elven magus, is the master of arcane weaves, and all tremble before their arcane might.

Spells will receive a proficiency bonus to accuracy, damage, and casting speed based on trait level.

Casting beyond your Mana Aura is child’s play, and your spellcraft is perceived as alien to your foes.>

Oh… he wasn’t kidding when he said he’d expect any elf mage to be able to do what I did. Turns out they literally had a trait for it. What was the point of me going through my rock visualization training? Still… the latter effect is certainly beneficial.

<[Versatile Profession]

Due to population restrictions, all elves, once they reach adulthood, are expected to overcome this by training in both class and profession to share the burden.

This trait has no levels.>

Is this why both elves I saw had professions and a combat class? But Sylthaeryn didn’t have one… I wonder why?

I tried equipping the trait.

<Age requirement not met. Grow well, young one; your time will come eventually to aid the Glade.>

“What do you mean age requirement not met!?” I blurted out in anger.

Vee stared at me with confusion and hesitation.

And that was the end of the traits. I’d basically gained most of them and was just missing these two remaining “chosen paths” and this profession trait. It almost felt a little anticlimactic, but at least now I could finally take any elven form I wanted.

But before I did any of that, I tried to understand the deal with these “chosen paths” and attempted to borrow all three simultaneously, only to be met with a strange error.

<Seek realignment, as only one path may be active at once.>

Well… that sucks… So, there are three super traits, but are they mutually exclusive? That kinda sucks, but I guess it would make sense. [Elven Magus] is probably the one I will just choose from now on. I have seldom used [Elven Marskmanship]… Unless I plan on moonlighting as a different non-spellcaster.

“Uhh… Syl? You there?” Vee asked.

“Oh… Sorry, I was going over traits and such. Look what I got!” I said as I excitedly showed her some of the elf traits.

“I can’t take any of these…” Vee whined.

“Unless you become a mimic spider or something…” I mumbled, wondering if that was even a possible mutation for spiders. “Sorry, I guess I’m bragging.”

“Hey, it’s good to brag!” Vee said reassuringly. “You fought that elf baker-assassin all by yourself, so you deserve to be rewarded; I mostly just stepped in at the end to finish the job and secure the kill. Hell, I got a free Emblem out of it.”

“And we got some loot! Although I’m not sure how good it is,” I said, pointing out the small collection of magical items.

<Cursed Bloodletting Stiletto.>

Wow… Talk about an ominous name. So it would inflict bleeding and curse? I’m glad it only stabbed slime and not my core.

<Ring of Magical Redirection.>

“Oh, this sounds promising!” I said excitedly.

“That does sound cool,” Vee said, tilting her head. “But how or where does it redirect it to?”

“If I understand this properly, I think it makes magic somewhat slide off you. So rather than being directly hit by a [Fireball], it is treated more like a glancing blow,” I explained.

“Oh man, I’d kill for a ring like that!” Vee responded.

“Sure, you can have it,” I offered.

“I don’t have fingers, Syl…” Vee replied deadpan as she waved her little front legs.

I sighed and placed the ring over her front leg; it flashed as it resized to fit snugly.

“What!? Magical resizing rings?” Vee asked.

“Yeah… did you think everyone has the same ring size?” I questioned.

“I… no…?” Vee sounded somewhat dejected.

I giggled. “Sorry, I’m teasing you, I found out about it the hard way. I could probably enchant anything you wanted to resize, within reason.”

“Sure!” Vee said with renewed optimism before breaking out into a small giggle. “As long as they don’t explode like those spell orbs!”

“Enchanted items don’t normally explode…” I informed her. “I’m taking them very much away from their intended uses with my spell orbs… I don’t think anyone thought of intentionally detonating a very valuable enchantment.”

“Yeah, that would be literally throwing away money,” Vee agreed.

“That reminds me… I wanted to investigate how the dwarves use their silver slimes…” I mumbled.

“Wanting to become rich?” Vee asked with a head tilt. “Er… I mean richer?”

“More idle curiosity… It could be a new method for me to use my own slime.”

“So… Report the assassin, corporate espionage, and then possibly leave?” Vee asked.

“Ideally, I’d like to wait a bit longer for Trixie to show up…” I sighed. “But if they’re going to keep throwing assassins at me, then I’d rather not. Even if it’s an opportunity to gain some really good experience. What if someone stabs me while I’m walking in the street? I can’t exactly explain away a gaping wound in my fake chest.”

“’Tis but a scratch,” Vee giggled.

“Uhh… It might as well be for me, but I don’t think the dwarves would accept that excuse,” I replied.

“Sorry… It’s a joke…” Vee sighed. “Damned scrambled memories…”

“I’ll try to remember to laugh the next time you make it,” I offered teasingly.

Our journey back to Dhoggurum was a little tense. Both of us were anticipating another potential assassination attempt, so we were on extreme guard. The fact that the assassin had fooled my various sensory traits was disheartening, and I wondered if my lackluster [Perception] skill was to blame.

Whitney would be upset that I’ve been slacking on it… But I’ve practically gone full spellcaster at this point.

Vee had sensed him before me thanks to him entering the radial range of her [Spatial Sense], and I was envious of the trait. Once again, I was extremely tempted to buy the affinity unlock, especially after I had gained some trait levels.

No… Be patient, Syl… I will need the points to uncap traits…

At ten points a pop, it was pricy. I had so many slime traits I would unquestionably love to uncap.

But despite our shared paranoia, we reached the city without any further attack. I really hoped it was a lone operative sent out to do the job, not a full squad. The guards let us in without question, and once we were behind the city gates, we both sighed in relief.

“So, who are we going to tell about the attack first? Thern, the Flinthearts, or the guild?” Vee asked.

I took some time to think and nodded.

“I’d say the guild, they are the bigger entity…” I replied. “Then we can tell Thern and his family, and I’ll probably offer to move out. I’d hate to bring assassins into his family home.”

“It’s regrettable, as I think I was slowly growing on those dwarves, and the food has been great. But it makes logical sense…” Vee agreed.

“What makes you say you’ve been growing on them?” I asked teasingly.

“Thern finally stopped warding his room against me,” Vee pointed out.

I couldn’t help but laugh at that.

Chapter forty-four

Report

I also remembered I needed to decipher the new poison I had acquired; it must have been potent as it caused my trait to level up. Lost in the thought of being attacked, my new traits and level-ups had almost been a footnote in the day’s activities.

Sanguine Dream… It certainly sounds ominous.

Rather than naturally occurring like Bloodrot, this appeared to be a manufactured poison. But that was the limited extent of my attempts to break it down; perhaps I needed to become an alchemical slime to diffuse the ingredients.

Or maybe I just need to learn alchemy in general. Although I don’t think alchemists normally imbibe their own poisons.

I then recalled that the dwarves specifically had a trait relating to hazardous consumption and wondered if I needed to correct my assumption.

The Sanguine Dream was particularly nasty, causing the victim to enter an almost eternal slumber. It was a slower build-up than the other sleep poison I had, and you could fight off the effects, but once you succumbed, you presumably wouldn’t awaken. Even attempting to form it with my slime was a struggle, and I wondered if it was beyond my current trait level.

I had no problem creating Bloodrot even when my [Poison Slime] level was lower… Or did I? I guess it could have been more potent… Or is this just a limiting factor for manufactured poisons?

“Hey Syl, we’ve reached the guild…” Vee interjected.

“Oh… Thanks… I spaced out a bit,” I replied.

Vee giggled, and we entered the guild.

I didn’t need to turn in my quest since it was just an indefinite “exterminate kobolds,” so I instead requested a meeting with someone higher up. That led to me sitting across from Lukhek, the guild master.

“Good evening, Syl. I hope you’ve enjoyed your time in Dhoggurum?” the dwarf politely asked.

“It’s been enjoyable and very profitable,” I answered honestly. “And I even got to meet Vee here.”

I nodded to my spider companion, taking her usual seat on my shoulder. She gave a little wave with her front leg.

“Aye… that caused quite a stir.” Lukhek chuckled nervously as he scratched his beard. “Still, it seems to have worked out in the end, and Jasgra hasn’t stopped talking about how amazing it was to witness an elven companion in person.”

“Unfortunately, I’m not here on pleasant terms…” I admitted, breaking the ice.

“Oh gods, who’s done what now?” Lukhek grumbled. “I’ll box their bloody ears off!”

“None of yours…” I said, pulling out the assassin’s blade and placing it on his desk. Lukhek took a grim expression, presumably from using his own [Appraisal.]

“An elf assassin attacked me while we were out taking care of some kobolds,” I explained before he could say anything. “I wasn’t sure who to turn to, as his identity was completely blocked. I thought I’d just inform the guild.”

“Bloody hells…” Lukhek murmured. “Good on you for living to tell the tale… Did the body survive?”

“No…” I replied awkwardly and turned to a half-truth. “Acid doesn’t tend to leave much behind.”

“Aye. Perfectly understandable. You can’t hold back when your life is on the line!” Lukhek agreed heartedly. “Still… why would an elf assassin be after you?”

I shrugged. “He said he was here to finish the job the humans failed to do. There might be a report on it, but I was attacked by a group of humans in the Stantondale dungeon…”

“Bloody hell, what enemies have you made?” Lukhek shook his head. “I expected one of the first elf adventurers to make some waves, but you’re making a tsunami!”

I opened my mouth, but he held his hand out and shook his head.

“Forgive me. I shouldn’t be blaming the victim…” Lukhek sighed before pulling a flask from his desk and taking a deep swig. “As a member of the guild, you have our full support. Attacking one of our Gold ranks might as well be declaring war… Do you have any suspicions that Tamnaeth is to blame?”

I shook my head. “I actually feel like he’s unrelated. I tried to give him something, which he refused, while the assassin tried to steal it from me.”

“Thank the gods!” Lukhek cheered, taking a victory swig. “At least that’s one silver lining. Assuming you are alright with it, I can ask him for assistance, and if we need to set up any additional security measures…”

“Please go ahead; I’d appreciate knowing if this was an isolated incident or if I need to sleep with one eye open,” I replied. “Maybe even get me a meeting with Tamnaeth?”

“I’d be extremely impressed if they attacked you while within the city walls… They waited for you to go outside for a reason,” Lukhek replied. “Not to toot my own horn, but I don’t think even the Glade can beat dwarven defenses! As for a meeting, I’ll let him know, and if he disagrees, we can put him on the suspicion list.”

I nodded.

“Can I take the dagger for evidence?” Lukhek asked. “If I flash it to Tamnaeth, it might also cause him to react.”

“Go ahead… I prefer magic to blades anyway,” I said, vaguely gesturing toward it. “Also… do you have somewhere safe you can recommend staying at? I don’t want to drag Thern and his family into this.”

“I can get you a room at one of the best inns in the city; it’s practically a VIP suite,” Lukhek offered. “Although I still doubt they would attempt anything in the city, I respect your doubts.”

“Thanks… Better to be safe than sorry.” I nodded.

“Any other enemies I should know about for the investigation?” Lukhek asked.

“Ingotback tried to bribe me not to clear out the mine…” I answered. “Although I don’t think he’d be working with the elves…?”

“Ha! He wishes!” Lukhek laughed.

“Then no…” I mumbled.

Seriously, Sylthaeryn, what did you get yourself into? The only other enemy I could potentially have would be Odark, but I highly doubt he’s working together with the elves. Hell, how would he even get here?

“Okay… Well, thanks for bringing this to my attention,” Lukhek said with a polite nod. “I’ll get right on this. But I’d suggest staying within the city for now unless you’re confident in another potential fight.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it!” I said happily.

Lukhek handed me a note with the name of the inn and some directions to it. With that out of the way, I headed to Thern’s place to inform them of the attack and let them know I was staying at an inn until it was deemed safe.

“Absolutely bloody not!” Thern shouted angrily. “You think we can’t ward the house for intruders?”

“I just… don’t want you getting dragged into something related to me,” I replied.

Thern was not pleased about my suggestion to move out. While I was glad the grumpy dwarf was willing to fight for me, keeping him uninvolved greatly enriched my attack options. If it was just Vee and me in a room, I could go full slime monster on the intruder, and Vee could whip out the [Rift Thread]. It was just safer for everyone, in my opinion.

“While I agree with my son that you are always welcome here, you’re welcome to do whatever you wish,” Darmod informed me. “Still… I don’t understand why they would send an assassin after you?”

“Do you think you pissed off some elf bigshot by joining the guild?” Thern suggested. “You have broken a longstanding tradition for the elves refusing to join the guild…”

I shrugged. “Lukhek is going to question the diplomat and try to get some answers…”

“Damn, pointy-eared bastard better not attempt to obfuscate the facts…” Thern grumbled before quickly adding. “No offense.”

I chuckled and waved it off. Technically, I didn’t even have ears.

“Well… if you are leaving, at least take your armor.” Darmod spoke up. “Thessa completed it a while ago; it’s just been sitting at her forge for days until I visited.”

“Thanks! I can’t wait to see it,” I replied enthusiastically. “But wow, Thessa really is living in her forge these days…”

“I can’t blame her; she’s got a new furnace heart and obsidianite to work with.” Darmod shrugged.

“Aye, she’s got the forge fever,” Thern agreed. “Still… I’m not happy about you leaving. I brought you to Dhoggurum; I feel responsible for your safety.”

“Well, I was planning on leaving the city sometime soon anyway,” I replied honestly. “I was mostly just waiting for slime cores and to see a friend.”

“That’s the pixie you mentioned, right?” Darmod asked.

I nodded. “Trixie. She said she would meet me here, but who knows. She might have gotten lost or distracted.”

“Spirit folks have absolutely no sense of time, and coming from one of the other long-lived races, that’s saying something!” Thern declared. “Like… I know you elves don’t age, and we dwarves easily live half a millennium, but those spirits are another story entirely! I bet that pixie thinks it’s been a few hours since she last saw you!”

“Well… that’s not ideal,” I said, pulling out the coin she had marked and staring at.

“I’m not telling you not to stay… But, if you have more important things to do, prioritize those,” Thern commented.

“Right…” I agreed.

“Well, I’m definitely for leaving. I want to see what this VIP suite has for food!” Vee said, excitedly waving her front legs.

“What’s Vee’s opinion?” Darmod asked curiously.

“She wants to eat the inn food…” I replied with a giggle.

“Traitorous glutton! And after I cooked you so much damn food!” Darmod said, feigning outrage.

Vee made a shrugging gesture, causing Thern to cackle with laughter.

We discussed it a bit more, and I finally convinced Thern to let me stay at the inn. We also discussed potentially teleporting back to the human lands and away from the assassins. It was good to have options open, but I didn’t want to end Thern’s vacation early on my part.

I’m tempted to just wander around. If I turned into a worm, I could burrow in a random direction and explore quite quickly. I could even make a slime pocket for Vee to be safe and sound. Alternatively, I could ask to be teleported somewhere close to Keld and visit the golemancer.

When Darmod brought out my renewed armor, I gasped in surprise. My renewed salamander leather armor looked glorious. I could see the obsidianite reinforcements and the resettled enchantments being applied. I had almost forgotten about the armor as I had grown fond of making fake slime clothes.

“Okay… I’m jealous…” Vee replied, staring at the armor. “I’m grateful for the magic ring you gave me, but I’d feel a lot safer if I had some armor or something. Hell, do you even need armor?”

“A lot of good it would do me against [Rift Thread]… Still better to be safe than sorry,” I teased. “As for armor… I’m not sure; it would need to be resized with you.”

“Forgot about that… Maybe I should focus on my weaving and make my own armor!” Vee declared.

“If you do, I could ask Thern to enchant it for you. Or I could do it myself, although I might need to buy some more patents,” I informed her.

“That sounds great! Otherwise, maybe I should get more rings! I have only one, and I have more legs to work with!” Vee said excitedly.

“We can go on a shopping trip,” I suggested. “If we are going to be stuck in the city for a bit, we might as well use my funds.”

Vee was so happy and excited about that offer that I almost suspected our bond level had grown just from that. It was nice to see her settling in. Now that she had the [Elven Legacy] Emblem, we also had some potentially easier magic lessons to look forward to.

I also questioned Darmod about the slime cores, and it sounded like Flintheart would provide me with some during our next meeting. That tickled my fancy, and I wondered if I’d get my tendrils on a violet core.

Either way, any extra cores will be appreciated. I might as well start trying to get all my slime traits capped out!

After that, Vee and I left for the inn. Lukhek hadn’t been joking, as it was massive and well-decorated. It immediately made me think of some of the buildings I had seen in the noble district of Kaerlin. Entering the establishment, we were drowned in the bluster of joyfully cheering dwarves.

After a quick flash of the note, I was soon shown to our room, which had far more than the basic essentials. Closing the door, the entire din of the bar and common room was instantly halted, much to our relief. Vee excitedly explored the room before declaring a portion of it her own and spinning a web.

Well… Let’s see what the next few days bring…

Chapter forty-five

Ring Shopping

“Whoa! There are so many rings!” Vee said excitedly as she peered around from her position, sitting on my shoulder. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and I couldn’t help but smile at her excitement.

We were currently exploring the adventurer’s section of one of the market districts, a place that never failed to ignite a sense of wonder. The various equipment available—weapons, armor, trinkets, tools, and all sorts of enchanted jewelry—were like treasures from a fairy tale, proudly on display for all to see. The tight security only added to the mystique, making this probably one of the most intriguing areas in the entire city.

I had personally looked over a few of the staves and scepters, but none seemed to be made from slime cores, so I immediately dismissed them as worthless.

I wonder if Flintheart bought everything already?

That was an exciting thought and made me eager for our next meeting.

“Some of these look really pricy. Can you really afford them?” Vee questioned.

“No idea! We can keep tapping my guild tag until it runs out!” I said excitedly.

“You really should learn how much money and things are worth…” Vee muttered.

“Nope!” I rejected the idea. “That sounds like far too much of a headache. The guild verifies all the purchases and whatnot, so I don’t need to worry about money.”

“You pull apart and combine complex magical spell formula… And a little accounting is what scares you off?” Vee asked in disbelief.

“Magic is fun. Money is not. It’s that simple,” I answered.

“Well… that tracks…” Vee sighed. “I guess I’ll prioritize the good ones for when your magic credit card’s balance runs out…”

“I can always sell some more obsidianite…” I pointed out.

“Ah yes… The emergency worm fund,” Vee giggled.

We continued perusing the diverse wares for anything that potentially tickled Vee’s fancy. I had a few dwarves trying to offer me various weapons and trinkets, but it all seemed very pointless. I noted that none of the armor dwarves approached me; I was wearing my freshly renovated salamander armor, and perhaps they could appraise its worth.

When Thern or Darmod finally pull Thessa out of the forge, I must thank her for the work. Or maybe I should pay a visit? The fact that it’s scaring off dwarven merchants must be a testament to its quality.

I couldn’t find much use for anything besides a new metal to sample or a slime core, so I merely admired the crafts and occasionally tried to examine the enchantments.

Interestingly, many of the highly valuable objects were hidden behind a piece of glass that seemed to obscure most of the enchantment beyond a simple appraisal. Undoubtedly, it was some form of protection against someone seeking to steal an enchantment design.

Although… How many enchanters could copy an entire enchantment from a glance or even a one-time examination? I know there are traits and skills for memory stuff, but even so, Greg would never do an enchantment without thoroughly practicing and understanding it. Maybe that’s the point? By hiding it away, they stop someone from even attempting to risk it.

“The variety is mind-blowing!” Vee exclaimed. “I don’t know how they came up with so many ideas… Strength, resistances, temperature, it almost seems endless!”

“Most of it is translated from actual magic, or at least components of it,” I explained. “I worked on a refrigerator enchantment, which had components from some of my ice spells that I could vaguely recognize.”

“They have fridges!?” Vee was flabbergasted.

“Yes…?” I answered. “Someone else invented the design. I just used it.”

“Interesting…” Vee mused. “Any suggestions on what rings to get? The two that catch my eye the most are protection and fire resistance.”

“Maybe something to help your magic?” I questioned.

“Like what? Are there rings that boost Mana capacity?” Vee asked.

“Oh!” I exclaimed excitedly. “I have another ring for you!”

I pulled out the Mana regeneration ring I had won from that golem and held it toward my shoulder and her.

“What’s it do?” Vee asked as she poked it.

“Mana regeneration,” I answered promptly before frowning. “Although… I don’t think it has a size enchantment on it.”

“Could you add one?” Vee asked.

“Shouldn’t be too hard; it’s one of the relatively simple ones,” I answered and looked over the enchantment.

Weirdly enough, there seemed to be a spot specifically left empty to apply the enchantment.

Huh, is that an oversight? Did someone forget to complete it?

Looking closer, I noticed other tiny spots that seemed open, as if awaiting other enchantments to be added to the ring.

Was this ring designed to be upgradable? That seems ingenious…

“Syl?” Vee asked with concern.

“Sorry… Did I blank out again?” I replied sheepishly.

“Yeah, you were staring intently at the ring… Is there something wrong with it?” Vee questioned.

“No…” I answered, shaking my head. “I think this ring is upgradeable, but I’ll have to wait until we get back to our room to check it out.”

“Neat! Well, we should get some shopping done; it’s way past lunchtime!” Vee enthusiastically informed me.

“And I thought I was supposed to be the glutton…” I teased.

“Food is pretty much the only pleasure I have left in life,” Vee defended herself. “Although I guess I’m adding shiny enchanted objects to that list after today…”

I giggled at the silly spider, and we continued our perusal. We did end up going with the two rings Vee had pointed out. Weirdly, we couldn’t find any rings relating to Mana or even Mana regeneration, which made me wonder if I had taken the rarity of the ring I was gifted for granted.

Eventually, we relented and started asking some of the shopkeepers for advice on what to get. At first, they were dumbfounded that I wanted accessories for my companion rather than myself, but eventually, they relented; money was money, after all.

Many protection items were offered, mostly various forms of poison resistance, but it seemed rather pointless for Vee, who said she had a very high level in [Poison Resistance].

I should give her some of my resistant traits. Sure, I don’t need them, but they might save Vee’s life.

Ice resistance was added to the ring collection, and finally, a rather surprising ring that enhanced stamina regeneration at the cost of increasing your metabolism. It quite literally turned food into fuel, which made Vee tremendously happy.

“I can eat and turn it into stamina! Which means more webs and everything else!” Vee cheered.

“Which means a bigger food budget…” I mumbled.

“You said you could afford it!” Vee giggled.

I got the feeling most of my core storage would be filled with Vee’s snacks at this rate.

I better hope she gets her own dimensional storage trait or spell soon!

There had been other minor recommendations for rings that helped with [Darkvision] or helped with stealth, but most of them were minor effects that only helped if your traits and skills were low level. It was rather interesting that there was this whole other side of magical items I had completely skipped over.

At the same time, I bought some electrum to melt down for the enchanting. While I would have loved to have used my own slime for the job, it would eventually revert back to my natural state and no doubt damage or break the ring.

When we returned to our room, Vee wasted no time, spending all her stamina weaving a multitude of spider silk before gorging herself on food.

“Are you testing the ring?” I asked curiously.

“Yup!” Vee enthusiastically informed me.

“Maybe I do need to sell some more obsidianite…”

Leaving Vee to spin threads and have fun with her weaving, I sat at the desk and pulled out my enchanting tools.

“Wait… why am I doing this like I only have hands…” I realized and chuckled.

[Pseudopods] were formed, and soon, I had plenty of tendrils to aid me in my task. [Blaze Slime] in one tendril allowed me to melt down the electrum I had purchased into a liquid state before I scooped it up with the tool and replaced the nib with the tiniest one I had in my collection.

I needed no vise or holding device as I held the ring perfectly still and secure with the power of tentacles! I pulled out one of my books and held it aloft with another tendril, referencing it to ensure that I wasn’t making any mistakes with the enchantment.

Okay, let’s do this, gang!

With my [Sub-Cores] assisting, top-quality supplies and tools, and more appendages than reasonably required, it took me almost no time to engrave the enchantment. I could only praise the forethought of designing the ring with upgrades in mind, and I watched with glee as the framework happily accepted the new enchantment.

To my surprise, the framework continued to light up rather unexpectedly. At first, I thought that perhaps I’d made a mistake, so I placed it on an enlarged tendril to see if it resized appropriately. The enchantment worked flawlessly, but the act of the ring resizing caused the script to flash unexpectedly.

I had almost expected the ring to explode or something equally absurd, but instead, a small light began to form and project what seemed to be a message. The glowing message had two simple words: Meet me.

“Whoa, quite the light show!” Vee spoke up, causing me quite a scare. “Who’s your secret admirer?”

“Uh… I can only assume it’s that Keld person,” I answered. “Considering I got the ring from one of his golems.”

“So you solved his puzzle, and he’s interested in seeing you?” Vee asked.

“I mean, he was already interested in seeing me,” I said as I pulled out the invite I had gotten after completing the golem test.

“So… road trip?” Vee questioned.

“It’s definitely up there on my list of locations to visit…” I admitted. “If nothing else comes up, it can be our next spot.”

“Awesome! I hope it’s on the surface; I’d love to see the sun and moon again,” Vee replied.

“It’s on the surface,” I confirmed. “But… I heard he forcibly occupied an uninhabitable wasteland nobody else could or wanted.”

“So definitely not a scenic trip to the beach then…” Vee joked before giving a startled leap. “What!? Who? Where?”

“What’s wrong?” I asked the strangely behaving spider.

“I… got a strange notification…” Vee said, looking very spooked.

“Oh?” I mumbled curiously.

“I got a quest to visit the beach…” Vee answered. “I didn’t even know that was possible. The reward just says ‘good things.’“

“Well, we will add it to our list of places to go,” I replied. “Considering the vague reward, I assume it’s not a quest from Mother.”

“No idea…” Vee admitted. “Rather creepy, though… Are they just watching us constantly? Or listening to our thoughts and conversations?”

“That’s… a good question, actually…” I whispered with some curiosity and concern.

I knew Gramps had commented about enjoying watching my escapades, but how much did he actually watch?

“Well, we can do nothing right now, so there’s no sense worrying about it!” I said as I removed the ring and flicked it to Vee.

Vee caught it with a thread and securely placed it on one of her unoccupied legs.

“Wow, I’m really becoming a fancy spider now with all this jewelry!” Vee giggled excitedly.

“If we want to get really fancy, you should start looking into weaving some armor for yourself and seeing if we can enchant it,” I said excitedly.

“It would be more like… wraps… or bandages than armor… Can you really enchant that?” Vee asked.

“There are certain enchantments that only grant their effects when appropriately applied,” I began answering. “But nothing inherently stops me from putting any enchantment on it. Of course, the end product might be completely useless, but I certainly don’t mind throwing some resources toward experimentation.”

“Neat!” Vee enthusiastically replied. “Well, I’d love some more protective weaves. Anything to keep me alive and kicking.”

“Which reminds me, I can show you some resistance traits. I’m already immune or unaffected by most of these, but I figured I might as well show them to you in case there’s any you want.”

“Is there an anti-brainworm resistance?” Vee asked somewhat jokingly.

“[Curse Resistance], I believe,” I said, avoiding her bait and displaying the trait.

“Spoilsport…” Vee pretended to whine before giggling.

“And once you’ve bought those, we can continue your magic lessons!” I informed her with my own mischievous grin.

“Can’t we continue our vacation for a bit longer…” Vee mumbled.

“You just got an Emblem that should boost your magical learning,” I pointed out. “Let’s see if we can’t get you your third level in [Dimension Magic] or better allow you to break the aura barrier!”

“Noooo….” Vee whined. “Not more, ‘become the rock,’ training….”

“Clearly, you aren’t rocking hard enough!” I joked, causing Vee to groan.

This damn spider needs to learn to appreciate a good pun!

Chapter forty-six

Pocket Magic

Despite my expert guidance, Vee still failed to become the rock. On the positive side, she was making headway with her [Dimension Magic], and we began experimenting with finding a reliable way to use her portals.

Since we were inside the city, we kept the experiments to a minimum, such as not throwing explosive spell orbs through them, for example. Speaking of spell orbs, I made a massive discovery: Now that I had my next level of [Rune Engraving], I could store more complex spells!

Access to the higher tier of magic certainly upped their potential, and I was closer to my goal of having the spell orbs contain debuffs. That way, I could create mines that weakened enemies that triggered them.

Perhaps I’m going a little overboard with the explosions, but I have resources to burn, and it’s simply too much fun! I still want to check out that spot with the crazy ambient Mana from the mass detonation.

Then, it finally happened. While practicing with Vee, she suddenly seized up and froze, clearly deep in thought.

“Syl! I think I just got a usable spell!” Vee exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Although it has a horrible name!”

“As long as it’s not ‘create: dimension sword,’ I think I’m okay with any name,” I teased, a playful smirk on my face.

“It’s called [Pocket Space], and if I understand correctly, it lets me store something in my Mana pool!” Vee answered.

“Not the worst name…” I mumbled. “It sounds similar to my own storage trait. Definitely useful then!”

We did not want to risk an unknown spell on something irreplaceable or valuable, so we selected a simple chair as Vee’s spell target. When Vee began casting the spell, I couldn’t help but notice similarities between it and the storage enchantment I had thoroughly memorized and practiced.

With a magical poof, the chair was swallowed into a purplish void and vanished from a spot. Vee squeed with excitement, and I couldn’t help but join in on the celebrations. Then Vee began casting the spell again, almost in reverse, and falling out of the purplish void was our missing chair, except falling a short distance to clatter across the ground.

“Oops… I misjudged how it would come out,” Vee said sheepishly.

“Who cares? That was really good! I bet that spell will be perfect for training your [Dimension Magic] levels!” I said excitedly.

We dedicated a significant amount of time to trial and error with the spell, determined to understand its full potential.

I was beginning to wonder if it was just better than my [Core Storage] in every way imaginable when Vee made a discovery.

“Okay… So it looks like stuff stored in the spell is using up my Mana capacity,” Vee informed me.

“What do you mean using up your Mana capacity?” I asked in confusion. “Like it’s lowering your maximum permanently?”

Vee shook her head. “Only while something is stored… Like it’s reserving the Mana.”

“That’s not too bad if it’s recovered as soon as you withdraw it,” I replied.

“I just wish I could understand the values…” Vee sighed. “I thought it might be based on weight or size, but if anything, storing one of my rings was far more taxing than storing the entire bed and dining table, chairs included!”

“Oh.!” I exclaimed, snapping my fingers in realization. “That’s the dimensional weight thing! Probably…”

“So the ring has more dimensional weight… because it’s magical?” Vee pondered.

“I think so,” I replied with a nod. “But it shouldn’t matter too much if you simply maintain growing your Mana capacity,”

“Yeah… I’m working on leveling up that [Mana Well] trait so then I can combine it into [Soul Mastery] like you suggested,” Vee replied.

“I’m jealous you will get to have [Soul Mastery] and [Body Mastery]…” I grumbled.

“Well, I’m jealous you can’t be stabbed!” Vee countered. “I think that’s way better than being able to combine a few traits…”

“True… Not having squishy vital organs and blood is definitely a boon,” I admitted. “Although your evolution seems to have resolved some of that giant weakness.”

“Yup!” Vee agreed. “I’m certainly glad most of my organs are safe and sound inside my personal organ dimension, or whatever it is.”

“Pocket organs? Pocket viscera? Pocket innards?” I started making name suggestions.

“Please stop…” Vee grumbled.

I giggled. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

Vee just shook her head.

“Actually… this spell is probably a great way to train any traits related to Mana’s capacity and regeneration,” I pointed out. “Having such a convenient high-usage spell on demand is perfect for leveling. My big ones are extremely flashy, not for indoor usage at all.”

“Right! I just need something with plenty of dimensional weight,” Vee replied.

In the interest of experimentation, I pulled out Kappa and placed it on the table.

“Try storing this? It’s probably extremely dimensionally heavy if I had to guess…” I offered.

Vee nodded and tried casting the spell, but it failed entirely.

“Too heavy?” I questioned.

“No… I don’t think that was it… Maybe there’s another restriction?” Vee suggested.

I nodded and we tried a few other things, but everything else was storable as far as we could see. While we were racking our brains trying to come up with the reason, I picked up something with [Tremor Sense]. Launching a tendril at the hole, I grabbed a tiny rat that had made its home in the walls.

“Try storing this?” I asked.

Vee nodded and attempted. The spell failed.

“Hey, that was the same way it failed on that slime core!” Vee replied excitedly. “So it doesn’t work on living things, I guess?”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” I agreed.

So my [Sub-Cores] technically count as living… What about separated slime?

I filled a canteen with ultra-dense and rich [Mana Slime] and placed it on the table for Vee. She began casting the spell and then started straining a bit, having to enhance the spell with additional Mana before the canteen finally vanished.

“Holy crap! What the hell was inside that!?” Vee questioned with shock.

“Just some slime…” I answered.

“Just some slime…” Vee replied back sarcastically. “I think that single canteen is reserving like an entire third of my Mana pool!”

I grinned and gave Vee a thumbs-up. “Sounds perfect for training, then! You can keep that and use it for practice.”

Vee grumbled a bit but eventually nodded in agreement. It really was the ideal training item for this situation.

With Vee occupied, I focused a bit more on my own efforts. I had the [Fireflies] spell begging to be pulled apart. I grabbed all of my [Sub-Cores], aligned myself to Fire, and began breaking down the spell into its components.

My first success was the splitting component, which caused a single-spell projectile to become evenly distributed among multiple projectiles. I rapidly began placing it into my other projectile spells and making a variant of each of them. [Multi-Icicle], [Multi-Waterjet], and so forth.

I caught Vee staring in amazement a few times and let her watch. I even made sure to slow down when crafting the [Multi-Acid Dart] and make it much more manageable to observe. It wasn’t often that Vee became so willing to learn and observe magic, so I had to capitalize on the chance.

Besides food, we barely left our room after visiting the merchants and must have lost track of time entirely. One day, Lukhek himself came knocking on our door.

“Err… I hope I’m not disturbing?” Lukhek asked curiously. “From what the innkeeper told me, it sounded almost like you were in some kind of secluded meditation for the last two days…”

“Oh… No, nothing like that, just some spell construction…” I answered relatively honestly.

“I swear if the Mage Guild ever finds you, they might instantly make you one of their head positions!” Lukhek joked, followed by a hearty chuckle.

If they don’t get upset that I apparently know their secret casting method… Sounds like Mage Guild training still can’t beat Trixie’s bootcamp!

“So, any news on the assassin situation?” I asked curiously.

“It looks like your gut feeling was right; Tamnaeth is clean,” Lukhek replied. “He not only had a full alibi, but he was actually shockingly enraged to find out that you were attacked. You’d swear you were his sister or something…”

“No relation…” I waved it off.

Lukhek nodded before continuing. “Anyway, he actually wanted you to stay at the embassy, saying that he didn’t trust our security would be enough until the root cause was found.”

“I don’t think I could handle being effectively placed under house arrest…” I answered. “While I appreciate the gesture, I like my freedom.”

“Aww… but Syl, think of the food we might get there!” Vee mentally protested.

“Good! Cause I turned the bloody bastard down!” Lukhek said with a grin. “How dare he insult our dwarven defenders! I even put some extra guards around the inn, just in case.”

“Thanks for being so thorough,” I replied.

“Of course! Like I said, we protect our own,” Lukhek answered. “Still, at least he’s also doing an investigation, and from what my eyes and ears have told me, he’s either the best actor in the world, or he’s being honest. From what they overheard, he mentioned something about a rival branch.”

Lukhek shrugged, clearly not understanding what that meant.

I had no firm idea either, so I couldn’t judge. Was a branch a family, an organization, or perhaps a nobility? There were too many possibilities.

“Also, Kaldrour Flintheart is looking for you; asked to set up a meeting tomorrow afternoon if you’re free?” Lukhek asked.

“Yes! Thank you,” I replied immediately.

Is it finally slime core time? I hoped.

After warning me to stay vigilant, Lukhek left shortly afterward. I began continuing my spellwork for some time after when there was another knock at the door.

A bit annoyed at the constant disturbance, I wandered over to the door to open it.

“Syl!” a shrill voice screamed with joy.

I was momentarily shocked when the tiny winged pixie bolted over and hugged my face.

“Trixie?” I mumbled.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out!” Trixie giggled. “I missed you! I was stuck in so much politics and nonsense; it was ridiculous! They actually blamed me for being absent for so long? Like, hello? You could have sent someone to save me!”

“Whoa… Calm down a bit…” I said, not expecting to be on the receiving end of so much unbridled energy.

“Wow, your Mana is even more ridiculous! I’m totally hooked!” Trixie exclaimed, making exaggerated sniffing noises.

Gesturing the tiny creature into the room, I closed the door behind us so we could have some more privacy.

“I missed you too… I was worried you weren’t going to come. Also, I have a friend to introduce to you,” I said and gestured toward Vee, sitting in her webbed-up corner.

“You made friends with a spider?” Trixie questioned.

“Not just any spider… She’s like me,” I replied in a hushed whisper.

“She’s a slime?” Trixie asked, instantly switching to telepathic communication. Again, she proved her superiority with this ability by giving me no chance to even agree to the connection.

“No, she’s actually a spider… Just she’s also part of the whole [Experiment] thing…” I replied. “She can’t talk aloud, so I’ve been using telepathy to talk to her.”

Trixie nodded. “Great, I’ll add her to the conversation then…”

I was expecting to hear Vee’s mental voice, but instead, I saw Trixie frowning, almost glaring directly at me.

“What. Is. That?” Trixie demanded, pointing at me.

“What is what?” I asked curiously.

Trixie fluttered to my head and slapped her hand against my hat, causing it to flip up and fall unceremoniously to the floor.

“What is that!?” Trixie said, pointing to the hat.

Before I could answer, Trixie fluttered up and sat on my head. She took a moment to settle down before letting out a sigh of relief.

“Ah… much better…” Trixie muttered.

Was Trixie upset with the hat’s Fey origin or simply upset that it had taken her favorite sitting spot? I could sense a ton of confusion coming from my bond with Vee, and it looked like there would be a lot of explaining to do.

Chapter forty-seven

Pixie Chaos

“Is there something wrong with that hat?” I asked Trixie.

“Other than taking up my favorite sitting spot?” Trixie replied with a sigh.

“I did get it from a Cat Sith…” I admitted. “The dungeon spawned it, and the hat, or crown, has been attached to me ever since…”

“Oh!” Trixie gasped with surprise.

Trixie left her favorite seat, fluttered down, and repeatedly poked the hat rather aggressively.

“Nope. Looks fine to me, although I think it tricks people into thinking you always had the hat?” Trixie replied.

“How? Is it messing with their memories?” I asked.

Trixie giggled and shook her head. “Nothing as absurd as that; it’s sort of like a perception filter. It’s pretty harmless, nothing to worry your slimy little head about.”

“Can it… do anything?” I questioned. “Something beneficial for me.”

“Well, it can transform into other hats,” Trixie pointed out as if that were obvious.

“No… I knew that. I meant, does it have any other benefits?” I asked.

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” Trixie teased mischievously.

She hummed and smiled as she poked the hat a few more times. She scratched her chin, licked her fingers, then shrugged.

“At the moment, no. It might once it grows a bit,” Trixie answered.

“It can grow? Should I be concerned?”

“Hardly! You should be celebrating!” Trixie replied. “I’m sure people would kill for a magic item with potential.”

“Okay… any idea what it could develop then?” I asked again. “And how is it growing?”

“No idea, and from some of your leaking Mana. Just what a growing hat needs to grow big and strong!” Trixie giggled.

“Of course…” I sighed. “Anyway, with that out of the way, let me introduce you to my friend Vee.”

I gestured toward the spider, who was staring at the pixie with great hesitation.

“Nice to meet you, Vee! I’m Trixie the pixie!” Trixie said with a twirl.

“Oh hell, what a stupidly ironic name…” Vee replied.

“You’re telepathically connected…” I informed her.

“What!? But I didn’t even agree, what the hell?” Vee cried out.

“Yeah… Trixie can do that; she’s a master of telepathy…” I warned.

“Oh balls… that sucks…” Vee grumbled.

Trixie, on the other hand, giggled. “What an interesting friend you’ve found.”

“She won’t force us to dance evermore, right?” Vee hesitantly asked.

“What?” Both me and Trixie asked in unison.

“Okay… guess that’s not a thing…” Vee muttered embarrassedly.

“I dare say she’s even jumpier than you were…” Trixie commented. “Although, she hasn’t tried to explode the room yet.”

“You were exploding rooms back then, too?” Vee questioned.

“No, that was different. It was more like a burst or pop than an explosion. I couldn’t detonate back then,” I tried explaining.

“You can detonate now?” Trixie asked with worry.

“Oh yeah, I’ve eaten an orange slime!” I answered excitedly.

“Gods… what has been unleashed upon the world…” Trixie grumbled.

“If you think that’s bad, she became a giant worm and exploded!” Vee exclaimed. “Took out an entire underground kobold area! I thought the mountain was going to come crashing down!”

“It wasn’t that bad… I held back a little,” I downplayed.

“That was holding back?” Vee questioned.

Trixie giggled. “Sounds like I’ve missed out on quite a lot of fun. So, are you just relaxing here in Dwarfville, or do you have plans?”

“Well, I’ve been trying to tutor Vee with some magic, and I even have a quest to do so,” I replied.

“And I got a quest to visit the beach!” Vee added enthusiastically.

“Magic tutoring is good. Has she broken through her Mana aura yet?” Trixie asked.

“Not yet, unfortunately…” I admitted.

“Did you try the rock method?” Trixie questioned.

“Oh bloody hell, not the stupid rock method!” Vee complained.

“It’s how all spirits are taught, and it worked with Syl here,” Trixie said with a gesture toward me.

“It really works!” I confirmed.

“Saying it worked with Syl is hardly a fair comparison,” Vee complained. “I’m just a spider, not a magical slime prodigy!”

“A teleporting, size-altering, dimensional spider…” I corrected.

“Ooooh! Now that sounds fun!” Trixie giggled. “You monsters are absolutely fascinating; it almost makes me upset that I’m a spirit.”

“Well, if you ignore the people killing us part for thinking we will go evolution crazy,” I added, a hint of dread in my voice.

“And you’re absolutely sure that won’t happen to us?” Vee questioned. “No offense, but I’ve seen the way you look at slime cores…”

“It’s no different to how you look at a plate of cooked food!” I teased back.

“Okay!” Trixie said, clapping her hands. “I can confirm that if Syl was evolution crazy, she would’ve tried eating both of us in this room.”

“Well, she did mention eating me…” Vee grumbled.

“That was once! And only in the case of your untimely death!” I countered. “I just spent a fortune on magic rings to prevent that!”

“True…” Vee said before giggling. “I’m only teasing a little.”

“Hey, what’s a few nibbles between friends?” Trixie said. “Syl definitely tried to eat me a few times. It’s a good thing she couldn’t touch me, or I’d be in trouble.”

I grinned mischievously, transforming my finger into a slimy solution of lead-silver and giving Trixie a poke. “I can touch you now.”

Trixie visibly shivered, and I even caught the briefest moment when her happy face dropped to one of slight panic.

“Oh gods… that’s slightly terrifying…” Trixie whispered. “Remember, I’m on team, Syl? Your old pal Trixie! Taught you magic! Got you a super rare class! How’s that Air affinity treating you?”

I burst out laughing at the exaggerated panic coming from the pixie. “Only teasing… And it’s been good, although you didn’t tell me how long it would take!”

“What? It’s only a few class levels before you unlocked deriving elements?” Trixie asked, dumbfounded.

“Only a few levels…” I grumbled. “I was paying off a level debt for so long… I only very recently got it.”

“Well, I couldn’t exactly predict that!” Trixie said, waving her hands energetically. “I’ve never even heard of a level debt before!”

“Good thing there’s no loan sharks, or they might have broken your legs!” Vee joked.

“Why would sharks break Syl’s legs?” Trixie asked.

“I technically don’t even have legs,” I added.

“Boo! You two are no fun!” Vee complained.

After a few more playful pokes and giggles together, we began catching up. We started by discussing how Vee and I met, then gave a brief overview of Vee’s origins, and then rounded it off with what I’d been up to since I last saw Trixie.

Trixie was hanging on to every word and genuinely looked like she’d wished she had been there. When it came time for the pixie to reciprocate, she tried to brush it off.

When both Vee and I pressed on, she started blabbering.

“Oh, you know… I went and saw the family; most of them were still around. The fairy queen took a break, but the replacement was so disastrous that she was forced to return.

They also tried having a fairy king for a bit, but then it turns out he was actually a gnome in disguise! They should have known he was too round to be a fairy, but everyone was too scared to call the king fat! Talk about embarrassing!

Anyway, like I said, they all suck! They blamed me for getting caught! Said I could have escaped sooner if I really put in some effort. I’d like to see those rainbow-bedazzled assholes try to escape from a prison of lead-silver!”

Vee and I were left speechless by such a deluge of words.

“Um… well… did Syl mention the elf assassin?” Vee blurted out.

“What? An assassin coming after my friend?” Trixie asked, outraged.

“Well, he’s dead now…” I shrugged. “I think he was after who I look like.”

“Oh,” Trixie replied deadpan, her anger deflating. “That makes sense. It would be pretty weird for a random elf to attack you unless someone discovered you were actually a monster…”

“I don’t think anyone has discovered it…” I replied. “I’ve been careful, and the assassin was certainly surprised to learn the truth.”

“Yeah, especially considering you’re a slime. Most would probably think you’re a doppelganger or some kind of demon,” Trixie said.

“Good to know I’m not the only one who found Syl being a slime was unbelievable,” Vee teased.

“I swear I’m tempted to reveal the truth just to try to repair the reputation of slimes…” I grumbled.

“I think you’d just damage it further; you’re far away from a normal slime,” Trixie giggled.

“I think anyone in this [Experiment] is far from normal… I wonder if any of the others have been revealed,” I mused.

“Beats me, I’ve certainly heard nothing, and you’d think strange new powerful monsters appearing would be on the rumor mill.” Trixie shrugged. “The fairy queen and the dwarf king certainly didn’t mention anything.”

“You talked with the dwarf king?” Vee questioned.

“Yup, he’s a decent fellow; I delivered a letter from the fairy queen as an excuse to teleport here. Saved me a lot of flying with that clever maneuver!” Trixie said smugly. “But enough about me and people wearing silly hats, tell me about being a dimensional spider? You must have all sorts of cool threads, right?”

“I… do…” Vee replied hesitantly.

“Trixie likes to knit,” I quickly added. “She had me create a bunch of spider silk when she learned I could shapeshift.”

“Oh nice, like the Weaver class I took?” Vee asked.

“Oh dang, you replaced me with a better model… I’m wondering if I should start feeling jealous!” Trixie pouted.

“I wouldn’t call myself exactly a knitter…” Vee said dismissively. “I mostly want to see if it lets me make better webs, traps, or maybe some protective wraps?”

“Mind showing me what you’re working with?” Trixie asked.

Vee looked toward me, and I gave her a reassuring nod.

I felt Vee ease up a little from our bond, and she spun a small amount of [Rift Thread]. I noted she appeared to be braiding it somewhat, although I still found it almost impossible to see and look at. She presented it rather proudly.

“What the hell is that?” Trixie asked, pointing toward the otherwordly creation and looking as if she’d seen a ghost.

“[Rift Thread]!” Vee said proudly.

“That’s terrifying!” Trixie replied with a shudder. “How are you even touching it safely? That stuff is like… a void of nothingness.”

“Yeah, it was not fun to be on the receiving end of it,” I replied. “The fact it’s so hard to detect is what annoys me.”

“You’d probably need a special sense… or to be able to see how it removed all the essence in the area it occupies,” Trixie mumbled.

“Hey, that’s how I spotted it!” I replied happily.

“Stop disassembling my secret weapon like that…” Vee grumbled.

“Hey, don’t worry, your secret weapon is safe with us,” I reassured her.

“Yeah… I think any other spirit would laugh at me if I told them I’d seen a spider who could weave threads of effectively anti-essence,” Trixie added. “It’s almost as unbelievable as a walking, talking slime.”

“So, what are your plans?” I asked Trixie, trying to move away from the slime-teasing subject.

“Honestly, I was hoping to just follow you around a bit and see what chaos happens around you. You really caused a lot of turmoil with that floating island,” Trixie answered.

“More chaos than what happened with the kobolds?” Vee questioned.

Trixie looked toward me expectantly.

“No…” I replied. “The worst I did on that floating island was freeze a lake; the explosion over there turned all the essence rather chaotic.”

“Oooh! Chaotic essence?” Trixie said excitedly, then snapped back and looked at me questioningly. “Wait, since when could you see essence?”

“After I ate an ant princess,” I answered.

“Oh… that explains it,” Trixie nodded.

“That doesn’t explain anything!?” Vee replied.

“Ants lay their eggs where there is optimal essence flow,” Trixie responded, then she turned toward me with a shit-eating grin. “Does that mean you got another egg-laying trait?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about…” I attempted to dodge the question.

Trixie was about to say something when Vee spoke first.

“Please, no talk of egg-laying; it reminds me of the awful Broodmother evolution option I have,” Vee begged.

“Agreed! No talk of eggs!” I immediately added.

Trixie giggled but nodded. “I think we should definitely investigate the chaotic essence area.”

“I’ll add it to the list,” I agreed. “I also wanted to see what monsters it might spawn.”

“Although we must be extra careful if there’s another assassin…” Vee said cautiously.

“Ha! I’d love to see an assassin try to sneak up on me!” Trixie gloated.

We made quite a powerhouse team with the three of us, and I actually hoped another assassin might confront us.

Chapter forty-eight

Three Gluttons

We chatted longer and discussed what we should do in the coming days. My biggest concern was talking with Flintheart to see what slime cores he had wrangled up for me.

Vee only had food on her mind but was otherwise willing to go along for anything. I wondered if Trixie would have better luck teaching her the rock method than me.

Will I still get my discount if I tag in Trixie to help? I hope so…

Trixie wanted to see the chaotic essence we had mentioned but wanted to hang around me otherwise. I got the vague impression she was probably shirking some of her duties, but I didn’t mind having the extra company.

The topic of investigating the silver slime operation also came up, and to my surprise, Trixie seemed very excited about that idea.

“We can sneak in! I’ll have a perfect chance to show off my talents and shine!” Trixie said happily.

“What’s your specialty?” Vee asked.

“S-e-c-r-e-t!” Trixie teased.

“Illusions…” I answered.

“Noooo!” Trixie groaned in an overdramatic fashion. “Why ruin the surprise, Syl?”

“I just think if we’re going into potentially risky situations, we should know what to rely on,” I answered.

“You’re probably just bitter that you couldn’t see through them when we first met!” Trixie said, sticking out her tongue.

“Maybe…” I admitted. “Although the Cat Sith we ran into had some utterly terrifying illusions. They basically could hurt you if they hit you. Imagine my surprise when a sword hit my slime hand, and it actually hurt me!”

“Oh yeah, anything like that is nasty… Real illusions are not fun,” Trixie giggled mischievously.

“Real… illusions?” Vee groaned, sounding extremely upset. “Talk about an oxymoron… That’s so stupid…”

“It’s magic,” I replied with a shrug.

“Yup. Magic,” Trixie agreed.

“Stupid magic…” Vee grumbled.

“Careful, or I might get another quest to slap you,” I teased.

“You have got to tell me about that one!” Trixie begged.

Vee groaned, and I made a mental note to buy her something nice to eat as an apology.

We continued having a rather fun evening together, chatting about nonsense before having a good dinner and then trying to give Vee a bit of Trixie’s magic bootcamp. Unfortunately, Vee still refused to acknowledge the power of the rock method.

“I see you’ve brought a friend…” Kaldrour said, looking relatively surprised by Trixie sitting on my head.

I relegated my magical hat to a fashionable hair clip to accommodate Trixie retaining her favorite sitting spot. Now that Trixie had mentioned it would eventually grow, I wanted to keep it on me as much as possible.

Seriously, what new ability could it acquire? I hope it will protect me from mind control; that would be the best outcome. It’s funny that Vee was also worried about brainworms. I wonder if that’s a reoccurring fear among us [Experiments].

“Trixie, meet my friend and business partner, Kaldrour Flintheart. Kaldrour, meet my old friend and adventuring buddy, Trixie the pixie,” I introduced the two.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Trixie said courteously.

“Aye. Good to meet you. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that our mutual friend even has ties to the spiritfolk,” Kaldrour said with a small bow.

“Indeed, Syl here seems to make a habit of making some powerful or influential friends.” Trixie giggled.

Vee also gave a little wave, to which Kaldrour waved back.

Trixie offered to connect Vee to our conversation, but to my surprise, she opted not to.

“I’d rather they not discover I’m a fully thinking, talking spider…” Vee said nervously. “Like… I know they’ve been lenient with the whole elf-bonded companion thing, but I get the feeling they might react a bit differently otherwise.”

I hated to admit it was possible. Who knew how they would react. It was one of the biggest reasons I hesitated to tell anyone else. Plus, I had to admit that a small part of me feared letting Vee talk to others. What if she told them my secret? It was probably just a dose of my usual neuroticism and paranoia, but still…

“So, have you managed to find my slime cores?” I asked eagerly.

“Indeed!” Kaldrour said excitedly. “I scoured the markets, buying anything and everything I could find.”

I was bubbling with excitement as Kaldrour began placing various objects on the table. A scepter, a caged device, and another strange magical item. All of them had a juicy slime core housed within them. I wanted to drool. Another cracked silver core was also carefully added to the collection.

“This is amazing!” I replied joyously.

“Whoa… those are some strong emotions coming from you…” Vee commented. “Like I’m feeling almost secondhand giddiness, if that were even possible.”

“And this isn’t even the best part!” Kaldrour said happily.

I gulped in anticipation.

Something better? What could it be?

With a confident grin, he reached into a bag and pulled out something resembling a fishbowl. Inside was a tiny, glowing violet slime.

<Slime (Violet) [I] LV 1. Elemental Affinity: None.>

I immediately stood up and slapped my hands against the table. Trixie almost fell off my head.

Kaldrour chuckled happily. “Good to see it had the intended effect!”

“I can’t believe you managed to find one!” I replied happily.

“Aye, they are rare buggers ’cause they die so often,” Kaldrour admitted. “I managed to buy it off a buddy who wanted to give it to his nephew. They make good but very expensive pets. Hopefully, this one lives longer with you than it would with that boy.”

I hid my embarrassment behind a chuckle. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see this violet slime living very long. I wanted its core!

I was so grateful for all the supplies that I immediately pulled out another small chunk of obsidianite and placed it on the table. Trixie stared at it with confusion, while Kaldrour seemed to be almost a mirror of my previous excitement.

“I see you’ve been holding back a little extra for a rainy-day fund,” Kaldrour asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Or, in this case, a reward for an exceptionally well-done job!” I answered honestly.

“Bloody beards, I should quit my job and become a slime core trader in that case!” Kaldrour laughed uproariously.

“I had no idea you were so flush with cash…” Trixie whispered.

“I’ve had some very successful hunts,” I answered. “Adventuring pays absurdly well.”

“Not to discourage you, but I don’t think the average adventurers earn anywhere close to what you’ve been doing,” Kaldrour pointed out. “Although, keep up the good job! You could buy yourself a dwarven nobility if you wanted!”

“Ew, don’t become a noble!” Trixie teased. “Way too stuffy… no offense.”

“Ha!” Kaldrour slapped the table. “None taken. It’s definitely got its ups and downs. I could certainly do without the long meetings, but the food and drinks are always good! Not to mention some of the perks and privileges.”

“I guess…” Trixie shrugged. “I prefer being a free agent.”

Kaldrour shrugged back, clearly not really wanting to argue with a pixie.

“So what’s this about an assassin coming after you?” Kaldrour asked. “I hope it’s not over the help you did with regaining my orichalcum mine.”

I reluctantly took my eyes off the violet slime tempting me and shook my head. “No. It’s elf politics, I believe. The assassin wanted to take something off me as well.”

Kaldrour looked somewhat relieved. “No offense, but I’m glad it’s not a mess I dragged you into. Although I believe Lukhek and Tamnaeth are looking into it?”

“So I’ve heard… although I’m thinking of leaving sometime soon, so I might miss the next assassin…” I attempted some dark humor.

“Oh? Back to the human lands? Or back to the Grove?” Kaldrour questioned before quickly adding. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is…”

“I got an invitation to Keld, and Vee wants to see the ocean,” I replied.

“Oh, Keld! I’ve heard good things about Keld; the golems coming out of that place are masterpieces,” Kaldrour said excitedly. “If you do go, please drop the Flintheart name. I’d love to do business with them!”

“Sure, I don’t mind,” I answered.

Kaldrour looked over the moon. My stint as Sylvester had taught me there were some big profits in the golem industry, especially the enchanting variety, as Greg and Thern had bemoaned. It looked like Kaldrour was very eager to break into the golem industry and expand his profits.

We chatted a bit longer before he eventually left for his next meeting. I stared hungrily at all the objects on the table.

“Wow. Talk about clever: using merchants and adventuring to get yourself more cores!” Trixie said mentally, establishing a link between the three of us immediately.

“It’s very unfair if you ask me!” Vee whined a little jokingly. “Syl is basically paying to win!”

“It’s not like I use money for anything else…” I said. “Beyond your snacks and ring collection.”

“Well, if you’re throwing money around, I’d love a new dress or something…” Trixie said without a hint of shame.

“Sure… after I do some eating myself…” I answered.

“I think we could ask Syl anything right now and get an agreement,” Vee teased.

“Definitely got slime cores on the brain.” Trixie giggled.

“If you were a slime, you’d understand. Nothing else even comes close!” I defended myself.

Trixie pointed to the tiny violet slime in the fishbowl. “Are you really going to eat that cutie?”

“Yes,” I replied with zero hesitation. “I think it might give me Light affinity. Or, at the very least, give me the ability to glow.”

“Poor little guy… Doomed to be eaten by the big mean elf slime,” Vee teased.

Trixie looked like she wanted to tease, but to my surprise, she held back. “Gaining the Light affinity would be good… Your collection of delicious Mana would be even better!”

“Wow… we really are all gluttons, aren’t we?” Vee commented.

“At least you’re admitting to being in the glutton club…” I teased.

“I’m kind of forced to… I earned a trait called [Overeating] last night…” Vee admitted with some horror in her tone.

“I’m genuinely surprised Syl hasn’t earned that trait!” Trixie replied.

“Is it because I don’t technically eat?” I pondered. “I don’t even have a stomach.”

“The trait mentions increasing stamina regeneration based on how full your belly is… so, probably?” Vee somewhat agreed.

Vee did show me the trait, and I was met with an error incompatible with my race. It was slightly annoying, but it’s not like I needed to regenerate stamina.

“Well, time to eat!” I said excitedly as I lifted the scepter with the red slime core.

“Seems like a real waste of a magic item, don’t you think—” Trixie tried to say as I stuffed the scepter inside of me.

<Slime (Red) Core absorbed. Trait [Blaze Slime] gained. Trait [Slime Burst] gained.>

<Existing Trait [Blaze Slime LV 6] improved to [Blaze Slime LV 7].>

<Trait [Slime Burst] integrated into [Nitro Slime LV 7].>

Oh! Any slimes that had [Slime Burst] will help me toward my next level of [Nitro Slime]! Very nice!

“And she ate it… just like that…” Trixie sighed.

“I got a new level in [Blaze Slime] for that!” I said excitedly as I reached for the white core.

“Wait, that one is actually useful!” Trixie whined. “Do you know how expensive refrigerator enchantments are?”

“A little. I can make them after all,” I replied before gulping down the device.

Trixie’s protest fell on deaf ears.

<Slime (White) Core absorbed. Trait [Cryo Slime] gained. Trait [Slime Shot] gained.>

<Existing Trait [Cryo Slime LV 7] improved to [Cryo Slime LV 8].>

<Existing Trait [Slime Shot LV 7] improved to [Slime Shot LV 8].>

“What did that one get you?” Vee asked curiously.

“A level in [Cryo Slime] and [Slime Shot]!” I said happily.

“I was joking, but this really is pay to win!” Vee protested.

I nodded as I reached for the odd device; it looked like someone’s science experiment had gone wrong. The yellow core was wrapped in copper wires, and a strange black substance coated what looked like handles.

I looked toward Trixie, almost expecting her to protest again

“I don’t know what that is, so go ahead and eat it.” Trixie shrugged.

“It sorta looks like a battery…” Vee muttered right as I plopped it down the slimy gullet.

<Slime (Yellow) Core absorbed. Trait [Voltaic Slime] gained. Trait [Slime Density] gained.>

<Existing Trait [Voltaic Slime LV 6] improved to [Voltaic Slime LV 7].>

<Trait [Slime Density] integrated into [Morph Slime LV 8].>

“And it’s gone…” Vee grumbled.

“Yeah, but well worth it!” Trixie added. “You should have seen what the first yellow slime gave, Syl! So many sparks! Crackle pew!”

“You ate a yellow core and got lightning powers?” Vee asked.

“Yeah, it was a trait called [Voltaic Slime] and Lightning affinity, which let me buy [Lightning Magic],” I explained.

“I think I see why they made an entire economy out of them,” Vee replied.

“Only a few are harvested for their actual slime…” I pointed out. “The cores being magic catalysts is sort of a happy coincidence. It’s a pity I can’t get my hands on a purple or green slime core.”

“You just had a slime core buffet and want more?” Trixie teased.

I stuck out my tongue before popping the silver core in my mouth.

<Slime (Silver) Core absorbed. Trait [Metal Slime] gained. Trait [Shape Slime] gained.>

<Existing Trait [Metal Slime LV 7] improved to [Metal Slime LV 8].>

<Trait [Shape Slime] integrated into [Morph Slime LV 8].>

I thought for sure I would have finally gained a level in [Morph Slime]… But I guess since it’s a fused trait, it’s much harder to level up? A real pity…

And then my gaze fell upon the violet slime jiggling in its glass container.

Chapter forty-nine

Luminous

“Poor little guy… He watched you eat the corpses of his cousins in front of him, and now you’re going to eat him, too!” Trixie teased.

“I don’t think slimes have any kinship; right when I was first reborn, I watched one blue slime eat another,” I pointed out.

“And now you are going to perpetuate the cycle! How tragic!” Trixie continued her overly dramatic theatrics.

“Oh please… after both of you have so routinely teased me about how dumb slimes are, I bet that violet slime doesn’t even know where it is.” I shook my head.

“Syl’s got a point there,” Vee responded. “This violet slime would probably walk straight into lava!”

After unsealing the glass fishbowl-like container, I upended it to free the violet slime. It jiggled when it landed on the table before slowly crawling around.

“Look! It’s absolutely terrified of Syl! It wants freedom!” Trixie teased.

I snorted, pulled out a tiny piece of food from my [Core Storage], and placed it in front of me. Almost immediately, the violet slime started heading toward it.

“Absolutely terrified…” I repeated deadpan.

“Don’t go toward the evil elf slime, Wiggles! It’s a trap!” Trixie exclaimed.

“Wiggles?” Vee replied.

“What else would you name a slime?” Trixie shrugged.

“Wiggles” was now before me, slowly snacking on the tiny piece of meat in my fingers. I stared hungrily at the lapis blue core floating in the violet slime.

“It’s literally eating out of the hand of its predator… I don’t even know what to say,” Vee chuckled.

“Goodbye, Wiggles…” Trixie feigned crying. “You were too dumb for this cruel world.”

I grumbled and considered caging the mouthy pixie in some lead-silver. I formed a tiny [Pseudopod] from my fingertips and fired it out like a needle lance, piercing the lapis blue core and instantly dragging it in.

<Compatible core detected. Integrate new core at a penalty?>

Yes.

<Slime (Violet) Core absorbed. Trait [Luminous Slime] gained.>

<[Luminous Slime]

This slime can produce a bioluminescent glow, even in absolute darkness. The color of the glow relates to the coloring of the slime mass.

Compatible with other slime traits. This trait has no levels.>

“Well… that’s severely underwhelming,” I complained after reading the trait.

Seeing and sensing my two companions’ confusion, I shared the description to show them both. Vee shrugged and called it a boring trait while Trixie howled with laughter.

“I mean… what did you expect?” Trixie choked out between giggle fits. “It’s literally known as a pet that glows in the dark…”

“Yeah, yeah…” I waved off the snickering pixie.

Meanwhile, I dug through my profiles for the alicorn and began looking for my real goal.

<Skill [Light Magic LV 1] obtained. Skill Points remaining: 17.>

Yes! I was so excited. Then, the next line rained on my parade.

<[Light Magic LV 1] spell [Lantern] learned.>

“Really…” I whined.

Trixie once again burst into laughter, leaning so far backward that she did an accidental backflip as she floated through the air.

“What? What’s so funny?” Vee questioned.

I sighed and cast the new spell I had just learned rather than explaining. It formed a tiny little floating ball of light that illuminated the room.

“Oh… that’s kinda pretty,” Vee commented. “Although, don’t we all have [Darkvision]?”

Trixie snickered.

“Yes. I think Trixie knew what the first spell I would get was.” I sighed. “Hopefully, I get a good spell sooner or later. I saw some rather impressive [Light Magic] when I fought unicorns and an alicorn.”

“Hey, at least it’s better than my first two levels of [Dimension Magic]!” Vee tried to say reassuringly.

“Right…” I responded. “Damn, when I get [Dimension Magic], I’m going to have to get through those early levels as well!”

“Assuming you don’t MacGyver some weird spell and breeze through the levels,” Vee added.

“What?” Trixie and I asked in unison, the former barely recovering from her laughter.

“You know, you always make custom spells and whatnot,” Vee explained.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that being called MacGyver?” Trixie said curiously.

“Oh… it’s like making something out of nothing but scraps,” Vee explained. “I feel like Syl could probably brute-force something useful out of those concepts.”

“Oh… okay, I like that meaning!” Trixie replied happily. “MacGyver? MacGyver… MacGyver!”

“You could also use jerry-rig…” Vee replied. “It sorta means the same thing.”

“Oh, that one sounds familiar.” I nodded. “But yeah… I’ll definitely be doing a lot of trial and error as soon as I get [Dimension Magic].”

To illustrate my point, I began hastily and forcibly constructing a projectile version of [Lantern]. Once completed, I harmlessly threw the glowing spell toward Trixie. It shone dazzlingly before harmlessly crashing into the pixie and disappearing.

“See!” Vee exclaimed. “My point exactly!”

“Yeah, but shooting a glorified glowing ball of light is hardly what I’d call a good spell,” I sighed.

“Tasty, though!” Trixie said, licking her lips.

“Wha?” Vee was startled.

“It’s a bit complicated, but Trixie eats Mana…” I answered.

“Only tasty Mana, though! Syl’s is the best!” Trixie replied, giving a big thumbs-up.

“Okay, so we fed Syl. What’s next?” Vee asked, trying to change the subject.

“It’s too early to do our espionage…” Trixie mumbled. “Should we do some shopping on Syl’s wallet?”

“Either that or go explore the chaotic essence,” I replied.

“Tough choice!” Trixie complained, genuinely struggling to decide which idea she liked more.

“Just don’t forget there might be another assassin waiting for you outside…” Vee warned.

I’d almost say that makes going outside more tempting,” I answered honestly. “That last one gave me a lot of experience.”

“I suppose…” Vee agreed reluctantly.

“Onward to adventure then!” Trixie cheered before fluttering to her usual resting spot and thrusting a fist forward.

I shrugged, and we started heading toward the gate. To our surprise, while I wasn’t denied exit, some of the guards warned me against doing so. When I pressed that I wanted to go out to explore and do some monster hunting, they reluctantly agreed to let me pass before warning me to be vigilant and careful.

“Wow, they’re really giving you the VIP treatment,” Trixie noted.

“They didn’t previously.” I sighed. “I really think we should consider leaving this place soon.”

“Not going to stick around till you get more silver cores?” Vee questioned.

“Frankly, I think I got more than I ever expected. My [Metal Slime] trait is almost at the level cap!” I replied happily.

“You’ve really been eating a lot then!” Trixie exclaimed. “What’s the next slime on your target list?”

Recalling the shopping list Gramps had given me, I mumbled and pondered a bit. “I’d really like to get a pink slime to heal others, like Vee, but I think that might be impossible…”

“Aww… thanks!” Vee blushed.

“Oof… yeah, even if you have abundant wealth, that might be impossible unless you’re also politically powerful,” Trixie replied. “You’d probably be better off trying to raid a random labyrinth dungeon until you get lucky.”

“Adding labyrinth dungeon to our to-do list then.” I chuckled.

“Before or after the beach?” Vee questioned.

“Depends on if we find one between us and the beach, I suppose.” I shrugged.

“Other than that, black slime looked really powerful!” I energetically replied. “There was the brown slime, but I think we’d need to go visit the elves to get one of those.”

“The fertilizer slimes!” Trixie snickered. “Would that give you Nature affinity?”

“It’s my best guess,” I answered.

“Hmm…” Trixie mumbled as she scratched her head. “I could probably try to arrange a trip to the elves.”

“Is that wise? It was the elves who sent an assassin after all,” Vee asked.

“I guess I’d need to take on a different persona then… It seems this one has some history.” I sighed. I’d grown oddly attached to this form, being my oldest disguise.

“Boo!” Trixie whined. “You’re so cute like this, though.”

“It’s better than being stabbed in the back,” Vee commented.

“I’m sure it didn’t even hurt one bit,” Trixie replied dismissively.

“True…” I mumbled. “I’ve also set up a bit of a contingency the next time someone decides to get stabby with me.

“That sounds delightfully cheeky; what did you do?” Trixie asked curiously.

“My fake blood will be primed [Nitro Slime], so then I can detonate their blade and hopefully disarm them or even take them out!” I grinned.

“That’s diabolical!” Trixie giggled mischievously. “Almost as good as the time you seduced the alicorn!”

“What…?” Vee cried. “Actually, no, don’t tell me! After imagining the dragon worm, I already have enough images that need bleaching.”

“Worm?” Trixie repeated.

“I can turn into a worm now, and it’s compatible with one of my dragon heritage traits,” I answered.

“You can turn into a worm?” Trixie didn’t seem impressed, so she snapped fingers when she realized it. “Oh! The giant mineral-eating ones, yeah, that makes more sense!”

We continued our three-way mental conversation as we headed toward the fungal cavern. Vee and I had grown somewhat familiar with the location, but this was apparently Trixie’s first time seeing the environment.

“Wow! So much glowing fungus!” Trixie exclaimed as she pointed to every little strange plant or thing.

As we headed toward the last known location of the tunnel I had dug out, Trixie suddenly tensed up.

“Whoa… what the heck has happened here?”

Vee looked around confusedly. “I don’t see anything?”

Borrowing a better level of [Essence Sight], I looked around and immediately saw what had caused Trixie such an extreme reaction. The natural essence flow was anything but natural; it was warped beyond recognition, and I struggled to make out what elements had been mixed into this hodgepodge of essence stew.

<Proficiency gained. [Essence Sight LV 4] improved to [Essence Sight LV 5].>

Oh nice, I got my level! I can fuse them now.

But we heard a strange guttural growling before I could investigate that thought. We all stared down the hole and toward the source, a bizarre and dreadful amalgamation of creature parts and elements.

<Failed to identify.>

“Well, that’s peculiar…” I muttered when my skill failed.

The creature wasn’t moving toward us; if anything, it sounded like it was in agony as it continued to moan and occasionally lash out against the wall.

“What exactly did you do to this area?” Trixie asked.

I rapidly created a spell orb and showed it to Trixie.

“That’s new,” Trixie replied before examining it further. “I don’t see how this would have caused it, though.”

Before explaining, I quickly infused it with a spell, showing that it could store a spell. “I made a bunch of these and detonated all of them.”

“I’d say hundreds, but that might be an overestimate,” Vee added.

“Oh…” Trixie seemed to have made the realization. “And you killed a bunch of kobolds, too.”

“An entire fortress,” Vee explained again.

“Right. So lots of unresolved essences.” Trixie pondered. “I suppose we are relatively far away from the dungeon… Or perhaps it didn’t want to regulate it due to the nature of all the elements mixing in. It’s very unnatural for this area to be so flooded with ice and lightning, not to mention corrosion.”

“Why’s that an issue?” Vee asked.

Trixie pointed to the strange creature. “You wouldn’t expect an octopus to spawn in a desert or a yeti in a volcano, right? It’s pretty much the same principle. But it all had to go somewhere, and it threw them together into… that.”

That was a certainly apt description of the strange creature. If I wasn’t looking straight at it, I would’ve sworn it was both wet and on fire simultaneously. Not to mention melting, yet clearly solid, and occasionally cracking with lightning.

Vee nervously chuckled. “I guess we should be thankful you haven’t got [Dimension Magic] yet…”

Trixie gasped, “Oh wow. That could have been bad! I’d highly suggest not exploding anything with Dimensional Mana!”

I sighed. “I wasn’t planning on that… Besides, as Vee pointed out, what would they even do? Set coordinates?”

Trixie giggled almost maniacally before responding, “Unstable rips in reality that portal you into nonexistence would be my guess.”

Is that where the original Kappa went? I couldn’t help but wonder.

“Anyway… I’d suggest killing them. I reckon you’d be doing them and the world a favor,” Trixie said.

“Do you think they’re safe to eat?” I asked.

“Eww…” Vee gagged. “Count me out. I’ve grown accustomed to eating proper food!”

“That goes double for me!” Trixie quickly added. “I don’t want to be anywhere near those bloated essence bubbles when they pop!”

Oh well… more for me.

Chapter fifty

Essence Sludge

“I’d avoid using any magic that made them…” Trixie suggested.

“That’s… all my magic!” I complained.

“Well, not Light!” Vee corrected.

“Great, I’ll flashlight them to death!”

“You know what a flashlight is, yet look at me like I’m talking crazy half the time!” Vee whined.

“What? Flashlights exist… They’re pretty common adventuring tools,” I answered.

Vee grumbled very loudly at that comment.

“I guess I could use [Rift Thread] to attack them,” Vee sighed. “Or, if you didn’t use Corrosion, I could have used that…”

“It’s not like I could have predicted strange sludge monsters to be created from a few bombs,” I defended myself. “You could try making an attack spell with your new spell.”

“Wouldn’t that just potentially put them in my storage?” Vee questioned. “I’d rather not let the strange amalgam monster into my secret Mana storage.”

Trixie nodded. “I agree with the little spider. No telling what storing something like that would do to your Mana.”

I sighed, “Fine. I’ll just go all slime monster on it.”

“Good luck!” Trixie said before hopping off my head.

I began casting my debuffs, only to watch none of them apply to the monster. Worse, it seemed casting them had triggered the monster to wake up, as it suddenly jumped up and looked directly toward us.

“I did say no magic!” Trixie teased.

I grumbled and began readying myself. The monster was barreling toward us.

“Want me to try [Rift Thread]?” Vee asked.

I shook my head. “Let me have a go at it first.”

Not wanting to get my armor dirty with whatever the creature was, I deposited all my gear and began shapeshifting into a somewhat blobby form myself while sprouting all my [Pseudopods].

I had thought of going into my blueblin form, but I wanted some more mass between my cores and this creature.

“All this time, and you turn into a big jellyfish?” Trixie asked, sounding disappointed.

I ignored the mouthy pixie and began surging forward with my tendrils to grab hold or strike the creature. At the tip of each tendril, I fashioned various weapons or monstrous armaments and reinforced them with [Metal Slime]. I had gained a new level, and so I’d successfully unlocked the ability to copy the properties of adamantine perfectly.

That caused Trixie to shut up, and she whistled as if impressed.

When my tendrils touched the creature, there was an almost caustic reaction. It was definitely harmful to the touch, but I seemed relatively immune, thanks to my plethora of resistances from my various slime traits and multiple reinforcements.

The amalgam let out an alien roar, and a surge of elemental energy exploded off it. It was undoubtedly a wave of all the elements I had used in my bombs. Of everything, the lightning would have been the most threatening, but it was easily within the capability of my [Voltaic Slime] to store.

My tendrils began slicing or bashing into the creature while others tried to grab hold and lift it up while trying to pull it apart. Attempting to catch the monster seemed impossible as its substance was almost slime-like, and bits would just give way.

One of its limbs tried grabbing my tendril and pulling me toward it. Rather than allowing such a thing to occur, I decided to cut off the limb and give it to the creature. But not before priming it with [Nitro Slime].

“Oh no, you’ve been disarmed!” Trixie teased.

I chuckled before triggering the detonation. Vee sighed, perhaps growing weary of my constant explosions, while Trixie was flabbergasted. The creature itself was none too pleased. It had lost parts of its form and began thrashing about.

I continued assaulting it with a swarm of weaponized tendrils, but no matter how much I beat on the amalgam, it wasn’t dying. I’d also tried to dissolve some of it with [Acid Slime], and to my horror, it seemed I couldn’t dissolve it.

Trying to use [Life Sight] revealed nothing as if it wasn’t alive in the first place. With no other ideas, I kept trying to beat it into submission. Hopefully, when it stopped moving, it would be dead. I just kept bashing, cutting, and occasionally exploding on the creature.

“Uh… are you going to kill it?” Vee asked curiously.

I sighed. “I’m trying, aren’t I?”

“It doesn’t seem to want to stay dead…” Trixie mumbled.

“I’m open to suggestions?” I said impatiently.

I wasn’t exactly struggling, but this was undoubtedly growing on my nerves. I even tried throwing a spell at it on occasion, but that only seemed to renew it.

“Oh… is it eating the essence to keep living?” Trixie suggested. “I guess it will die eventually when the essence runs out.”

“That could take ages!” I complained.

“Take turns or something? I don’t know…” Trixie sighed.

“Sure… might as well tag me in,” Vee replied. “Gives me a chance to see if weaving these threads makes any difference!”

Using all my tendrils, I punched into the creature, sending it hurtling into the cave wall before retracting everything and retreating. Vee took the opportunity to [Blink] to my spot and pulled out countless strands of [Rift Thread].

“Whoa, where’d she get so much of it from?” Trixie asked.

I noticed Vee was casting [Pocket Space], and it explained where she was keeping her ample supply.

“Doesn’t it weigh a lot?” I couldn’t help but ask.

Vee giggled before answering, “Hah! Compared to that canteen of slime you gave me, this is trivial. It weighs practically nothing at all!”

Vee began weaving a boundary around the creature, like a giant cage of the deadly thread.

“Why’s Vee calling you fat?” Trixie asked.

I sighed before responding, “I’m dimensionally heavy, apparently.”

Trixie hummed before asking her next question. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Good in the sense that someone can’t teleport me without a hefty cost,” I answered.

Trixie nodded and added, “But it’s bad if a friend tries to teleport you.”

“Pretty much,” I agreed. “Other than Vee, I can’t see it happening too often. If I use the city teleport platforms again, I can just offer to pay the Mana cost myself.”

When the creature finally reconstituted itself enough, it aggressively lunged toward Vee. It clearly couldn’t sense the trap waiting for it and rapidly began losing chunks of itself to the reality-slicing threads. Despite losing large portions of itself, it kept going forward.

“Oh! I think that’s working!” Trixie said excitedly. “Unlike when you were smashing it and exploding it, Vee is actually just outright removing some of it from existence.”

“So a big enough weave of the thread would just remove it outright?” I suggested.

Trixie vibrated nervously at that comment. “Yeah, as terrifying as that sounds, it should work. Like a giant flyswatter of anti-essence.”

“Okay… giant flyswatter… I think I can make that?” Vee replied.

What next was a Vee frantically trying to weave between [Blinks]. She would weave a portion and vanish when the creature got within range. When it escaped the web, Vee would teleport in, and when it reentered, Vee would poof out.

It was gradually wearing down the creature, and even without Vee completing the weave of interlocking threads, it would no doubt eventually succumb to its own mindless drive.

Vee eventually had a small blanket-sized portion of weaved [Rift Thread]. She tied the ends of the blanket to other threads before manipulating it on some sort of pully-like system, causing the blanket to spread out to its full area.

“Oh gods, that is horrible…” Trixie mumbled. “I do not like that one bit; it’s like looking directly into nothingness.”

Even I had to admit it was uncomfortable. What were usually hard-to-spot tripwires of infinite-cutting potential were now woven together into a death blanket.

Pulling on the strings of her impromptu creation, she sent it gliding and engulfed the strange creature. There was no roar, no wail, or anything. Where once there was a creature, there was now nothing.

<??? defeated. Experience gained.>

“I did it!” Vee said excitedly before clumsily trying to recollect the terrifying blanket.

“That wouldn’t work on you, would it?” I asked with a gulp.

“It sort of would,” Trixie answered, albeit reluctantly. “Unlike that creature, I’m very affirmed in my existence. It would hurt and deal a lot of damage, but I wouldn’t be removed with a swipe. Likewise, I don’t think it would kill you in a single hit.”

“Good to know…” I answered. “Cause it cut through my slime like butter.”

“Actually, I think you’re much safer than me in that regard,” Trixie explained. “What made the individual threads so dangerous is their almost infinitely small surface area, so it could cut you basically no matter what. Woven together like that, I don’t think it can cut you.”

To both our relief, Vee stored it away using [Pocket Space] and began cleaning up what threads she could. Splintered threads seemed to fade away after a short time, so it wasn’t like leaving them behind would cause any random wanderers some harm.

“Okay, I love this spell,” Vee said happily. “I can keep so much stuff ready for battle. Preparation time has always been my biggest issue; now, with [Pocket Space], I can use my downtime to my advantage!”

I nodded. “I sort of do the same with my [Core Storage]. I keep ready-made slime, and lately, I’ve been keeping constructs out of [Metal Slime] and [Nitro Slime].”

“Well, I’m certainly feeling left out,” Trixie pouted. “I barely have pockets, and the ones I do have could fit a few grains of rice.”

“What would you even keep?” I asked.

“Stuff…” Trixie grumbled.

“Stuff…” Vee repeated.

“Stuff…” I joined in on the teasing.

The pixie seemed very offended and disappeared in a huff. Vee and I couldn’t help but laugh at its absurdity.

“Should we see if there are any more?” Vee suggested.

I shrugged. “Might as well.”

We started heading down the tunnel toward the impact site of my giant detonation. [Essence Sight] informed me the area was better but still greatly disturbed, and we spotted a few more lumbering hulks.

Oh, I should fuse the traits!

<Would you like to Fuse: [Mana Conception LV 6], [Life Sight LV 5], [Essence Sight LV 5]?

Becomes Trait: [Soul Sight LV 8].

This will cost 1 Trait Point.>

Yes!

<Fused Trait [Soul Sight LV 8] obtained. 15 Trait Points remaining.>

I had expected the new sight to just be the three combined into one, but it somehow seemed more than that. I tried examining Vee and using the new trait to determine her life, Mana, and essence.

Since I was relatively useless against the monsters unless we wanted to keep them restrained, I let Vee continue to fight them while I tried to adjust to the new vision or at least regain my previous levels of sight.

I’m in trouble if I can’t use [Mana Conception]. If I can’t tell what’s Mana or essence, how am I supposed to construct my spells?

I sat on a nearby rock and began casting familiar spells I had previously constructed together. I started feeling uneasy as I went through my more intimately familiar spells, which were not as I remembered them looking.

When I looked at a specific section of a spell I knew housed a particular concept or element, instead of their normal appearance, they were almost corroded by extra information that I couldn’t decipher.

It’s almost like someone has spilled paint over my favorite book or piece of art. I know what’s under the paint but can’t see it.

Driven by curiosity and concern, I tried ordering my [Sub-Cores] to do some basic spell procedures. I had a new element to work with, so I told them to create a debuff for it.

Remarkably, my little helpers seemed to have no issue following my order. I watched as their many invisible hands created a spell I had only a vague understanding of.

This works… But I kind of hate it, I liked making the spells myself…

Eventually, they stopped, and I stared at the foreign spell construct floating before me. I had no idea if it would work or not, so I cast it at one of the black blob monsters Vee had yet to engage with.

<Spell [Illuminated] discovered.>

I guess that’s the light debuff? I wondered, right as another notification popped up.

<Proficiency gained. [Light Magic LV 1] improved to [Light Magic LV 2].>

<[Light Magic LV 2] spell [Flash] learned.>

And it’s not an attack spell… Great. This makes a flash of blinding light; I reckon that could have some uses…

I hoped I wouldn’t have to wait too long for that laser spell. If the unicorns had it, then hopefully, it would be within the next level or two. I couldn’t see those buffoons having too high a level in the magic.

Chapter fifty-one

Tea Slime

“What you doing?” Trixie asked me curiously. “I thought you’d be playing with new toys, but you seem to be rehashing some old ones.”

“I fused [Soul Sight]… I’m having some issues differentiating the components that made it up,” I explained.

“Oh… yeesh, that’s not good,” Trixie looked concerned.

“That bad?”

Trixie shrugged. “It depends; knowing you, you’ll figure it out in no time or cheat and find another way around it.”

“I guess I could try using my [Sub-Cores]; they seem to have no issue doing what I used to,” I mumbled.

“You’ve also picked probably the worst spot to try this in,” Trixie pointed out. “There’s so much essence, not to mention all the chaos and random elements being so haphazardly mixed together. Ideally, you’d be in an almost essence-less area, or at least with good control. As a pretty awesome spirit, if I do say so myself, I’d offer to help you, but I don’t really want to touch any of this essence.”

“Controlled essence… so, a dungeon?” I asked.

Trixie snapped her fingers. “That could work!”

“Guess we can return to our old training ground with the rock elementals once Vee cleans up here. I still need to train Vee some more, so I’ll get my discount, so it’s probably a good idea.”

“I can’t help with Dimension or Corrosion stuff.” Trixie sighed. “At best, I could offer some emotional support with the rock method.”

“It probably doesn’t help that she’s trying to do it with [Acid Dart] either,” I suggested. “I at least got to try it with [Water Magic], but Vee’s only options are [Dimension Magic] and [Corrosion Magic].”

Trixie nodded. “Probably, but don’t look so glum! We’ll put that spider through the magic boot camp!”

“Please, no boot camp…” Vee replied, sounding partially annoyed. “You left me to fight all the monsters while you two sat around having a tea party?”

Trixie giggled. “If this is a tea party, it’s the worst one I’ve ever attended. Where’s the scones?”

“We don’t even have tea…” I shrugged. “The best I could offer you is some alcoholic slime.”

“Why do you have alcoholic slime?” Vee asked.

Trixie seemed very amused by this change in topic. “Are you trying to mix things and see what happens? Or were you attempting to get yourself drunk?”

“It’s one of my traits,” I answered.

“They made a trait for alcohol slimes? The dwarves would love you,” Trixie teased.

“No, it’s from my [Poison Slime] trait,” I corrected.

“Oh… that kinda makes sense,” Vee spoke up.

“How does that make any sense?” Trixie asked.

“In terms of biology… I think the body treats alcohol as if it were a poison. It’s why they call it intoxicated,” Vee answered.

“Is that true?” Trixie asked me.

I shrugged. “Beats me. Vee’s either right or confidently incorrect. But it does fall under my [Poison Slime] trait.”

“Coffee would fall under it, too, I think,” Vee added.

Trixie made a dry, heaving noise. “Bleh, coffee? Why would anyone drink that horrid stuff… Don’t you dare make my delicious slime taste like coffee!”

“Well, it’s the caffeine part specifically that I’m talking about,” Vee mentioned. “If alcohol counts, then caffeine probably does too.”

“Great! I’ll have to get my tendrils on it and try it out. Hopefully, it adds to the trait,” I replied happily.

Trixie shook her head. “Too risky. Don’t do it, Syl!”

“You know… tea has caffeine in it, too,” Vee pointed out.

Trixie gasped. “Tea-flavored slime? Hmm… Maybe that’s worth the risk.”

“I’m morbidly curious to see what a pixie hopped up on caffeine would do…” Vee said with a giggle. “She’ll probably be bouncing off the walls!”

“We’ll add it to the list!” I replied. “But magic training must come first! And my regaining proper control over this new trait.”

“Boo, that’s not fun,” Vee whined.

“We’ll have plenty of time to eat and drink afterward,” I offered. “But I still need to qualify for that discount so I can start working on [Dimension Magic] with you.”

“You just gained [Light Magic],” Vee countered. “Isn’t that enough?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure [Light Magic] will get good eventually, but this advanced magic is sitting right before me!” I argued.

Trixie giggled. “Well, you’ll need to have sorted out your [Soul Sight] before then! Also, good job, Vee. The area is looking much cleaner with those abominations taken care of.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Vee shrugged it off. “At least it gave decent experience. Not to mention trying out a new use for my [Rift Thread].”

I looked over my own gains. Thanks to [Bonded Companion], I received quite a haul from Vee’s accomplishments. I felt a little dirty taking from her spoils, but we were considered as always in a party now.

I could argue that my [Sub-Cores] would have defended her if she was in danger. I still haven’t rescinded that shield order and don’t plan to.

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 11>

<16 Trait Points are now available.>

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 15.>

<19 Skill Points are now available.>

<Your class has revealed the following skill: [Magical Overcharge].>

<[Magical Overcharge]

Allows the user to greatly overcharge spells, increasing their potency at the cost of additional Mana and subsequent Mana burn proportional to the intended boost.

Further skill levels not only increase the maximum boost but also provide better efficiency in the Mana to potency conversion and small mitigation of the resulting backlash.>

Huh? This seems practical, but I’m skeptical about the Mana-burn part. I’d be directly damaging myself when, otherwise, I don’t often actually take any real damage. I wonder if it’s possible to gain resistance to Mana burn? Maybe if I use this enough times, I will gain it. Although I’m not looking forward to willingly hurting myself again.

<Skill [Magical Overcharge LV 1] obtained. Skill Points remaining 18.>

We spent some time chatting and looking around to see if any of the strange black sludge abominations had spawned, but only a few had. Trixie even gave it a more thorough examination and informed us that the area was self-regulating.

We then started heading back, only taking minor detours for Trixie to sample a few of the glowing mushrooms. Vee had cautioned her about eating strange plants, but Trixie claimed spirits couldn’t get poisoned. Vee was rather unhappy to hear about that, especially when I mentioned I was also immune.

“I can’t believe you’re making me jealous of not being born a slime…” Vee grumbled.

“It definitely has a lot of plus sides…” Trixie agreed. “I think it’s usually offset by their complete lack of intelligence.”

“I mean, you’re both seeing me now, but things weren’t always this great,” I admitted. “You’re forgetting the part where I was literally manhandled by a child. I struggled to fight boars and wolves.”

“Yeah, a poorly balanced start, but big potential payoffs,” Vee agreed.

To our surprise, we reached the city again without any issue. I was almost sure that we would have been attacked. Vee brought up that perhaps they were afraid of Trixie, but the pixie burst out into laughter.

“I keep myself hidden most of the time, only selectively letting people see me,” she explained. “If someone unwanted could see me, then I think we’d have a much bigger problem on our hands than whatever this assassination plot is.”

I had no idea how the pixie’s confidence in her invisibility measured up to her actual proficiency, but I had no reason to doubt her at this stage. Either way, if someone did attack, I had another ally on my side.

We grabbed an early dinner and headed straight to the dungeon. I was not pleased about my current situation with not being able to use the individual components of [Soul Sight] and wanted it resolved immediately.

I’d offered for Trixie and Vee to do their own thing, but they tagged along. Vee was happy after a good meal, and Trixie was curious to see Vee trying to learn and see if I could work my way out of the predicament. She also clearly loved any excess Mana I happened to be leaking.

When we approached the dungeon, the guards halted us and specifically singled out Trixie. I wondered if there was some issue, but it turns out they just requested that she not mess with any of the dungeon’s essence.

“I thought you were invisible?” Vee asked.

Trixie scoffed. “Well, outside I am. It’s a bit rude to do it inside cities; they might think I’m some scoundrel or ne’er-do-well.”

Meanwhile, I had a bigger question. “I didn’t think a spirit would be capable of overpowering a Dungeon Master’s control over the essence.”

“Maybe in a particular room, but I couldn’t do much with it,” Trixie explained. “At best, I could siphon a little and feed on it. I wouldn’t be able to force something to spawn or anything like that. I’d basically just be robbing the poor dungeon.”

“Guess my dream of a pink slime is still a ways off…” I sighed.

“I’m sure you’ll conquer a labyrinth dungeon in no time and be feasting on the poor pink core in no time,” Trixie said reassuringly.

When we reached our training room, the rock elemental spawner, I asked Trixie, “So, do you think I could manage in this room?”

Trixie nodded and gave a big thumbs-up, “This room is great! It’s very, very boring, but great! I’ve never seen such a strangely orderly flow of essence before.”

“I guess the dwarves really did beat the dungeon into submission…” Vee chuckled nervously. “I’m sort of glad I’m no longer their enemy.”

“Oh yeah, you do not want to do that,” Trixie immediately agreed. “Never underestimate the stubbornness of a dwarf. There’s a story about a party of dwarves who died killing a dragon.”

“Died killing a dragon?” Vee repeated. “How the heck does that work?”

“Wait for me to finish!” Trixie pouted. “Anyway, they were apparently being chowed down on; the dragon was big enough to chomp them in one bite. And the legend goes that in their sheer stubbornness, they worked together to cause the dragon to choke to death!”

“Ahh! The attack them from the inside strategy!” I replied excitedly.

Trixie shrugged. “More like making the best of a bad situation.”

“Yeesh… I don’t think I could be that persistent in going down fighting; I think I’d just accept my fate at that point,” Vee admitted.

“Attacking from the inside works great, though,” I replied. “Early on, I used it to defeat quite a few foes. I had a gigatoad swallow me so I could attack it from the inside out!”

“Ew…” Vee whined.

“With your shrinking and teleporting, attacking from the inside would probably work great!” I added.

“No thank you!” Vee rejected the idea.

“Teleporting out would probably work,” Trixie said, rubbing her chin. “But you can’t teleport inside someone.”

“Why not?” Vee asked.

“Mana aura?” I replied in question.

“Bingo!” Trixie said. “Same reason you can’t spawn a [Fireball] inside someone’s stomach.”

“I think I’d rather spawn a [Ball Lightning]… Or [Caustic Cloud]!”

Trixie shuddered. “That is absolutely horrific! And the exact reason why you can’t do it! Probably!”

“Damn, I really need to learn this stupid Mana aura thing…” Vee grumbled.

“It’s certainly useful. Just imagine what you could do with [Pocket Space],” I pointed out.

“Yeah… I know, but I’m not feeling very much like the rock,” Vee whined.

“Good thing I’m here! I have a hundred percent success rate!” Trixie said excitedly.

“Oh? That’s actually pretty reassuring,” Vee responded positively. “How many students?”

Trixie pointed toward me. “One!”

Vee groaned. “I should have seen that coming…”

Trixie burst into laughter until Vee threatened her with the [Rift Thread] flyswatter. We talked it over and decided to leave the training for now with Trixie while I focused on familiarizing myself with [Soul Sight].

“Once you work it out, you’ll probably wonder how you ever functioned without it,” Trixie said, hoping the alluring taunt would work on me.

And she was definitely right; such a tantalizing prospect greatly appealed to me, and I wanted to see what it had in store for me. I activated [Soul Sight] and tried differentiating between essence, life, and Mana.

I spent what felt like hours staring at various aspects of it. Casting a spell, holding a spell, staring at Vee or Trixie directly, and even slowly beating an elemental to death, hoping to see what its lifeforce depleting looked like. I soon realized afterward that an elemental was probably not the ideal target for this study, being mainly composed of what I assumed was Mana and essence.

Maybe I’m going about this the wrong way… Perhaps it isn’t actually individual concepts but more like parts of a bigger whole? I can’t differentiate between them because there’s nothing to differentiate? All three forces make up the so-called soul?

I paused to think about it some more.

No… That can’t be right. My spell doesn’t have lifeforce, but it should have a blend of Mana and essence. Huh… maybe?

So I began getting lost in trial and error, ignorant of whatever training Taskmaster Trixie was putting Vee through.

Chapter fifty-two

Looking for Trouble

“Ugh… I think I’m so close…” Vee whined. “I just hate that absolute feeling of dread right at the end. It’s like multiple alarm bells all going off at once.”

I nodded sympathetically. “It was pretty bad. I absolutely hated it.”

“Come on, it’s not that bad… At least from what I can remember.” Trixie shrugged.

“I wouldn’t trust your memory. You’re, how old exactly?” Vee questioned.

“Old. From what I could tell, she spent at least a hundred years in a cage,” I replied.

“Hey!” Trixie cried out. “Don’t go revealing a lady’s age!”

“You never cared about it before…” I pointed out.

While Trixie grumbled her complaints, Vee and I continued our banter.

“So, how’s your training going? Better than mine, I hope,” Vee asked.

It had been rather fruitful, much to my relief. Effectively, I had at least regained my previous usage of [Mana Conception] and could filter it out from lifeforce and essence. I’d basically been overloaded with new information and needed to learn how to break it down.

It certainly didn’t help that I’d gained extra levels higher than my original [Mana Conception], which also threw me for a loop. There were more details in the concepts baked into my spells that I’d previously been unable to comprehend. So, I was dealing with a combination of foreign and new information.

Now, I just needed to regain my functionality with [Life Sight] and [Essence Sight], and then I could start looking into the benefits of using this combined approach. At least in terms of magic, I knew that having essence would no doubt help isolate singular affinities.

I explained my results to Vee, and while most of it seemed to go over her head, she still congratulated me. Since I’d at least made my goal, we decided to retire for the evening, much to her relief as she was utterly exhausted.

The next day, I decided to introduce Trixie to Thern and his family, and to my surprise, Thessa was actually present. She looked far thinner than I recalled, no doubt absolutely locked away with her new toys to play with. I also had that habit, so I couldn’t exactly fault her for the behavior.

All around, it was rather pleasant. Thessa met Vee for the first time, which was humorous as she hadn’t believed Thern and Darmod when they’d told her I’d tamed a powerful spider monster.

As for Trixie, it was mixed results. Darmod was interested in seeing if the pixie knew anyone he could open potential trade agreements with, while Thessa was oddly cautious around her. Thern, on the other hand, requested some pixie dust, to which Trixie was more than happy to do a little dance over a bottle for him to collect some.

“Enchanting ingredients!” Thern said boisterously.

I quizzed him a bit on the uses, and it could effectively be added to some of the lesser materials to boost its Mana conductivity. Even a sprinkle added to some silver solution would boost it to gold, if not better. At this point, I could produce orichalcum on demand, so I couldn’t really see a use for it myself.

Not to mention, thanks to my latest slime upgrades, I could now make adamantine and mithril. I had wondered if mithril would have replaced Orichalcum, but it seemed the latter still stood out in terms of pure Mana conductivity. However, mithril was far lighter and more durable, and blades utilizing it were unnaturally sharp.

Adamantine was the complete opposite. Dense, heavy, extremely resistant, and almost reluctant to receive enchantments and the like. I’d certainly use it if I ever fought against a spellcaster, and I created a circular casing to protect my cores.

Who needs armor when I can just make casings!

I’d need to test which was better in the long run: an enchanted mithril case or one made from adamantine.

Or better yet, maybe once I reach the max level or uncapped [Metal Slime], perhaps I can mix the two. I need so many points to uncap things! I need that discount, Mother!

There was also obsidianite to consider, and I wondered how that would change things. Seeing Thern’s new enchanting tool and Thessa’s new hammer made of the stuff was extremely impressive. All three dwarves tried to convince me to have some more stuff made out of the material for myself, hoping to lower the outstanding amount from my share of the wealth.

Quite frankly, I didn’t really care about it and tried to wave it off, but it seemed the dwarves weren’t happy about being “in debt” with me. Even though I’d repeatedly said, I don’t see it that way. I’d even offered the condition that if they ever came across a slime core, they could hold it for me in reserve or something.

When Trixie mentioned wanting some rather fancy clothes, Darmod jumped on the opportunity. This caused Vee to mention rings, which I brought up for her. The relief on his face made me wonder what sort of turmoil he was going through. I’d just asked for slime cores; surely they weren’t that hard to come by?

Then again… with how fragile they can be, I guess it could be challenging. How many adventurers actually try to kill them without damaging the core or are even capable of doing it? Maybe I’m literally monopolizing the entire market here. Just call me Syl, the Slime Core Baron. Hehe…

After leaving Darmod with a shopping list for my two friends, Thern and Thessa with a crafting order, and a wonderful meal, we returned to our inn.

“So, when are we going to do the slime farm raid?” Trixie asked curiously.

“Uh… I thought we might need to do some research and prepare,” I answered. “Also, I don’t think we’re raiding them; we’re just observing. As much as I want some more silver cores, I don’t exactly want to kill their prized slimes.”

Vee gasped. “Who are you, and what have you done with Syl?”

“Ha, ha… very funny…” I droned sarcastically. “If they somehow trace it back to me, I’d rather not have an entire nation after me.”

“Good point!” Vee quickly agreed. “I’d certainly not want to be caught in the guilty by association part.”

“You might accidentally cause a diplomatic incident between the elves and dwarves,” Trixie pointed out. “Which would be hilarious, by the way.”

“Oh no! Don’t go starting race wars! Bad pixie!” Vee scolded.

“No wars… just a bit of mischief,” Trixie winked.

“Maybe this is a bad idea…” I admitted.

“Agreed, I feel like it would be a very Fey thing to cause us to be caught!” Vee warned.

Trixie pouted. “I wouldn’t do that! Can’t you two take a joke?”

“Only if it’s a good one,” Vee replied.

Trixie gaped and went speechless.

“Too far, Vee…” I said. “Sorry, Trixie, you’re plenty funny.”

Trixie, while sulking, patted my head. “You’re the only one who understands me, Syl…”

Vee sighed. “Drama queen…”

“Maybe a little,” Trixie admitted.

“Okay… so, if we do do this, what’s our plan?” I asked.

“Do we even know where this place is?” Vee questioned.

“Yeah, it’s in the industrial sector, obviously,” Trixie replied.

“What makes you so sure?” I asked.

“Well, no doubt it would be near the forges. Surely you’d want to keep your slimes near where the metal is made?” Trixie explained.

Vee nodded in agreement. “Sounds reasonable.”

“Okay… so look around the industrial sector near the forges,” I said.

“I could probably sniff out where there’s a lot of Earth essence, which is probably where the slimes are kept,” Trixie added.

“What are you, part bloodhound now?” Vee asked.

“Haha, nope! But I might as well be, woof!” Trixie teased.

Vee groaned. “I regret saying anything…”

“Moving on…” I interjected, hoping to change the subject. “We find the location and hopefully sneak in?”

“I can shrink more,” Vee said. “Should help with getting in anywhere sneakily.”

“As long as it’s not bigger than my cores, I can probably get in anywhere,” I added. “I could always melt a bigger gap, but I’d rather avoid leaving any trace behind.”

“I’m already small,” Trixie added. “And I can make us pretty much invisible.”

“I really don’t like the term ‘pretty much invisible.’ Can you not be more specific?” Vee asked with concern.

“Barring someone with the incredibly rare racial trait [Truesight] or an absurd level in [Illusion Resistance], we will be covered,” Trixie said with a frown.

“Wow. That sounds like an awesome trait,” I commented. “I don’t suppose you have it to show me?”

Trixie shook her head. “It’s extremely rare. I’m really not joking. Like I think only mythical monsters have it.”

“Mythical monsters?” I asked eagerly.

Trixie sighed. “Of course you’d be interested in that. Stuff like phoenixes, dragons, gorgons, the biggest of baddest monsters.”

“Sounds dangerous,” Vee commented.

“Sounds delicious.” I chuckled.

“Of course, you’d want to try to eat a dragon.” Trixie sighed. “You don’t mess with dragons, silly.”

“It’d go very well with the tasty worm I ate,” I joked.

“Yeah, until you take a face full of dragon fire…” Trixie pointed out. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I’m almost fireproof!” I replied.

“I think you need way more than ten levels to be immune to dragon fire…” Trixie mumbled.

“Count me out then! If you want to fight a dragon, I’ll teleport to safety!” Vee informed me.

“I mean… Not now, but eventually. It’s something to aspire to!” I countered.

“I aspire to live a long life with lots of food,” Vee responded. “Preferably with me on the eating end and not the eaten.”

Trixie giggled. “Sorry, Syl. It looks like you’ll have to become a solo dragon slayer.”

I shrugged. “More experience for me, I suppose.”

“I think you’re forgetting [Bonded Companion],” Vee joked.

“Wait… no… that seems unfair!” I complained. “I take a risk to take on some colossal dragon and have to share my spoils…”

“I was only kidding…” Vee admitted.

“It probably has a range limit…” Trixie mused. “It would be strange for your [Bonded Companion] sitting at home a continent away to get experience from you.”

“Oh, wow, imagine that! I could be sitting at a cafe and gaining experience!” Vee said excitedly. “Is this my version of Syl’s pay-to-win with slime cores?”

“There’s a big flaw in your master lazy plan,” I grumbled.

“You won’t let me do it?” Vee asked.

“I don’t think a cafe would let you in without Syl,” Trixie explained before I could.

“Oh… right, the whole spider monster thing…” Vee sighed. “Do you think I could get a shapeshifting evolution?”

“I can’t say I’ve ever heard of one… Maybe something illusion-based?” Trixie offered.

I hummed in thought at the potential idea. “Seems risky; imagine someone bumping into you, and they go right through you instead.”

“Very true, that’s how I got captured,” Trixie divulged. “I thought I was flawless, but Mister Gloomy noticed things passing through me. He kept it a secret until he revealed his trap.”

“I think I see where Syl gets that reckless streak from,” Vee quipped.

“Hey…” I objected.

“Nope! Syl was like that way before meeting me; I’m innocent.” Trixie grinned.

“Hardly…” I opposed.

Vee nodded. “Pixies and Fey are never innocent; that’s what all the stories say.”

“Slander!” Trixie snapped. “Who wrote these books? I’ll pull some strings and get them taken care of.”

Vee chuckled nervously. “Good luck with that… It’s stuff from my scrambled past life.”

Trixie clicked her tongue in annoyance. “That certainly complicates things…”

“Uh… can we get back to the silver slime farm espionage?” I spoke up. “We’ve gone on quite the tangent.”

“True… well, we needed to kill time anyway.” Trixie shrugged. “Even if this place doesn’t have a true night, being underground and all, people still follow sleep schedules. We definitely want to strike under the cover of darkness!”

“More like the cover of a magically illuminated city…” Vee corrected.

“Only a mild inconvenience if we put our heads together!” Trixie said triumphantly.

This is either going to go super well… or end in disaster… Either way, it should be fun.

Name: Syl [Nature’s Bane]

Race: Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) LV 11

Class: Elementalist LV 15

Status: Healthy

Mana: Overflowing

Emblems:

[Experiment]

[Apex Hunter]

[Elven Legacy]

[Dungeoneer]

[Nature’s Bane]*

[Manhunter]

Traits:

Slime:

[Mana Slime LV 13]

[Acid Slime LV 7]

[Poison Slime LV 7]

[Blaze Slime LV 7]

[Cryo Slime LV 8]

[Voltaic Slime LV 7]

[Nitro Slime LV 7]

[Metal Slime LV 8]

[Luminous Slime]

[Morph Slime LV 8]

[Pseudopod LV 7]

[Slime Shot LV 8]

[Vaporize Slime]

Core:

[Core Collective LV 8]

[Core Storage LV 6]

[Sub-Core Alpha LV 6] [Sub-Core Beta LV 6]

[Sub-Core Gamma LV 6] [Sub-Core Eta LV 6]

[Sub-Core Delta LV 6] [Sub-Core Theta LV 6]

[Sub-Core Epsilon LV 6] [Sub-Core Iota LV 6]

[Sub-Core Zeta LV 6] [Sub-Core Kappa LV 6]

Mimic:

[Chimeric Mimicry LV 7]

[Chroma Shift LV MAX]

[Consuming Osmosis LV MAX]

Mana:

[Mana Circulation LV 7]

[Mana Reinforcement LV 7]

[Derived Element (Air) LV 6]

[Mana Infusion]

Attributes/Other:

[Soul Mastery LV 7]

[Enhanced Vitality LV 5]

[Magic Resistance (Lesser) LV 5]

[Curse Resistance LV 2]

[Illusion Resistance LV 3]

[Sonic Resistance LV 1]

[Prodigy]

Senses:

[Soul Sight LV 8]

[Dark Vision LV MAX]

[Thermal Vision LV MAX]

[Eagle Vision LV 4]

[Electro-Magnetic Sense LV 5]

[Tremor Sense LV 5]

[Olfactory Sense]

Trait Points remaining: 16

Skills:

General:

[Universal Language]

[Equipment Swap]

[Dissection LV 7]

[Mapping LV 5]

[Tracking LV 3]

[Identify LV 6]

[Multitasking LV 5]

[Perception LV 5]

[Aerial Finesse LV 4]

[Thunder Step LV 4]

[Wind Step LV 3]

Tamer:

[Companion Bond]

[Companion Training LV 6]

Combat:

[Tranquil Flow LV 5]

[Attack Mastery (Lesser) LV 7]

[Affliction Mastery LV 6]

[Exploit Weakness LV 5]

Magic:

[Water Magic LV 5]

[Fire Magic LV 6]

[Corrosion Magic LV 6]

[Ice Magic LV 5]

[Arcane Magic LV 5]

[Lightning Magic LV 5]

[Earth Magic LV 4]

[Air Magic LV 4]

[Light Magic LV 2]

[Mana Manipulation LV 6]

[Magic Efficiency LV 5]

[Magical Overcharge LV 1]

[Counter Magic LV 4]

[Elemental Shift LV 5]

[Elemental Adaptation]

[Ritual Casting]

[Mana Suppression]

[Elemental Harmony]

Sneaky:

[Vanish LV 6]

[Assassinate LV 6]

[Identity Fabrication LV 6]

[Acting LV 5]

[Rogue Expertise LV 4]

[Magical Subterfuge LV 4]

[Trap Mastery LV 3]

[Subtle Afflictions]

Skill Points remaining: 18

Profession:

Enchanting:

[Rune Reading LV 6]

[Rune Engraving LV 2]

[Rune Framework LV 7]

Rune Tracing LV 5]

[Rune Design LV 3]

[Runecrafting LV 2]

[Rune Inspection LV 5]

[Rune Filigree LV 3]

[Rune Repair LV 2]

[Brand]

Profession Points Remaining: 0

Chapter fifty-three

Sneaky Slime

Before our outing, we first returned to the inn to prepare. While I kept most of my supplies and such on hand, I potentially had ten problems I would need to handle for optimal sneaking. And so, I needed to make a drop-off if we were going to do this, one that I was incredibly reluctant to do. When we reached the safe confines of my room, I sighed and began slowly extracting my [Sub-Cores].

Vee looked curiously at me, while Trixie looked horrified.

“Syl… what are those!?” Trixie demanded.

“[Sub-Cores]…” I answered hesitantly.

“I thought we talked about this! No becoming a Slime Queen and taking over the world!” Trixie shrieked.

“What?” I replied in shock, then looked at the core in my hand and felt like crawling into a hole to hide my embarrassment. “No! No, no, no. These are not my children!”

“Aren’t they just the cores you’ve been collecting?” Vee asked curiously. “Although they seem a lot more… refined than those, and are those engravings?”

“Syl…” Trixie repeated with concern on her face. She probably would have been tapping her foot impatiently if she wasn’t floating. “What the heck have you been doing?”

I couldn’t help but frown. I thought for sure I had told Trixie about my [Sub-Cores]. Either I was misremembering, or she had forgotten.

“These are my [Sub-Cores], like mini-helpers that cast spells, manipulate slime, and so forth,” I explained.

“Is that why you eat so many of them?” Vee gasped.

“No, those I really did eat. I made these ones myself,” I elaborated.

“Making slime cores?” Trixie asked with an accusatory tone. “That’s sounding very Queenish to me.”

“I’ve been able to do this since… forever,” I defended myself. “I’ve just increased their quantity… a lot. I’ve also enchanted them for protection and defense.

I began pulling out a few more cores. Vee looked at them curiously, while Trixie looked especially concerned.

“Why?” Vee asked, breaking the silence.

“Well, they’re costly to make and replace; even repairing them can be painful,” I explained.

“I see… but why are you suddenly removing them?” Vee questioned.

“Well, I can’t exactly go sneaking around with ten of these jingling inside me,” I answered. “If I want to take on much smaller and compact forms, I sadly need to temporarily remove them.”

“Can you not just poof them into storage?” Vee questioned.

“Nope, I can’t.” I sighed. “Which is kinda odd since I can store dead slime cores in my storage, but not these.”

Vee gingerly poked one, causing it to roll.

“So these aren’t children?” Trixie questioned.

“No. They can’t even function when outside of my connected slime,” I answered honestly.

That answer caused the pixie to genuinely sigh with relief and ease up.

“I’m surprised you have so many…” Vee murmured.

I grinned. “I could technically have more; I haven’t found the limit yet, and it just costs a trait point and slime. They are invaluable; who do you think has been helping you train or casting shield spells on you?”

“Wait! Really?” Vee exclaimed.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t just hear that…” Trixie whined.

I shrugged at Trixie before returning to Vee. “Yeah. I can set commands on them. I’ve had some commands to protect me, or you, or make it look like I’m bleeding if attacked, and so forth.”

“Whoa, that sounds brilliant!” Vee exclaimed. “Shouldn’t you not be doing this then? It feels really dumb to leave them behind.”

“I’ll take one or two…” I replied, scratching my chin. “But I can’t see me needing them for this. The objective is to be as sneaky as possible, after all.”

“No offense, but I hope you’ll bring the one you ordered to protect me.” Vee giggled.

“Sure, why not,” I agreed.

Trixie seemed to be mulling something over. If she didn’t come out of it, I would give her a good poke, but she eventually sighed and seemed to mostly return to her old demeanor. She did give some of the [Sub-Cores] a poke and, at some point, even sat on one, which seemed to provide her some much-needed reassurance.

“Are you checking to see if they have Mana?” I asked.

Trixie flinched slightly at my accusation and sighed. “Yes… it was one way for me to confirm they weren’t alive.”

I gave a teasing wink before touching one of the inert cores with a finger. Trixie frowned deeply, no doubt realizing that it now had Mana as it was linked to my own pool.

“Well… at least it needs to be connected to you,” Trixie mumbled.

“For now, anyway,” Vee added. “Watch Syl get an evolution later that skips that.”

Trixie groaned.

“Or a trait. It’s something I’m kind of hoping for,” I admitted. “Imagine what I could do then? I could give all my friends a [Sub-Core] helper of their own. Wouldn’t that be pretty great?”

“I’d love one! Please give me one!” Vee responded instantly.

Trixie was still grumbling to herself.

“Do you not want one?” I asked teasingly. “Imagine if it had my Mana leaking from it even if you were away.”

“Your own portable buffet!” Vee said excitedly.

“That does sound tempting…” Trixie admitted. “But the thought of you being able to be in multiple places at once is oddly terrifying.”

“It would be great for my disguises,” I pointed out. “I could be Syl the elf, Sylvester the human, Syl the slime—hell, I could even remake Wiggles for you!”

I had Alpha mimic the violet slime and create a fake profile saying Wiggles to demonstrate what I was talking about. Trixie looked genuinely surprised while Vee laughed hysterically.

“Wiggles is back from the dead!” Vee teased.

“So long as he stays connected to me forever, he is,” I pointed out.

“For now…” Vee added.

“Let’s hope so!” I cheered.

Trixie sighed yet again and shook her head. “Okay… are we going to do our sneaking mission now?”

“Ready when you are,” I replied.

“Same, I’m all legs on deck,” Vee answered.

“Great. Let’s go before I start questioning my past judgments,” Trixie declared, fluttering toward the door.

Once we left the inn, we headed toward as deserted of an alley as we could find. Once Trixie declared she had cloaked us, I began blocking out my profile, and Vee did the same, shrinking it even further. First, I took the random form of as a nondescript dwarf as possible.

“Really? Lern?” Vee spoke up. “That’s the name you’re going with?”

“I would have loved to have used another Syl-ish name, but I wanted something I could throw away,” I answered.

“Where the hell did you even get that name from?” Trixie asked.

“I just took Thern and replaced it with an ‘L,’” I answered.

“I guess it really doesn’t matter. Still, I’m glad you didn’t name me,” Trixie teased.

“At least I don’t name my spells [Create: Ice Stupid]…” I grumbled.

Trixie gasped in shock. “You’re insulting the great and powerful Archwizard Frostius? He revolutionized the entire world of [Ice Magic]!”

“Really?” Vee asked.

“No, not really,” Trixie responded. “That is a pretty stupid name, though.”

“Right!?” I chuckled. “I’m glad someone finally agrees with me.”

“Probably one of those wizards who love shouting their spells out loud,” Trixie huffed. “Yes, let me just announce to all my enemies that I’m going to be throwing a [Fireball]!”

“I heard it was so party members can react to your spells,” I answered.

Trixie shrugged. “Eh… Still dumb, just use [Telepathy].”

“I don’t think everyone can just get [Telepathy]…” Vee groaned. “Anyway, I think we’ve reached the industrial district.”

I looked around, and it looked like Vee was right. The surroundings had almost entirely become various workshops, and some of the dwarves were either carrying crates of raw resources or sealed boxes of presumably finished products.

With Trixie mostly obscuring us and Vee shrunk down to hide within a fake coat I’d made, almost nobody was paying us attention. Now, the only question was, where did we go?

“I think we should go where there’s the most fire essence,” Trixie explained. “No doubt that’s where the forges are.”

“Makes sense…” Vee replied.

“You should try using your [Soul Sight]; get in some practice!” Trixie informed me.

I nodded in agreement and began utilizing the trait. It was tough, as now not only did I need to try filtering for the Fire essence, but I was getting a lot of feedback from all the dwarves surrounding us, their lifeforce and Mana interfering with my results.

When I started having no real luck, Trixie suggested we go to a quieter corner for me to focus. Once there, it became a lot more manageable, and once I examined it enough, I began noticing the familiar sight of the Fire essence.

“That was pretty fast…” Vee replied. “I almost thought we might be here all night.”

“If Syl had no experience using [Essence Sight] before fusing it, that might have been the case,” Trixie answered. “I’m presuming Syl tracked or worked with Fire essence before.”

“Actually, yes, I found a fire ant nest and used it to find lava and giant worms,” I explained.

“And to think I spent most of my life living in an abandoned mine…” Vee mumbled.

“Beats spending a century trapped in a cage!” Trixie responded.

“I’m honestly surprised you’re still sane after that…” Vee whispered.

“Who said she’s still sane?” I joked.

“Meh… Time stops being a factor once you’ve lived as long as I have.” Trixie shrugged it off. “It helps that I can meditate and effectively hibernate for years.”

“Still… that’s kinda sad, isn’t it? What of your friends growing old and dying around you?” Vee asked.

“Other than you two, I don’t really have mortal friends, and I’m not too sure about Syl dying of old age,” Trixie replied.

“Wait… so I’m the only one who’s going to grow old? I’ll be a granny spider, and you two will be young forever?” Vee cried.

“I’m sure there’s a trait… or item… maybe a potion?” I offered suggestions and turned to Trixie with a hopeful expression.

“Oh yeah, who knows what you could find in a dungeon. Potentially countless things to extend your lifespan, if not remove it entirely,” Trixie revealed. “Or who knows, you could do your monster cheat thing and evolve into something functionally immortal. Hanging around Syl will probably trigger some strange evolutions for you.”

“Spider slime!” I joked.

“As cool as you make a slime look, I don’t think I want to be one,” Vee admitted.

“Yeah, imagine living up to this goofball’s reputation,” Trixie quipped.

“I feel sorry for Syl’s kids.” Vee sighed.

I was going to complain, but Trixie beat me to the punch.

“No Queen evolution!” the pixie screeched.

“Yeesh… does that go for my Broodmother evolution, too?” Vee questioned.

“Oh gods… why did you have to tell me that.” Trixie groaned. “I don’t know… It’s probably not as bad as having multiple Syls running around doing who knows what.”

“I’m worse than hundreds of dimensional shrinking spiders?” I questioned.

“Oh… shit,” Trixie answered. “I hadn’t even thought of that. Spiders usually have a hundred per egg sac, don’t they?”

“Small tiny spiders, maybe, but I had nowhere near that many siblings when I was born,” Vee answered defensively. “Not that I have any desire to pick the Broodmother evolution…”

“Good. Probably for the best,” Trixie advised. “Imagine if they did something stupid like building an entire nest out of that [Rift Thread], or worse!”

“That could be bad…” I admitted. “Plus, eggs are evil and should never be mentioned again.”

“It was one time!” Trixie objected.

“One time too many…” I whined.

Our conversation entertained us while I followed the trail of fire essence poorly. Thankfully, as I used it more and more, I became far more proficient in it and started recognizing the other bits of essence mingling around.

I’m tempted to just keep it on permanently until I grow used to it. Although I might get far too distracted by everything flowing around.

We reached an absolutely massive structure that was blazing with fire essence. So much so that it drowned out the ambient earth essence into almost obscurity.

“Well… if they’re doing any important forging or smelting… I think it’s in here,” Trixie replied. “I swear we were right next to a volcano.”

“Just a reminder… I’m not fireproof,” Vee declared.

“Well, unless you’re planning on taking a dip in the smelter, I think you’ll be fine,” I teased.

“You could always go through the pyromancer training arc,” Trixie suggested.

“What’s that?” Vee asked gullibly.

Trixie grinned mischievously, but I answered before she could get Vee to agree to anything stupid.

“They set themselves on fire or detonate [Fireballs] near themselves to train resistances.”

“That sounds… so dumb!” Vee replied, aghast. “Do hydromancers drown themselves? Do geomancers bury themselves alive?”

“Sometimes… It’s kinda dumb but effective,” Trixie replied nonchalantly. “It’s better than training mental resistances anyway.”

“Why?” Vee asked.

“Take a guess,” Trixie responded.

Vee made some suggestions, but Trixie shot them down one by one. I also thought about it, and I think I had an answer.

“Is it due to pain resistance traits or skills?”

“Bingo!”

“Do those only work on stuff that physically hurts you?” Vee questioned.

“Bingo!” Trixie repeated.

“Huh…” Vee muttered. “I guess I won’t be training mental resistances anytime soon.”

“So, fire’s on the table?” I questioned.

“We’ll have to do a raincheck until I get a pain resistance trait…” Vee replied nervously.

“Pity. Either way we have a heist to undertake!” Trixie giggled.

Chapter fifty-four

Infiltration

With only two cores to worry about, I had a much smaller repertoire of forms available. However, I couldn’t help but feel like I was partially naked, which was highly disconcerting because I hadn’t felt like that ever before.

I mean, technically, I run around naked all the time; I don’t think you can count my slime as clothes. I’ll return my other cores to their proper place once we return to our room.

Vee shrunk down to the most diminutive size I’d ever seen. Trixie cast some sort of spell on all three of us, and I turned into a big fat rat after depositing my hat.

“Really? Of all the things you turn into, you picked a rat?” Trixie questioned.

“It’s either this or like… a spider? We’ve already got a spider on our team,” I said. “I could turn into a bloodbug or a small worm if you’d prefer, or maybe a jackalope or a wolf?”

“No, no, it’s fine…” Trixie sighed. “I guess a rat at least makes sense in the dwarf city; they would be very confused to see a wolf down here.”

“Which is probably why Syl picked it,” Vee pointed out.

“Exactly!” I agreed.

Trixie grumbled a bit, and we started trying to sneak into the building. It had several windows and ventholes, so we had plenty of entry points. Trixie also explained that rather than making us directly invisible, she applied a sort of filter over us.

“Why not just make us invisible?” Vee asked before I could.

“This works better,” Trixie explained. “Invisibility is great if you’re confident nobody will detect you, but if they can, then you stick out like a sore thumb. However, if you instead make their perception a little off, and you’re being inconspicuous, they won’t notice you in the first place!”

“So, like my hat?” I asked.

“Eh… kinda?” Trixie shrugged. “Rather than making people think we were meant to be here, they think nothing of us. Just like seeing a faceless person in the crowd.”

“Neat!” Vee replied excitedly.

Even in rat form, I could easily climb up the wall of the building thanks to adhesive slime. Trixie booed a little, hoping I would do something dramatic like sprout spider legs and become a rat spider. Vee and I sighed and prayed the pixie wouldn’t give us away for a good laugh.

Thankfully, we made it inside without anyone spotting us, or at least not making a commotion if they did. It was a significant relief for me and Vee, but Trixie acted like it was the most natural outcome in the world.

“Okay, let’s stick to the ceilings for now,” I whispered mentally.

“Roger,” Vee whispered back.

“You… really don’t need to whisper,” Trixie droned.

“It just feels like the right thing to do,” I replied, and Vee agreed.

“I suppose, although it’s definitely a bit silly.” Trixie sighed.

With Vee and I clinging to the ceiling and Trixie slowly fluttering after us, we began going from room to room. We briefly scanned a room before moving on to the next, and we saw a lot of furnaces and forges, weapon racks, and armor stands.

One room was literally just a room of raw metal ingots, which I casually perused to see if there were any new metals for me, but I came up short.

Vee and I both held our breaths whenever a dwarf walked under us, but Trixie just groaned and called us amateurs. I was forced into using [Soul Sight] again and trying to pinpoint the largest source of Fire essence, hoping it would give us a better location. There was just so much Fire essence throughout the whole building that it made it really tricky to proceed.

However, with some guidance and hints from Trixie, I eventually found a slight distinction, and we started going in that direction. Unlike the previous rooms, this one was clearly locked with what looked like blast doors, but it still had vents for the room to expel whatever heat was inside.

Vee and Trixie made it through without any issues, but it was an extremely tight squeeze for me. It was highly unpleasant having the bars of the grate scrape against the edges of my core, and on more than one occasion, I was tempted to melt my way through. They giggled at me, struggling to pass my core through the gap.

“Guess you need to go on a bit of a diet, Syl,” Trixie teased.

“And to think you teased me about gaining [Overeating]…” Vee joked.

“It’s not like I can change the size of my cores!” I protested.

“I could have probably teleported you with a portal,” Vee offered.

I groaned. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“That probably would have been a terrible idea,” Trixie said. “[Dimension Magic] uses a lot of Mana. If those teleportation stone discs are anything to go off of, and teleporting Syl would have made it even worse.”

“Yeah, Syl is dimensionally heavy.” Vee giggled.

“So you’re suggesting they might be able to detect spells?” I asked, trying my best to ignore the teasing.

“Yeah, it’s always possible,” Trixie answered. “I’m assuming Vee doesn’t have anything to hide spellcasting yet since she hasn’t broken through her Mana aura.”

“No, not really,” Vee answered.

“It’s on the to-do list,” I replied.

“Good, good,” Trixie responded happily. “Now, let’s see what they were hiding in here.”

Following the trail of Fire essence leaking out, we were met with the sight of an absolutely massive furnace-cum-cauldron. It had massive vats of molten metal blazing with an extreme amount of enchantments and an entire array of magical devices. At first, I thought they might have been red slime cores, but it appeared these were made from other parts.

Each vat had channels and valves that could be opened to pour the liquids out into a centralized one. I wondered if this was how they created alloys or if it had another purpose.

“Wow… it’s hot in here,” Trixie whined.

“Yeah, this is not pleasant at all…” Vee agreed.

“Syl, can’t you turn into an ice slime so we can cool down?” Trixie requested.

“Sure, it’s pretty simple,” I replied.

“Just make sure not to turn too cold; we don’t want to get frostbite!” Trixie warned.

I shrugged off her warning; I knew perfectly well how to control my slime. Since we were attached to the ceiling anyway, I abandoned my rat form and instead blobbed out. I activated a low level of [Cryo Slime] and motioned with a tendril for Trixie to come over.

The pixie wasted no time flying into me and then letting out a relieved sigh. Seeing Trixie so happy, Vee cautiously approached before touching the slime as well.

“That’s so cool, you’re so cold!” Vee said excitedly.

“And now you know why I enjoy sitting on Syl’s head so much, the pinnacle of slime comfort.” Trixie giggled.

“You could probably make a killer waterbed or maybe a beanbag?” Vee suggested.

“Why would anyone sleep in a bed of water?” I asked.

“I think the mermen do,” Trixie answered.

“No… it’s not literally water; it’s a mattress full of water, and it jiggles,” Vee explained.

“Interesting…” Trixie said, rubbing her chin inquisitively.

“I see. Well, I sleep in a bedtub, so who am I to judge?” I said.

“Aww, you kept the bedtub I made for you?” Trixie asked happily.

“I even enchanted it!” I answered excitedly.

“Huh… why aren’t you using it at the inn?” Vee asked.

“I’m way too scared to drop my disguise in civilized areas,” I replied. “Especially sleeping; who knows who might be watching?”

“Well, hopefully, once we leave the dwarves, you can start using it again,” Trixie encouraged.

“Speaking of which… do you have any idea what the hell that is?” Vee asked, gesturing one of her legs toward the massive construction.

“No idea! It looks like an artificial volcano with all the glowing molten metal!” Trixie guessed.

I stared at it longer and began examining it, using my neglected [Eagle Vision] to get a closer look.

“Ah… shit, I forgot to show you this,” I said to Vee and offered her the trait.

“Oooh! That sounds super useful! Thanks!” Vee marveled.

“How the heck did you get that?” Trixie questioned.

“Griffins, although an adventurer friend of mine told me about the trait and said many adventurers hoard the good ones,” I explained.

“Of course, they hoard the good stuff to themselves, damned humans,” Trixie grumbled.

“Hey, I used to be human,” Vee complained.

“You sure? How do you know you weren’t a dwarf, elf, or something in between?” Trixie teased.

“None of those things existed in my last life!” Vee objected.

“Hmm… sounds like a very boring world.” Trixie shrugged.

While those two goofed around, I kept examining the contraption further. Initially, I had thought it was for alloying stuff, but when I looked at two of the connecting vats, they appeared to have the same colored solution in each one.

Why mix two of the same metals together? I wondered.

I shared my findings and original theory with the others. Trixie also thought it might be used for alloying, but Vee had no idea. While we were discussing possibilities, two dwarves walked into the room, dragging a cart modified to have a vat on top.

“Quickly now, I want to head straight to the tavern after this load!” one of the dwarves expressed.

“Yeah, yeah.” The other dwarf shrugged it off. “I’ll join you after I’m done feeding them.”

“Make sure you hurry over; I’m pretty sure it’s your turn to buy!” the first dwarf chuckled.

They continued to make small talk about food and drink before dumping a silvery solution straight into one of the vats and activating an enchantment on it, igniting the vat with fiery life.

Moving to the unoccupied vat, they opened a reinforced crate and began throwing silver bars into it.

“What the hell are they doing?” Trixie questioned.

“Melting silver bars by the looks of things…” Vee answered.

“Weird though, I could’ve sworn they poured some silvery metal into the first vat, so they are mixing silver with silver?” Trixie postulated.

“Or silver slime with silver bars?” I suggested.

“That sounds kind of dumb; why would they even need to do that?” Trixie brushed it off.

“Well… how do they get the silver slime to stay solid metal?” I pondered.

“Mixing it with real silver metal? Really?” Vee questioned. “That sounds a bit dumb.”

“No, I think what Syl says makes sense,” Trixie replied.

“I am the slime, after all,” I asserted.

“Well, can the slime expert please explain? I’m very lost…” Vee complained.

I chuckled before agreeing and going into my semi-explanation. I started by first explaining my own slime, which, when detached from me, always reverted back to my natural state—[Mana Slime]. Sure, I could take on the aspects of the other slime types, but after time, it seemed to always revert back to my default if separated from my core.

I then explained that a silver slime’s default state would presumably be [Metal Slime], so even when separated, it would still be whatever metal it was copying.

“I always wondered how they got around the fact that even if it was considered a metal, it would still be slimy goop after some time,” I clarified. “Even if my slime always reverts to [Mana Slime], the same can’t be said for any solids I make. Silver slimes have [Shape Slime] so they can make spikes or blades to attack, but it wouldn’t stay solid.”

“And so they mix the slimy metal with real metal and reforge it?” Trixie asked.

“That’s my guess,” I agreed.

“But wouldn’t mixing it with slime lower its purity?” Vee objected.

“I guess the dwarves worked out a perfect ratio of slime to metal?” I suggested.

“So they’re effectively doubling their metals… that’s genius!” Trixie said excitedly. “Syl, we should totally duplicate metal bars! Think of the fortune we would make!”

“Why?” I rebutted. “It’s not like we need more money…”

“We could have a hoard of gold!” Trixie countered.

“And do what with it? Swim in it?” Vee asked sarcastically.

Trixie gasped. “I was just going to suggest collecting it and staring at it, but swimming in it sounds even better!”

Vee groaned at Trixie’s remark while I continued observing.

Chapter fifty-five

Smelting

Glancing down below, it looked like the dwarves were finishing their task. The metal bars were melted, and the channels for the two vats were opened.

The two liquids merged in the central vat with a satisfying sizzling noise. That wasn’t the end, as they used an enchanted tool to mix the solution while making small talk.

“Wow… those dwarves are braver than me; I don’t think I’d be willing to be that close to molten metal,” Trixie said.

“The heat must be unbearable…” Vee agreed.

“They have [Forged Skin] as a racial trait, so I think they can take the heat,” I answered. “I wonder if that could have stopped me boiling alive.”

“You… boiled. Alive?” Vee gasped, unbelieving.

“At this point, I’ll believe anything Syl says. It’s crazy what this slimy goofball has done,” Trixie said.

“I was trying to fake my own death in a fiery explosion,” I began my explanation. “I used a [Fire Resistance] trait back then, so I figured I could take it. Then I found out the resistance doesn’t include heat… not pleasant.”

“Bloody hell…” Vee muttered.

“Yeah, big yikes from me,” Trixie agreed. “Although I’ll give you points for a dramatic presentation.”

“At least it worked,” I added. “Also, it looks like the dwarves are moving to their next step.”

The dwarves looked satisfied with their job and began advancing They set up a collection of ingot molds and finally opened another valve, distributing the newly mixed molten silver solution into the molds.

Once they were satisfied that the mixture had been distributed to all the molds, they began packing away their tools. The one dwarf was clumsily packing away the tools, evidently eager to head toward the tavern.

“Cheers, Vazmet! See you later!” the dwarf said abruptly, heading toward the door after his last hastily completed task.

“Yeah, yeah… just leave me to finish the job,” Vazmet grumbled as his coworker rushed off.

With the dwarf called Vazmet heading off, we followed after him quickly. He had mentioned feeding, and that could only mean the slimes in my eyes. I wondered how the dwarves’ farm and containment compared to the rather lackluster security that Stantondale had used.

We followed him deeper into the facility until we reached a large set of locked doors. Once he placed his key in and turned it, the entire door seemed to rotate and twist out.

“Wow… is that an airlock?” Vee questioned.

Trixie and I stared in confusion at the spider, and she gave a defeated sigh and dropped the topic.

Continuing our stealthy pursuit of the dwarf, he started heading down a large set of stairs with a single rail designed to accommodate the carts the dwarves were pushing and pulling. When we reached the bottom, it looked like we had finally reached our destination.

The dwarf, Vazmet, grumbled angrily about so many steps and unlocked another door. Heading in quickly before he closed the door behind himself, we were welcomed to a rather large and elaborate room.

On one of the walls was a set of giant adamantine executioner axes. In the center of the room were four pits, and crawling along the ceiling to get a better vantage point, we saw a singular silver slime in the middle of all but one pit.

<Silvy; Slime (Silver) [III] LV 10. Elemental affinity: Earth.>

<Goldy; Slime (Silver) [III] LV 12. Elemental affinity: Earth.>

<Cooper; Slime (Silver) [III] LV 9. Elemental affinity: Earth.>

I wondered how they kept the slimes contained in the pits and noted that the walls were slanted inward, lipped, and coated with a strange substance.

Probably something non-adhesive, I’d assume?

Vee and Trixie were snorting with giggles and laughs.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“That slime is named Silvy…” Trixie pointed.

“Yeah… any relation?” Vee teased.

“Very funny…” I sighed. “I’ll be sure to make the same joke with the next spirit or spider we run into.”

Vee giggled. “I doubt we will run into another spider with a name even close to Vee.”

“Yeah? But what about one with a terrible name, like Terry?”

“Ugh… okay, don’t remind me,” Vee sighed.

“I presume they named the slimes to keep track of their metals… smart,” I said, changing the subject.

“Yeah, I guess that means Goldy over there is probably worth a fortune!” Trixie said excitedly.

“We aren’t going to steal the dwarves’ prized slime!” Vee shouted and then turned to me. “Or eat it!”

“I mean… I wasn’t planning on it…” I grumbled. “It’s tempting, but my trait is almost maxed out, so I’d be committing a huge felony for not much. I can wait for Flintheart to find me another, or perhaps I’ll get lucky and find one in the caverns or the next dungeon.”

“Wow, Syl’s being reasonable around slime cores; who’d ever have thought it possible.” Trixie sniffled as if drying fake tears. “They grow up so fast.”

“Maybe a lead-silver cage will stop all this slime bullying,” I taunted, causing Trixie to flinch and raise her hands in surrender.

We watched the dwarf continue his duties. He seemed to mostly be returning some items to various crates. I noted that other than those adamantine axes, the room was utterly devoid of even a hint of metal.

I guess the slimes do occasionally escape their pit, and this stops any risk of them eating something terrible. I’m guessing the adamantine axes aren’t possible for them to eat, so keeping them around is safe.

“Alright, boys and girls, feeding time!” Vazmet shouted happily.

The three slimes made no indication that they’d acknowledged his declaration. They truly were as dumb as rocks.

To my surprise, rather than throwing refuse or scraps, the dwarf actually threw chunks of what looked like relatively fresh monster meat. I learned that fresh monster meat gave the most slime mass personally, so the dwarves clearly knew what they were doing.

I had expected the dwarf to toss the meat and leave, but he carefully watched them. I wondered why he was so meticulous until he began to walk over to fetch one of the axes.

“Damn it, Cooper, you’re too fat again!” the dwarf complained.

I ignored my two snickering companions and watched as the dwarf prepared himself. He tied a rope to his waist, fastened a wooden bucket to his belt, and fetched what looked like an enchanted wooden buckler. Then he jumped into the put with Cooper.

“Oh, is he going to fight the slime?” Trixie wondered.

“Harvest it, I’m guessing, from the bucket,” I answered.

“Come now, Cooper. Let’s get this over with so I can go home and grab my drink…” the dwarf grumbled as he cautiously approached the slime.

When Vazmet got in range, the silver slime vibrated slightly before shooting metallic spikes toward the dwarf. With well-practiced motions, the dwarf blocked the spikes’ onslaught with the enchanted buckler, pivoted himself, and immediately brought down the axe toward the extended spikes.

A clunking chop sound resonated through the room, and the metallic spikes were trimmed. Cooper immediately retracted its pruned stubs while the dwarf quickly tossed the spike ends into his bucket before they liquified.

“Huh… that’s an interesting way to harvest them,” Trixie commented.

“How else would they harvest them?” Vee questioned.

“When I was a helpless blue slime, they just grabbed us and held us over a bucket,” I shuddered. “Then they used a knife to separate our slime from our core.”

“Oof, sounds horrible,” Vee sympathized. “I’m guessing you couldn’t just stab them with spikes like that?”

“Ha, nope!” I chuckled grimly. “I could barely form a single tentacle back then. It was really tragic.”

“Yeah… it’s too bad you weren’t born a silver slime,” Trixie said. “You have almost the perfect name for it. Syl. Silver. Sounds very similar, no?”

“Har, har, hilarious…” I droned sarcastically. “My name comes from Sylthaeryn. Supposedly to leave a small mark on the world or something.”

“Wow, that’s a bit egotistical,” Vee commented.

“She was dying at the time… I can’t exactly blame her,” I answered honestly. “Plus, I like the name. It’s grown on me, and I don’t think I’d want anything else even if I could change it.”

While chatting, the dwarf repeated the dance with Cooper twice before being satisfied with the slime’s newly diminished size. He rushed to the edge of the put, slapped his buckler on his back, and began clambering up the rope.

“Wow… he’s got some good upper body strength,” Vee commented.

“He is a dwarf; they’re naturally quite strong,” Trixie explained.

“Yeah, they have quite a selection of traits, although the descriptions are a nightmare.” I laughed.

We observed the dwarf pack his things away and begin heading toward the door with his bucket in hand. Presumably, if one of the other slimes ate that slime mass, they’d also be contaminated by its metal qualities, so it had to be removed from the room.

We rushed after him when he opened the door, not wanting to get locked behind. Although Vee could’ve presumably teleported out, or worst case, I melted an escape tunnel.

“I wonder if I can sell the dwarf harvesting methods…” Vee explained.

“Who’d even buy it?” I sighed.

“Good point… It’s not like many others have silver slimes like the dwarves,” Trixie sighed.

When we made it past the giant door, we breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“I still can’t believe we came all this way and aren’t going to steal or take something…” Trixie continued to grumble.

“Really? What’s with you?” I asked.

“It’s her Fey nature; she can’t help herself; she simply must be mischievous!” Vee explained.

“I can stop myself perfectly fine!” Trixie harumphed.

“Come on, guys. We can go celebrate with some food or something,” I offered diplomatically, which got both of their attention.

Getting out was even easier than getting in, and with almost no effort, we were out on the streets again, with me in a rat form again as we looked for a good spot for me to revert to a dwarf so we could leave this district.

“As fun as that was… and I guess interesting, did you actually gain anything beneficial from it?” Vee asked.

“Not at all, I reckon,” Trixie responded. “Although I did get to show my amazing skills.”

“It was mostly to satisfy my idle curiosity, but it does potentially have a factor for me,” I explained. “I wanted to get a rough idea of what to expect if I ever did a species evolution. While I’m particularly attached to being a blue slime, I can’t deny that Vee’s mention of getting a species power-up intrigues me.”

“Can’t you just change your color to blue?” Trixie suggested.

“Yes, which I’ll probably do if I’m ever in slime form,” I agreed. “But I wouldn’t permanently have [Mana Slime] anymore, in theory.”

“That’s a big nope from me then!” Trixie immediately responded.

“Surely Syl being stronger and safer is better than being able to eat some Mana?” Vee pressed.

“Yes…” Trixie sighed. “But it’s not just me I’m thinking about. Wouldn’t you lose a lot of your magical capabilities then? It would need to be a very massive gain to trade for that.”

“I’m actually not sure…” I admitted. “The risk is potentially losing my massive Mana pool, but I wouldn’t lose my [Mana Slime] trait… So I’m not even sure if that fear is valid.”

“I have no clue. What are the risks of losing the [Mana Slime] trait?” Trixie asked.

“Well, unless your new species changes the trait, I’d say very minimal,” Vee responded. “I had some traits upgrade or merge into new ones, but otherwise, I don’t think I lost anything with my two species evolutions. It’s been nothing but positives.”

“Thanks for the confirmation,” I said happily. “I still have plenty of time to decide, and I won’t truly know until I see whatever options are listed for me. Pink or Gold tempts me already based on their supposed scarcity.”

“We could go rob some royalty?” Trixie suggested, with a particularly devilish smirk plastered on her face.

When we returned to the inn, there was a look of relief on some of the dwarves’ faces, and I realized they must have been some of the guards set to watch us, but in a sort of incognito disguise.

When we got back to our room, I first retrieved my [Sub-Cores] from my hiding spot and, with gleeful joy, inserted them back into myself. Finally, that awkward naked feeling was gone, and I felt immense comfort.

“Right, so food then magic training?” I suggested.

“Sounds good!” Trixie and Vee replied in unison.

Chapter fifty-six

Routine Progress

After our successful espionage mission, we sort of fell into a routine. We would spend most of the day heading to the managed dungeon to do some magic practice, and then we’d spend the evenings doing some rather lavish meals as a reward.

Occasionally, we would meet up with Thern, although he still seemed much more hesitant around Trixie than Vee. It was a pretty humorous discovery that the dwarf was fine with the monster spider more than the pixie.

Then again, at least with Vee, you can see her levels and whatnot. With Trixie, you just see her name, which is certainly unnerving.

While the focus was still on getting Vee caught up on magic, that didn’t mean I was neglecting my own. I’d regained all my prior usage with my new [Soul Sight] trait, which meant I could start trying to find the latest features I’d unlocked in it.

I also needed to raise three forms of magic to level five to round out my repertoire. Unfortunately, [Light Magic] was categorized as intermediate magic, so it would require some more effort, but [Earth Magic] and [Air Magic] were ripe for the picking.

<Proficiency gained. [Light Magic LV 2] improved to [Light Magic LV 3].>

<[Light Magic LV 3] spell [Light Beam] learned.>

I’d finally gained the attack spell and was very excited by the prospect until I realized it seemed far weaker than what was used against me. I then recalled the alicorn had his magical horn, but I couldn’t produce the same results even with that.

“Most likely a custom version of the spell, like how you layered [Torrent] spells,” Trixie suggested. “Or perhaps he was using a higher level of [Light Magic]?”

“[Light Beam]… They should have called it [Laser],” Vee remarked. “Although I guess calling that a laser would be a bit pitiful. Maybe laser pointer.”

“It’s my first offensive [Light Magic]! Don’t tease it!” I objected.

“Don’t worry, Syl. I’m sure you’ll be shooting solar beams in no time,” Vee said reassuringly, although I had the vague sense she was still teasing me.

<Proficiency gained. [Air Magic LV 4] improved to [Air Magic LV 5].>

<[Air Magic LV 5] spell [Soaring Gale] learned.>

To my surprise, this was, in fact, a low-level flight spell. When I thought about the other spells, level five usually gave something big, but this might have taken the cake. Well, assuming you couldn’t sprout wings.

It had been mentioned before that air mages could fly, but I didn’t expect it so soon. The way it was discussed previously made it sound like there was a scarcity, but level five wasn’t that hard to reach.

When I actually cast the spell, I understood why the supply was short; Mana efficiency. The spell was quite a Mana hog, and anyone with subpar Mana reserves or Air affinity would be drained dry.

Rather than granting you the ability to fly, like the [Enchanted Wings] trait, it propelled you in a direction for a duration by surrounding you in a windy nimbus. The spell had two Mana reserves you could fill, one handling velocity while the other had duration. It felt more like flinging yourself than flight, and if you kept it solely to yourself, you could get some reasonable usage out of it.

Trying to get others to fly was another matter entirely, and I wondered how they did it. Vee mentioned that perhaps they would use something relatively buoyant, like a balloon, so they would only need to worry about the trajectory.

Personally, the spell almost felt worthless for me. I could sprout wings and fly, but I supposed it could be good to fling an ally either toward our target or out of harm’s way.

However, I definitely had some fun casting it on Vee with the velocity set to the minimum and duration to the maximum, which caused the spider to flail slightly a few inches off the ground.

<Proficiency gained. [Earth Magic LV 4] improved to [Earth Magic LV 5].>

<[Earth Magic LV 5] spell [Geokinesis] learned.>

I was baffled when I received this prompt, but I went from confusion to excitement when I started looking into the spell. This was evidently the basis for the spell the dwarven geomancer used to defend herself.

The spell let you inject Earth Mana into rock, soil, ground, and so forth and then manipulate it directly. I tested it out a few times by making some rocks float around me, much to my own amusement.

“Those types of spells are amusing; they often say the only limit to them is your imagination and Mana supply!” Trixie said gleefully.

“Why isn’t there an equivalent for my other affinities? Or did Earth just get it sooner than the others, or am I expected to craft them?” I immediately asked.

“The others do have it. I’m not sure why Earth gets it first,” Trixie shrugged. “And please don’t waste your time trying to piece it together for the other elements. You’d just be wasting your time, and I doubt you’d get rewarded for it.”

“Waterkinesis sounds kinda fun, though,” Vee commented.

“[Hydrokinesis],” Trixie corrected smugly. “And what’s the point? Syl can shoot deadly water beams and make it rain. Moving some water with your mind seems dull by comparison.”

Trixie’s explanation dampened my mood on receiving the other versions of the spell. But if anything, it would make a good way of counter-pranking the mischievous pixie.

I’d also made some gains in my traits; some of them were highly overdue in my books.

[Mana Circulation LV 8]

[Mana Reinforcement LV 8]

[Derived Element (Air) LV 7]

I can’t believe how fast that [Derived Element] has leveled up…

I’d asked Trixie if she knew what happened when it reached max level. Sadly, she didn’t have the answer but made an educated guess that it might grant me the whole affinity and potentially remove itself from my trait list.

My general skills also saw some good gains.

[Multitasking LV 6]

[Thunder Step LV 5]

[Wind Step LV 4]

I’d occasionally used my step skills while casting spells simultaneously, which conveniently seemed to level up [Multitasking]. Ironically, the skill might have never leveled up if I hadn’t done that, as I still liked to delegate multiple spells to a [Sub-Core] rather than do it myself. It was just so much more efficient.

And, of course, thanks to all the magical training, I gained quite a few headway with my magical skills.

[Mana Manipulation LV 7]

[Magic Efficiency LV 6]

[Magical Overcharge LV 2]

[Counter Magic LV 5]

[Magical Subterfuge LV 5]

Out of all these gains, [Mana Manipulation] was definitely the one I was most excited about, as it meant I could further customize my spells. I had high hopes of figuring out the homing component of the [Fireflies] spell and adding it to some of my other spells.

I imagine homing [Ball Lightning] would be incredibly effective.

All the spellcasting meant [Magic Efficiency] would naturally go up, and I even got to practice some [Counter Magic] with Trixie. Although it was a struggle to get the pixie to partake in that activity.

“This isn’t fun anymore…” Trixie groaned. “You’ve gotten too good at this!”

“I can stop using my [Sub-Cores]…” I offered.

“Th-that’s cheating!” Trixie exclaimed wildly.

“I’d be using them in any normal circumstances. I don’t see how using my own trait is cheating…” I teased.

The pixie fumed, and only when Vee joined in some playful taunting did I get a few rematches, enough to get a single skill level. It was better than nothing.

I’d also very briefly tried out [Magical Overcharge]. I didn’t like it, and Trixie agreed with me unconditionally. As a being of Mana, no doubt it would quite literally be burning away her life to use such a skill.

Vee thought it was potentially valuable, and when I offered her the skill, she was met with an unfortunate error: she lacked sufficient Mana capacity.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to buy it once you get [Soul Mastery],” I replied.

“I suppose…” the spider grumbled disappointingly.

“It’s probably a safety thing,” Trixie suggested. “Can’t have young mages burning up their entire Mana supply in a panic. Hitting zero Mana is no good, even you non-spirits.”

“Oh, trust me, I know…” Vee sighed.

“Oh? Being a bit reckless with the fancy [Dimension Magic]?” Trixie asked.

“Hardly…” Vee said and pointed toward me. “Syl left [Mana Burn] on me while keeping me hostage.”

“Syl! How could you!?” Trixie gasped in outrage.

“It was the only way to stop a silly spider from teleporting away,” I explained. “This one was refusing my [Telepathy] because she was afraid I would plant brainworms in her.”

“It’s a perfectly valid fear!” Vee objected. “You even admitted to being scared of being mind-controlled or enslaved as well.”

“Yeah, but not through brainworms…” I replied.

“And certainly not through something as simple as [Telepathy],” Trixie pointed out before starting to cackle maniacally. “Plus, it’s not like the brainworms require your permission.”

Vee yelled and started trying to smack Trixie for that remark. The spider really had a phobia against it.

The only thing I’m slacking on is my sneaky rogue stuff… It’s a pity our covert operation didn’t level anything up.

We’d settled so much into our schedule and relaxed that I’d almost completely forgotten about the assassination attempt. So it was a bit of a surprise when Lukhek appeared again at my door, abruptly reminding me of that whole ordeal.

“Good to see you again, Syl,” the dwarf said politely. “With how spry you’re looking, I assume there’s been no hint of our shadowy friends.”

“It’s good to see you too, Master Lukhek,” I responded. “No, it’s been so quiet I almost forgot I was attacked in the first place. I hope everything has been alright with the guild.”

“Good. Good,” Lukhek responded happily before forming a slight frown. “For the most part, it has been smooth sailing… But we’ve heard some disturbing activity lately, and I wondered if you’ve seen or heard anything.”

“We’ve mostly been in the dungeon, so I’m unsure how much I can help. We went out once, but nothing really happened,” I answered.

“Aye, you haven’t been out recently, but before the whole assassin ordeal, you did take out almost a record number of kobolds,” he said.

“Oh… this is about kobolds?” I questioned.

Oh, gods… Did I still have the kill quest active when Vee and I went and had our fun?

Lukhek nodded. “Outstanding work; I can see that you more than earned that Gold rank. But with how many you killed, combined with other killings in the guild, we should have been entering a quiet period. But that is not the case; in fact, there seem to be more kobolds than ever!”

“That doesn’t sound good…” Trixie spoke, injecting herself into the conversation.

I’d expected Lukhek to flinch, but the dwarf barely battered an eye at the sudden pixie appearance.

“It’s not good at all.” Lukhek shook his head with evident disappointment. “Which was why I wanted to know if you saw anything strange with the kobolds when you were out killing or if you have any idea why they might be spawning in such strange numbers?”

I wracked my mind trying to think, but I was drawing a blank. I even had a quick consultation with Vee to see if she recalled spotting anything, and even between the two of us going back and forth, we struggled to think of anything noteworthy.

Is the chaotic essence the reason for so many kobolds? I thought we cleaned it up, though…

I didn’t want to admit that, so I grasped at one of the few available straws.

“They were collecting monsters…” I offered.

“Taming or enslavement?” Lukhek immediately questioned.

“It was a warlock chieftain, so definitely the latter,” I replied.

“Warlocks…” Lukhek spat. “If they’re getting rarer classes like that, then a lesser dragon might be pushing them. Especially if it was a chieftain.”

“How rare are we talking?” I asked. “I know they have a ton of geomancers.”

“Like… one in a hundred, maybe even worse than that,” Lukhek answered. “An affinity for dark magic is once in a blue moon amongst their kind without outside influence.”

“So, what do you want Syl to do about it?” Trixie asked in an almost demanding tone.

“For now? Nothing,” Lukhek responded with a dry chuckle. “I’ll be putting up a big bounty quest for warlocks if, for some reason, you want to make even more cash. But at the moment, we are still in the information gathering stage for a bigger plan, if we need one.”

“No chance of just heading to their main nest and wiping them out?” I queried. That had been the response Stantondale rallied against the goblins, after all.

Lukhek shook his head, “There’s far too many of them. It’s like trying to cut off the head of a hydra; two more pop up. Consistent culling and encouraging them to avoid Dhoggurum has been our tried and true method. Besides, a big shift in the dungeon ecosystem like that would open up a power vacuum for another potentially worse monster species to thrive.”

“What about a hit squad for the lesser dragon?” Trixie suggested.

“We sometimes do those, but we’d need confirmation that one exists. Sending glory seekers on a wild goose chase is a recipe for disaster I want to avoid. We can’t afford to lose any good adventurers, and yes, that definitely includes you.”

After that, Lukhek didn’t stay around much longer and took his leave. Trixie and Vee immediately turned to me as if questioning my intentions.

“I mean… I’d like to kill a lesser dragon if possible,” I admitted.

“Assuming it exists,” Vee pointed out. “What if all the chaotic essence is the reason for the kobolds?”

“Extra essence. Extra spawning,” Trixie agreed. “Just like one the floating island.”

“The warlock was before the chaotic essence,” I deflected.

“Probably… but I still think this is partially your fault; maybe it was brewing, and you accidentally sped it up?” Trixie suggested with a smirk.

I hope I wasn’t to blame. But either way, I’d be helping clean up the mess if it got to that point. I’d gained plenty of experience from the last kobold culling and had new toys to try out.

Chapter fifty-seven

Siren

We were casually strolling around Dhoggurum, minding our own business, when suddenly, a strange high-pitched noise began echoing throughout the city. All the non-dwarves looked around in panic, but the stout dwarves all abruptly stood at attention as if they’d been prepared their entire lives for this moment.

Some of the humans were eventually calmed down, but everyone seemed to be on edge, waiting for the blaring siren to cease and answer the question on everyone’s mind.

“Attention, citizens!” a magically amplified voice echoed throughout the whole city. Once again, the non-dwarves were surprised, and those who panicked were hushed to shut their yaps.

“Attention, citizens!” the magical voice repeated. “Dhoggurum, our mighty city of rock and stone, is under siege!”

Gasps echoed throughout the crowd, followed by angry jeers from the dwarves.

“I repeat. Dhoggurum is under siege. A vile force of darkness, spawned from the depths, is en route. The accursed kobolds have forgotten their place and seek to harm us! It’s up to us to stop them and put them in their rightful place!”

Cheers and thunderous stomps of feet could be heard echoing throughout the city.

“Brothers, sisters! Those who wish to defend our home head to the nearest garrison—we will not yield! Our allies and visitors, if you wish to aid our cause, we will accept any help, military or otherwise. Adventurers! An emergency quest has been issued; seek the guild for assignment to earn your riches and glory! For Dhoggurum!”

“For Dhoggurum!” the dwarves chanted in unison.

I’d almost expected a panic from such an announcement, but the dwarves began heading off so orderly that it seemed practically pre-prepared. Some of the confused humans got caught in the buzz and followed along, looking slightly sheepish.

“Well… I guess the kobolds are coming for us!” Trixie said mentally.

“This seems like a pretty big deal…” Vee mumbled. “I assume we’re going to help?”

“If there’s any chance at killing a lesser dragon, then I bet this is it!” I replied excitedly. “The only thing we need to ensure is that we don’t get assigned to a squad or party. Otherwise, we will need to hold back or risk blowing our cover.”

“And here I was hoping we could sit on the wall and play tower defense…” Vee grumbled.

“Just so you’re aware… I can’t actually attack them,” Trixie pointed out, casually dropping quite the bombshell on us.

“As in… you can’t actually attack?” Vee questioned. “Are you all smoke and mirrors?”

“Trixie has [Water Magic] and [Nature Magic],” I swiftly answered. “So I’m guessing it’s something else?”

“Bingo!” Trixie replied. “I can throw out some support from the sidelines, but officially, I’m not really allowed to attack and kill things directly.”

“That sounds stupid…” Vee muttered.

“Is that why you’ve never joined my party?” I asked. “Even back on the island…”

“Bingo again!” Trixie giggled. “It is a bit stupid, but rules are rules, and as a spirit, I need to take them very seriously.”

“An oath?” I asked.

“Something like that,” Trixie said with a shrug. “Also, you really shouldn’t mention those to others.”

“A bit late to that,” Vee snickered.

Trixie stared at me with quite a judgmental look plastered on her face.

“Er… I sort of took an oath with Vee,” I answered.

“How? You aren’t a spirit. Explain!” Trixie demanded.

I gave her a brief rundown, and Vee confirmed it. Trixie looked absolutely flabbergasted, and it actually took her a while to recompose and snap back to reality.

“You took an oath… to the gods!?” Trixie screeched.

“Yes?” I confirmed hesitantly.

Trixie was tearing at her hair before she slumped and sighed.

“Well… as oaths go, that one isn’t that bad,” Trixie admitted, although her tone was still venomous.

“As the receiver of said oath, I’m delighted with it,” Vee admitted. “And while I know now that Syl would have probably never used that [Order] thing on me, I’m still glad to have utter certainty.”

“The content of the oath is fine… Like I said, it’s got no glaring flaws other than the fact you can’t use the positive benefits of [Order],” Trixie once again admitted. “My concern is bringing the gods into it. You don’t want their direct attention on you for silly nonsense.”

“Uh… I hate to break it to you, Trixie, but the gods are very much involved with the both of us,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, we’re both [Experiments] for two different gods,” Vee added.

“There’s even a third god if you count Unc, although he seems to be a bit of a loose addition compared to Gramps or Mother,” I further added.

Trixie scrunched her face up tight before relaxing it and letting out a massive sigh. “You’re right… I guess the gods and you were already mingling long before this. Just… be safe, okay?”

“Well, as safe as I can be.” I chuckled, hoping to lighten up the mood. “After all, I plan on jumping directly into whatever this kobold fiasco is!”

“Oh… right, we should probably hurry, or Lukhek might get mad,” Vee said.

With Trixie on my head and Vee secured on my shoulder, I hastily headed toward the guild. The turnout was absolutely massive, and I almost wondered if we weren’t even needed.

“Wow… I almost feel sorry for the kobolds with this many adventurers,” Vee joked.

We stood in line and watched as everyone came and went in a remarkably orderly fashion. There were a surprising amount more humans in the area than I had previously seen, which struck me as slightly odd.

“Definitely making me slightly rethink revealing the truth…” I admitted. “Were all these adventurers just hiding in the pubs, or what?”

Vee chuckled nervously. “Yeah… Please don’t, or at least give me enough warning so I can teleport to safety.”

“Definitely not a good idea,” Trixie agreed. “You might have better luck telling the elves the truth, although they might ask to bond you on the spot!”

“Unless they’re willing to swear a similar oath, I don’t think I’ll be accepting any bonds, thank you very much,” I grumbled.

“How the heck would that even work?” Vee asked. “Like… do they get me for free? A bond-chain or what?”

Trixie shrugged. “No clue… It’s definitely uncharted territory.”

We kept waiting for our turn, a slightly surreal experience. When exiting, quite a few humans seemed to shoot dirty glances my way.

“Are they upset I have a pixie on my head?” I asked as I recalled Trixie saying humans hated her kind.

“Oh no, I’m invisible,” Trixie answered. “Poofed as soon as I saw so many of them. Just now, one of them whips out a pixie cage and catches me.”

“Surely they can’t do that in the dwarf city?” I asked.

“Oh, it’d certainly be a diplomatic incident,” Trixie agreed. “But I’m still not taking any chances. What happens in a creepy dark alley stays in the creepy dark alley.”

“Yeah… better to be safe than sorry,” Vee said approvingly. “They’re probably glaring at me; I am a creepy spider, after all.”

“No way! You’re an adorable shrinking spider!” Trixie vehemently objected.

“Well, I doubt they’re glaring at the super hot elf,” Vee countered.

“Maybe they hate the pointy knife ears?” Trixie joked.

“No way, the pointy elf ear thing is super cute. I’m pretty sure I knew people who would kill to have real-life elf ears,” Vee objected.

Trixie gasped in shock. “Why would anyone want elf ears? Do they eat them or something? That’s super creepy!”

“No!” Vee shouted. “As in, they wanted elf ears in place of their own on their head! Not amputated off. I swear, you—”

Vee’s rant was interrupted when she saw a familiar smirk and stifled giggles coming from the pixie. She swatted at the pixie, and there was a bit of a slap war going on between my head and shoulders.

This probably looks absurd to everyone else, with Trixie being invisible.

When we finally got inside, the layout differed from what I recalled. The booths had been changed in an improvised manner, with a sign advertising either a role or a task, and adventurers would head toward the one they wanted or best suited them.

A desk for healers, fortifications builders, wall defenders, tanks, ranged damage dealers and partied groups were just a few of the many designations on display.

“I think that one probably suits us best,” Vee said, pointing one of her little legs forward.

Following her motion, I saw a desk labeled “Strike Squad” and figured that definitely was the closest to our needs.

“Damn, I was hoping we could’ve been wall defenders,” Trixie said sarcastically.

“I guess with your [Nature Magic], that could have been very useful,” I replied.

“An army of Branch Sprites!” Trixie gleefully giggled. “Although I think that would violate my restrictions. Not to mention, I don’t think there’s enough wood for that unless we start breaking some furniture.”

We headed toward the desk, the dwarf assigned to the post seeming slightly surprised.

“Are you here to register for your party?” the dwarf asked.

“Nope, just me and my [Bonded Companion],” I answered,

“Alright…” the dwarf grunted. “Would you like to be assigned with an open party?”

“No thank you, I’d like to be able to independently operate,” I replied.

“Of course… another glory seeker.” The dwarf sighed. “Well, whatever, do you need me to explain your role?”

“I assume it’s to take out high-value targets or disrupt the enemy directly?” I asked.

The dwarf nodded. “More or less. The key targets are warlocks, as there seem to be quite a few enslaved monsters in their army. Otherwise, go for healers as the next priority, followed by any other spellcaster. Can you handle that?”

I nodded. “Sounds good to me. I have two movement skills and some upgrades for [Sneak Attack].”

The dwarf’s expression brightened. “Great! It sounds like you’ll be a perfect little mage slayer.”

I received three quests, two of which provided locations. The dwarf explained that the first location was my top priority to roam for targets, and then I could move on to the other location if targets ran out or if the quest was completed.

None of the quests had completion conditions, so their completion had to be manually controlled. When I asked, my suspicion was confirmed.

“If the third quest completes itself, you should immediately return to the city!” the dwarf warned me. “Otherwise, just kill as many kobolds as you can see!”

I thanked him for explaining, and he handed me a badge indicating my task. The dwarf explained that if I showed that to any of the guards, they would assist me to the best of their capabilities within reason.

“That’s rather clever of them using quests as a sort of impromptu communication system,” Trixie pointed out.

“Sucks you guys don’t have phones or something to talk with. It’s a form of long-range communication,” Vee commented.

“While we don’t have these phone things you mentioned, we do have a few magic items that allow communication,” Trixie explained. “Dungeon rewards or crazy inventions from artificers. Although most of them are quite cumbersome. You could also uncap the [Telepathy (Greater)] skill and get some pretty immense range!”

“Did you uncap it?” I asked curiously.

“Gods, no!” Trixie rejected it immediately. “That’s a one-way ticket to being the errand pixie of some bigshot, doing nothing but facilitating communications all day, every day. Can you even imagine how boring that would be?”

“A magical call center… Now I’ve heard everything,” Vee chuckled dryly.

Dhoggurum was abuzz with dwarves forming rank and file and heading toward their set locations. Judging by the massive defensive formation surrounding the city, I doubted the kobolds were even capable of breaching its defenses.

The location I was heading to led to a new district and eventually a gate. The dwarves on duty were momentarily confused by my presence until I explained and showed them the badge I had been given.

“Hunter squad, ’ey?” one dwarf grunted happily, giving a toothy grin and thumbs up. “Be sure to kill many of those scalie bastards for me!”

“For Dhoggurum!” the dwarves chanted in unison as they opened my exit door.

All three of us gasped in synchrony at the environment opening up before us.

The clang of metal echoed off the stone walls as the dwarves stood shoulder to shoulder along the battlements. As I peered out into the dim expanse of the cavern, the flickering light of torches painted the approaching kobold horde in a chaotic dance of shadows. Their crude war cries—a shrill cacophony—ricocheted through the cavern.

“That… is a lot of kobolds!” Trixie gasped.

And I had to agree; this was simply unbelievable.

Chapter fifty-eight

Artillery

“Oh wow, the temptation to just turn into a giant slime-worm and go barreling through them is almost overpowering.” I chuckled.

“Please don’t…” Vee replied nervously.

“Please do!” Trixie countered with a massive grin.

With a shoulder angel and devil, I decided to keep my sanity and not succumb to temptation. It would have been glorious, but that would be the end of Syl, the adventurer. I wasn’t ready for that commitment just yet.

While we were admiring the view, the kobolds and dwarves exchanged magical artillery, mainly in the form of rock projectiles being hurled at each other. The occasional [Fireballs] streaked across from either side, but they always seemed to sputter out before reaching their target.

“And this is why getting past your Mana aura is important,” Trixie informed us. “If you could form your [Fireball] farther away and closer to the target, you wouldn’t have them sputtering out like that.”

“I’m working on it!” Vee moaned with a hint of irritation. “I’m sorry that I can’t imagine myself as the rock, flower, or anything outside my spidery body.”

“You’ll get it, don’t worry!” I said reassuringly. Almost immediately, I could sense the relief coming from my spidery companion.

Wow, our [Companion Bond] has really grown fast. I guess I’m the first thing that has offered her anything other than death, so she’s attached herself to me quite rapidly.

It was definitely a reassuring thought, and I was also extremely grateful to have someone with whom I could share my situation more directly. Trixie was great and all, but arguably, she had no real stake in any of this. She could leave us and wash her hands of the matter entirely if she wanted.

Well, those are some negative thoughts, I grumbled and shook myself free of them. I can’t exactly blame her if she wants to avoid the potential drama with a monster in disguise—not that I think she would.

A large rock hurtled upward toward the dwarven battlements, but a group of mages joined to stop it moments before it crashed into the rampart. The dwarves cheered before flinging it back toward the kobolds, their casters attempting to seize it but only managing to send it plummeting to the ground early. But to their dismay, the rock kept much of its momentum despite being slammed into the ground and began bowling into a group of kobolds.

“Man, this is crazy…” Vee muttered again.

One of the dwarves in charge must have spotted us as he rapidly approached.

“Adventurer sent to reinforce us?” he questioned with a happy grunt. “Will you be joining the artillery line?”

“No, I’m part of a hit squad,” I answered.

“Really?” the dwarf asked, looking me over. “I thought you’d surely be part of the artillery mages with that much magical power.”

“I guess I prefer to get closer to the action,” I replied with a dry chuckle.

“Aye, I can understand that.” The dwarf nodded in agreement. “Well, good luck out there then. Try not to get hit by any stray boulders!”

Before I could respond, the dwarf returned to the firing line and started shouting various orders to some of the mages present.

“He was joking… right?” Vee questioned nervously.

“I don’t think so,” Trixie replied.

“Is it too late to join the artillery division?” Vee suggested.

“That sounds boring, though,” I answered. “And it’s not like you can fire [Acid Darts] that far.”

Vee sighed. “Maybe we could do portals?”

“Don’t be such a scaredy-spider!” Trixie countered. “I’m sure Syl will keep you safe if you can’t [Blink] away in time.”

“I certainly don’t plan on being hit by a giant rock,” I stated plainly.

Rather than diving right in, we continued to observe the long-range exchanges and question some of the dwarves on duty. I wondered when more close-range operations would be done and discovered that a group was being formed to do some hit-and-run tactics.

“Sounds like the perfect distraction for us,” Trixie pointed out.

“Agreed,” I said with a nod.

The group leaving the battlement was a well-armored bunch of dwarves, with the occasional human also present. When they were being lowered, the kobolds attempted to fire some spells and projectiles directly at them, but they were met with shields and barriers promptly formed to block and counter.

Rather than going down with the group, I simply jumped off the ledge and utilized the slowfall enchantment on my cloak. Trixie and Vee clutched on tightly as I drifted down, with the former screaming with delight.

“You can fly; why are you finding this so fun!?” Vee questioned the pixie.

“Yeah! But flying and falling with a magic cloak into an army of kobolds is another thing entirely!” Trixie gleefully responded.

There was the occasional shot at me, but with [Wind Step], I could easily avoid any projectiles fired my way or by throwing up an impromptu [Aegis] spell.

“Oh wow… that is very different from [Blink]…” Vee replied, sounding somewhat distraught.

“Oh… I kind of forgot I had passengers. It’s a good thing I didn’t lose you!” I said somewhat nervously.

“It’s a movement skill, so yeah, we get taken along for the ride,” Trixie explained. “Although we would’ve been left behind if you used [Blink]. So it’s a good thing it’s movement and not teleportation!”

“Would it work with [Thunder Step] too?” I pondered.

“Yes, but please don’t!” Trixie immediately answered.

“Yes, please do not shock the spider!” Vee quickly added.

The dwarf squad was already beginning their harassment, quickly darting into action before retreating behind a barrage of attacks from the support on the battlements.

Not wanting to just sit around and wait, I began quickly maneuvering to a good vantage point while ensuring I was using [Vanish] and presumably aided in some way by Trixie.

“I don’t see any warlocks…” Vee muttered.

“They’re probably much deeper in; no way they would be around the frontline,” Trixie replied.

“Guess I’ll just throw out some random spells and help,” I suggested.

“Yeah! Give Vee a good demonstration of casting outside of your Mana aura!” Trixie agreed.

I quickly aligned myself to Lightning and grabbed my helpers. Together, we started spawning [Ball Lightning] spells right in the middle of clusters of kobolds. Shrieks of outrage and cries of agony erupted in cacophony from the tiny lizards, and they began frantically trying to avoid the abruptly appearing spells.

“Wow, that looks like cheating,” Vee responded.

“Hardly… if they had some better mages, they could easily counter those spells or at least dispel them,” Trixie replied casually.

Either Trixie was hiding us very well, or my [Magical Subterfuge] and [Vanish] were working wonders, as despite casting multiple spells directly into the kobolds, they didn’t seem to spot their source.

Vee, not wanting to do nothing was starting to toss out debuffs to some of the more elite kobolds. She had [Subtle Afflictions], so at least they weren’t detectable, and when I decided to finally move to a new spot, she began throwing out [Acid Dart] spells, too.

Sadly, the kobolds were not worth much experience. They were little more than fodder sent into a grinder in hopes of delaying the dwarves until the more elite forces made their way. Or perhaps they were hoping to either tire out the stout defenders or burn through their valuable resources.

Sneaking in farther, we began seeing some of their enslaved monsters. Most of the monsters were badgers and ants, but I even spotted a rare salamander or a froglike creature in the mix.

“I didn’t think they would be able to control ants…” I asked out loud.

“I think they’re even easier to control if you kill their princess or queen; then they are nothing but mindless drones,” Trixie answered.

“Yikes. Good thing the ants aren’t too strong!” Vee replied.

“Yeah, no fire ants in this batch, which is probably good…” I added.

I thought I might need to be much more cautious in my approach, but it seemed like neither the kobolds nor their monsters noticed me infiltrating their ranks. A massive rock came quite close to our location, and despite Vee’s mental screams, we were far out of reach from it being an issue for us.

I capitalized on the rocky distraction to toss out further spells and greatly hinder the marching kobolds.

“I’m super tempted to throw out some spell orbs…” I whispered mentally.

“Really? Haven’t you caused enough environmental destruction?” Vee questioned.

“A few won’t hurt, I’m sure…” I chuckled darkly.

“Please be the voice of reason, Trixie!” Vee begged.

“I must say I’ve been curious to see what caused such chaotic essence, so I’d say go for it!” Trixie excitedly said.

Vee sighed. “I guess I deserve that for trusting a pixie to be reasonable.”

Trixie stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry toward Vee, who tried to reciprocate, but only a strange hiss was produced.

I maneuvered myself to a relatively safe spot and then withdrew some spell orbs. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be very subtle with these, so after launching them, I’d need to be on the move to avoid any kobolds attacking my previous position.

With my ammo loaded, I began launching a few orbs toward large clusters of kobolds or monsters with the help of [Slime Shot] while hastily abandoning my prior position. Unlike my spells, the orbs soared through the air and were quite quickly noticed by our foes.

Some of them tried to block them with spells or shoot them down, but they were made from orichalcum, freshly produced from [Metal Slime], and unless they really put in an effort, they would be unable to stop them.

“It’s like you’re literally shooting away money,” Trixie gasped in disbelief.

“What did you think she was doing!?” Vee questioned.

“I mean… I had a general idea of what she was up to, but seeing them flying out in such quantity is another thing entirely!” Trixie responded.

I giggled a little maniacally and, with a wink to my companions, said the magic word, “Boom!”

Detonations went off, releasing their various stored spells. Out of my improved spell orbs, the ones with [Poison Cloud] were arguably the most effective, and when combined with [Gust], they spread the hazardous cloud into a much more effectual area. Seeing that result, I hastily made mental notes to combine various spell orbs into sets.

If I could find optimal pairings or more, think of what I could accomplish!

“Wow…” Trixie said, sounding particularly flabbergasted. “You definitely couldn’t do that when we last met.”

“Syl’s totally gone mad scientist on us…” Vee moaned.

Chaos erupted from the kobolds, and I even heard some shouting in commands in [Universal Language] rather than their own reptilian language made from various clicks and hisses.

“Wow… they were not happy about that; looks like there’s a kill order to hunt you down!” Vee warned.

“Well, good luck to them!” Trixie smirked. “Between Syl’s stealth, us moving around, and my illusions, they’d need to be pretty damn good to spot us!”

“You’re raising flags talking like that…” Vee warned.

“Flags?” I questioned.

Before Vee could answer, a wave of fire burst forward and swept toward our location. I quickly cast [Bubble] on myself, enveloping both companions and threw up a quick [Aegis] to block the brunt of the wave.

“See! I told you!” Vee cried.

“Bah! That fire was hardly targeting us directly; more like it was fired in our general direction,” Trixie scoffed.

When the flames died down, I saw a small squadron of salamanders pointed in our direction, flames still roiling in their mouths. Accompanying them was a bunch of kobold pyromancers with flames smoldering between their clawed grasp.

“Everyone okay?” I questioned.

“I’m fine… thanks,” Vee responded.

“Yes, but I think they spotted your bubble…” Trixie pointed out.

And right the pixie was, as the kobolds pointed in our direction. If the [Bubble] spell wasn’t enough, the evident lack of burning in our general area was another giveaway.

“I guess it is hard to be stealthy if you’re surrounded by a giant bubble…” I admitted.

“Well, just kill them quickly and then run away,” Trixie suggested.

“And drop the cartoonishly giant bubble!” Vee shouted.

Chapter fifty-nine

Salamander Squad

With a pop, I canceled my enlarged [Bubble] spell and began casting a normal-sized one in addition to [Zephyr Shroud] on Vee. As the spider had said many times, she was not strictly fireproof, and I didn’t want her to take any unnecessary damage. It appeared that when working together, these salamanders could really turn up the heat.

As if instinctually understanding my intent, Vee used [Blink] to leave my shoulder as soon as the final buff completed and began flickering closer, yet out of the direct firing range of the salamanders. When she finished gaining ground, she started casting weaves of [Acid Dart] and firing them at the kobolds.

Immediately, I felt my helper core reaching out to help, and I remembered that I still had yet to rescind its assistance order. I felt Vee’s initial confusion at her spells being empowered, but it was soon replaced by what felt like gratitude.

“Oh wow… that’s some good teamwork, I’m feeling a bit left out,” Trixie stated.

“[Companion Bond] and [Ritual Casting],” I explained. “And don’t be; we worked well together when you hid my spells against those pegasi!”

“I see…” Trixie murmured. “I would’ve scolded you for leaving yourself so open by casting outside your Mana aura with reckless abandon, but it looks like casting through [Ritual Casting] is mitigating that.”

“How so?” I asked while throwing up multiple [Aegis] spells to disrupt some oncoming [Fireballs] directed toward me.

“It looks like it’s using Vee as the anchor point, probably because she’s the spell’s origin, and you’re boosting her,” Trixie answered.

“Huh… that’s good to know. I’m surprised it’s not more common,” I replied.

“It’s pretty niche. Wouldn’t it be more effective for you to cast these spells yourself rather than help Vee?” Trixie asked.

“Sure, but nothing is stopping me from doing so,” I replied and demonstrated so by casting two [Force Bolt] spells at two salamanders. “Not to mention, I wanted Vee to get more spellcasting experience.”

The magical arcane bolts flew forward and struck both salamanders, applying directional force to each and sending them hurtling toward one another. They cried out moments before colliding and looking mightily upset.

“Point made,” Trixie nodded as she barely contained her impish grin. “And that was hilarious!”

Vee capitalized on the two tangled salamanders by casting [Poison Cloud], grabbing both into the hazardous green cloud. That caused the kobold pyromancers to refocus their efforts on the deadly spider, which was actively attacking their enslaved pets.

Vee was definitely being more reckless, but my direct aid allowed her to do so, as she knew I’d have her back. She teleported directly behind a kobold pyromancer before simultaneously casting [Pocket Space] while swinging her front legs as she withdrew a deadly amount of [Rift Thread] and tore through the kobold.

Despite being carved asunder, the lizard monster still surged with Fire Mana and threw out one of the largest castings of [Nova] I’d ever seen. Either [Blink] had a cooldown, or Vee was caught off guard as she didn’t teleport away. Thankfully, my [Sub-Cores] were still watching over her, and by the time her [Bubble] broke, she was already defended by [Ice Dome], [Rampart], and multiple [Aegis] spells.

“Wow… overprotective much?” Trixie teased. “What are you, her mom?”

“That was my [Sub-Cores],” I brushed off, feeling a teensy bit embarrassed; they had really gone overboard on the protection front.

Unfortunately, the kobold pyromancer’s last fiery sacrifice did little to his allies, as it looked like they were all effectively immune to flame. This probably explained why they ran as a squad together and why other kobolds appeared to be avoiding the immediate area.

However, by the looks of things, they had their hands full dealing with the shock troop of dwarves who were repeatedly battering their frontline.

“Wow, thanks for the save!” Vee said gratefully as she blinked out of the [Ice Dome], looking perfectly unscratched, and continued her assault on the kobold pyromancers.

I didn’t want to steal her training, so while she tangled with the fire team, I began indirectly casting some more explosive spells into any large cluster of kobolds I could spot, and with [Eagle Vision], I could spot plenty of juicy targets.

By the time Vee finished mopping up the last of the pyro-salamander squad, the area around us looked overly vacant, and we stood out like sore thumbs. I wanted to immediately retreat and continue our stealthy scouting for valuable targets when, out of nowhere, a squadron of monsters suddenly appeared before us.

A large bird monster crackled with lightning, a snake that appeared to be oozing water, a pair of fiery hedgehogs, and even a yeti.

<Thunder Falcon LV 30. Elemental Affinity: Lightning.>

<Aqua Cobra LV 30. Elemental Affinity: Water.>

<Infernal Hedgehog LV 30. Elemental Affinity: Fire.>

<Boreal Yeti LV 30. Elemental Affinity: Ice.>

That’s strange… Why are they all level 30?

My question would have to wait as the group suddenly attacked in unison, targeting me specifically.

“Eep!” Vee squeaked as I rapidly activated [Wind Step] multiple times to obscure my location as a barrage of four elements crashed in my prior location.

The monsters looked oddly strange as I observed them, and I felt like [Soul Sight] was trying to tell me something about them. However, the way they coordinated in harmony made me confident they came from the same source.

“Wow, someone has it out for you,” Trixie commented, looking slightly flustered.

“More experience for us,” I replied with a grin. “Which ones do you want, Vee?”

“I don’t really want to deal with ice and lightning…” Vee said, sounding somewhat weary.

“Works for me,” I replied before dodging another combined assault.

Vee once again used [Blink], appearing almost directly adjacent to the water snake and firing a quick barrage of [Acid Darts]. To her dismay, the snake seemed to sense her immediate presence and managed to dodge all the spells aimed at it with a perfect fluid-like motion.

“Oh? I might need to get a bit serious!” Vee taunted.

“She does know they can’t hear her, right?” Trixie asked.

“Don’t spoil her fun,” I argued back.

The only issue was that the monsters were in a bit of a cluster, clearly wanting to work as a unit rather than separating. Also, it seemed like the snake was ignoring Vee despite her direct attack against it, with its gaze still laser-focused on me.

Well, since they seem to lack an earth representative, I think I can use [Rampart] to separate them. Then Vee and I can pick them apart. And since I have all eyes on me, I have the perfect plan!

“Shut your eyes!” I shouted over our telepathic link and threw everything I had into the [Flash], my latest acquisition from [Light Magic].

The Light Mana built up into a crescendo before bursting outward like a sunburst from my spot. It must have been utterly blinding in the dark, dank cavern, as even kobolds nowhere near our position wailed in agony from the sudden bright display.

“Oh wow, that was bright!” Trixie whined, perhaps not closing her eyes in time.

My distraction appeared perfect, as the group of strange monsters was momentarily unmoving. So, I rapidly moved on to phase two, using [Rampart] to create an earthen wall dividing the group.

“Awesome!” Vee said excitedly as she teleported out of sight behind the wall to deal with her targets. Thanks to our bond, I could still sense her, which was a somewhat reassuring feeling in the back of my mind.

With just the two hedgehogs and the bird to deal with, I was looking forward to having some fun with them. I had yet to reach [Water Magic LV 6], so this might be the opportunity to push myself over the edge.

Aligning to water, I began to cast [Waterjet] aimed at the fire hedgehogs, I had thought I’d easily score a direct hit, but to my surprise, they flared up and rocketed toward me as if they were living fireballs.

I could have let them slam into me and engulf them with my slimy body, but I still wanted to retain my elven persona for now, and so with the aid of my [Sub-Cores], we threw up a rapid defense. [Aegis] spells delayed the rocketing hedgehogs, and then an impromptu half [Ice Dome] sealed the deal. When they crashed against the solid ice, I countered by immediately casting [Waterjet] again at their impact spot.

Magical, deadly, compressed beams of pressurized water fired out, boring straight through the inner wall of the icy dome and hopefully skewering the hedgehogs.

Since the backside of the dome was open, I used a chain of [Thunder Step] to back out and then reappear on the flank, ready to cast another batch of spells.

Appearing on the scene, one of the monsters had been struck, and its body was flickering like a dying candle. With haste, I threw together another [Waterjet] and fired directly at the monster, slaying it on the spot.

Then, to my horror, I watched as the hedgehog not only faded away into dying embers, but the remaining one seemed to feed on its fiery energy and get reinvigorated. It had only been grazed by the initial [Waterjet] and looked arguably better than ever.

“Oh, gods, don’t tell me this is more ghost bullshit or something!?” I cried out, feeling extremely upset at the lack of a body to eat.

“Or something…” Trixie replied, sounding annoyingly vague.

I glared at her in annoyance and noted she looked rather frazzled herself.

Oh… she did ask me not to use [Thunder Step].

I felt a tiny pair of accusatory eyes attempting to bore holes through me as she fluttered off from her usual sitting spot and kept a safe distance.

Her departure was right in time as the falcon came crashing next to me in a thunderous burst of energy. Rocky shrapnel went scattering as crackling energy burst outward from it, scoring the earth and the nearby vicinity.

I felt my [Voltaic Slime] being charged straight to its maximum capacity, which meant the overload began striking against my cores. This was where I discovered that despite a good coating of adamantine [Metal Slime], it was still conductive, and the energy overload began to burn my internals.

I really need that full lightning immunity as soon as possible…

Needing to offload the energy, I quickly fired out my own electrical burst straight back at it, when I heard a cry from Trixie.

“No!” the pixie screamed, but it was too late as the bolt of surging energy crashed into the bird monster and empowered it.

“Oh… shit,” I complained.

With a mighty cry, the falcon extended its wings outward to their full length in almost a pose of triumph. Then, it seemed to practically disappear with newfound speed as it was at my side and attempted to gash me with its beak and talons. To its dismay, it struck against my newly reforged armor and, despite its best effort, barely scratched it with its claws. However, its beak did manage to partially pierce through before meeting my reinforced, slimy exterior.

Then, with another flash, it retreated and appeared to be gathering energy. Meanwhile, the flaming hedgehog hurled itself at me again, looking more like a comet than a fireball now.

I grumbled in annoyance at how these weird monsters were trying to make a fool of me, and so rather than blocking or defending, I went on the offensive and fired multiple [Force Bolts] at the hedgehog, fully reinforced with the power of all my [Sub-Cores] and the directional vector set to the maximum and aimed directly at the hawk—hopefully.

The quickness of my casting and the hedgehog’s relatively runaway-propelled direction meant it couldn’t avoid the magical bolts crashing into it. It halted midair in an almost comical fashion before soaring toward the hawk.

“Kwek!?” the thunder hawk squawked in surprise before it took a face full of burning hedgehog.

“Okay, this spell is hilariously useful.” I giggled with glee.

The hedgehog looked outraged while the hawk was recovering poorly. I began forming more spells to hopefully finish it when an abrupt pain began erupting through my entire body. It felt like something had taken a bite out of me while hundreds of tiny blades raked across my skin.

I cried out in pain, the sensation relatively unfamiliar, and dropped my spells as I desperately clutched myself. My form slightly wavered as I tried to defend or cover myself from the unknown assailant.

“Light spell, now!” Trixie’s voice ordered me.

Clenching through the horrible pain, I fumbled through and cast a quick [Flash] spell. The pain immediately ceased, and I heard a chittering hissing noise. Looking down at the source, wrapped around my shadow, was a strange elongated creature with hundreds of legs.

<Shadow Centipede LV 30.>

“Oh, gods! And I thought I was a monster!” I cried out at the horrible abomination and began rapidly casting more and more [Flash] spells at it.

The creature released my shadow and began to slink away in retreat, much to my relief. It hissed defiantly at me and chomped its mandibles threateningly.

“I guess they had more cards hidden,” Trixie commented.

“Go check on Vee!” I quickly shouted to Trixie.

Our bond told me she was in good health, but I was terrified that there might be more hidden assailants that could strike at her.

Trixie gave a mock salute before vanishing, hopefully going to check on our spidery companion. I shot a dirty glare at the centipede and sighed as I noticed the other two had recovered from their friendly fire.

“Round two, I guess…” I sighed and considered pulling out a plethora of spell orbs to blow this area to smithereens.

Chapter sixty

Strange Monsters

I could effectively ignore the hedgehog and hawk, but that centipede was another story entirely. It needed to die immediately, and I wouldn’t give it any more chance to attack my shadow.

Seriously… Shadow abilities seem to be damn annoying. First, the elf assassin, and now this bug, I’d almost assume they were related if it wasn’t for the fact it’s a monster.

I knew the shadow creature would be intangible, meaning that most of my attacks would not work on it. However, it really hated the [Flash] spell I had thrown at it earlier, and so I began quickly modifying some projectile versions of the spell with the aid of my [Sub-Cores].

Under any other circumstance, I’d say these were really stupid spells, but I guess if I ever fight another shadow monster in the future, it will be good to have them in my back pocket.

I still had the [Light Beam] spell as well, which was supposed to be my gateway to offensive light magic, and I began casting it in rapid succession toward the many-legged monstrosity. As soon as the first ray of light was emitted, the creature hissed and dodged around like its life depended on it.

Then, to further my frustration, the other two monsters began defending it as if they knew it was their trump card against me. The hedgehog would body block the beams of light, which seemed to do nothing at all to it in this weakened state.

With my frustration growing, I pretended to withdraw an item and at the same time formed the [Enchanted Horn] from the unicorn profile, hoping that if I made my [Light Magic] “more real,” then it would at least do minor damage to the two non-shadow creatures.

I formed the horn in my hand, wielded it like a wand or scepter, and began blasting further [Light Beam] spells in succession toward the centipede. When the other two interceded this time, they didn’t escape unscathed, but it was barely a flesh wound against these monsters.

Seriously [Light Magic], you’re really letting me down here!

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the three monsters began coordinating again, and I witnessed the centipede hitch a ride inside the hawk’s shadow, who then burst forward to attack me.

I blocked the hawk’s attack and countered with a frigid blast of numerous [Icicle] spells, dealing harsh damage to the creature and beginning to partially freeze the beast, thanks to all the interlaced afflictions and debuffs within.

However, even with the hawk suffering considerably for its actions, it had succeeded in the task of depositing the centipede right at my doorstep. It launched from the hawk’s shadow into my own and began violently assaulting my shadow. Its legs were like tiny razors gashing as it writhed through my shadow while its giant mandibles snapped rapidly and fiercely.

I was slightly better prepared this time for the painful experience and threw out multiple of my modified [Flash] spells, which were held at the ready precisely for this moment. Bursts of blinding light exploded directly at the centipede, causing black smoke to sizzle from its body and forcing it to writhe uncontrollably on the ground.

With it momentarily disabled again, I wasted no time thrusting the unicorn horn “wand” forward and rapidly firing as many [Light Beam] spells into the creature as possible. Unlike the other two monsters, I could visibly see this one dealing significant damage to the centipede. After the fourth ray of light punctured directly through it, it met its end and abruptly exploded into a shadowy substance laced with quite a lot of Mana.

That’s weird… I’ve never seen a monster die like that before, even if it was a shadow creature.

But I didn’t have the time to dwell on the monster for too long as the hedgehog once again attempted a fiery gambit by launching itself toward me in a blazing last stand. Its burning form crashed into multiple [Aegis] spells formed by [Sub-Cores], which partially slowed it down before I gave the order for multiple [Waterjet] spells until it was defeated.

Beams of water were rapidly formed before being fired off in succession, each piercing through the creature and the rocky cavern floor with little resistance.

Seriously… My [Waterjet] spells have more penetration than [Light Beam]. I really need to find that spell the unicorns were using.

The flaming hedgehog wasn’t long for the world after taking multiple direct hits, especially from my water-aligned cores boosting the spell power, and soon it also exploded into fiery Mana that drifted through the air, almost identical to the centipede.

The similarity really bugged me, and to satisfy my curiosity, I began throwing out more [Icicle] spells at the thunder hawk to finish the job. It had barely moved since its failed operation, trying to fight off the encroaching frost, and it took little effort to seal the deal.

I watched closely as I landed the killing blow, and my theory proved correct. Almost identically, the monster died by exploding into a burst of Lightning Mana. The revelation greatly disturbed me, even though I had expected it.

Okay… what the hell was with these monsters? Once was strange enough, but three times?

Annoyed and determined, I burst an impromptu hole and dashed through, only to witness Vee and Trixie lazing about as if nothing had really happened.

“Wow, took you long enough!” Trixie teased.

“Yeah, I finished my half ages ago. What kept you?” Vee questioned.

“There was a shadow centipede… which kind of complicated things a little,” I explained. “But that’s not important. Did the monsters you fought explode into Mana?”

“Yeah, they did explode when they died; why?” Vee questioned.

“All three of mine did; the only one that didn’t was the first hedgehog that was practically eaten by the other,” I answered.

“Oh… well, none of mine ate anything.” Vee shrugged. “In fact, they were rather easy to defeat. They virtually ignored me once the wall came up and focused on getting back to you. It didn’t take much for me to get in a good backstabbing!”

“Yeah, seems they had no interest in Vee, only you,” Trixie added.

“Odd… do you think it was because they want me out of the picture so they can enslave Vee since she is a monster?” I proposed.

“Perhaps…” Trixie answered, although she sounded doubtful.

“You have another theory?” Vee asked. “Cause I’d like to know if a bunch of enemies are trying to enslave me.”

But to our disappointment, the pixie gave a fiendish grin and shrugged. “I’ll tell you later if you don’t figure it out yourselves.”

“Wonderful…” Vee grumbled. “Big help you are.”

“If I give you all the answers, you’ll never grow,” Trixie countered.

“Bah! Don’t give me some bad fortune cookie life advice here!” Vee berated.

“How about we do this somewhere else?” I suggested. “I think there’s a lot of angry kobolds looking our way.”

“Tactical retreat?” Trixie suggested.

“I’d hardly call it a retreat… We kicked their asses!” Vee said triumphantly.

I definitely agreed with Vee’s assessment as we made our way back to the dwarves for now. That still didn’t stop me from throwing out the occasional spell back toward any clusters of kobolds, and Vee joined in with a few [Acid Darts] at any that came too close.

As we backed off, we met one of the dwarven hit squads, who looked positively pleased to see us. Jovial cheers, boasts, and promises of drink were thrown our way as we temporarily joined up with them. We assisted in some skirmishing until they ultimately withdrew back to the fortifications.

When we returned to the fortifications, healers came out and blanketed everyone in rejuvenating magic. I was grateful that my strange injuries were magically healed, as it saved me time and slime.

How would I even repair damage to my shadow? Can I even repair my shadow? I wondered as I felt relief in the invisible wounds vanishing.

“I almost wish these lizard bastards would attack us more often; this could be a bi-annual event or something!” one dwarf triumphantly joked.

“Aye! It’s a great way to ensure our defenses aren’t rusty!” another dwarf joined in.

“Ha! You make it sound like we should thank them,” another said in jest, causing uproarious laughter among the group.

I was taken aback by the dwarves’ highly nonchalant attitude regarding the attacks against them. I had expected some more gravitas since their home was being assaulted, but perhaps the great success was growing on them, or maybe they were just that confident.

After recovering a bit, mostly just Vee’s Mana and stamina, we decided to head out again. There was plenty of experience to be gained, and the salamander squad and elemental monster trio had given me some good experience if my level-ups were anything to go by.

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 12>

<17 Trait Points are now available.>

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 16.>

<19 Skill Points are now available.>

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 13>

<18 Trait Points are now available.>

My next evolution seems so far away. I must say I’m jealous of what Vee can do. That tier-five evolution she got is absolutely crazy! Like, what would I get from it? I can’t even imagine. And now that my experience is being split with Vee, it’s technically even further away than before. Should I change my distribution once I reach level twenty in my class?

<Yes.>

I blinked in surprise. Gramps?

There were no further notifications. I could only presume it was Gramps, as he had often lamented my slower leveling speed. I made a vague commitment to change my distribution once I reached that level.

Plus, if I slow down my class levels a bit, I can focus more on what I’ve got. I have to admit I’ve been feeling a bit stretched thin with everything I’ve gained so rapidly and quickly. Like I only just got [Earth Magic] and [Air Magic]. Now [Light Magic] is in the mix. Not to mention, I’ll be getting [Dimension Magic] soon…ish? I hope.

We burst back onto the battlefield. This time, the squad heading out was much larger, and there seemed to be a dedicated force with the sole intention of halting the advancing kobolds and setting up another defensive line.

Meanwhile, I headed out to try looking for targets again. Although there was still a distinct lack of warlocks to be seen, so I just tried to be as disruptive as possible and soak up the experience points.

Was the quest a dud? Did they have the wrong information? I was perplexed by this strange attack and doubly by the strange monsters that tried to ambush us.

I continued tossing out mostly [Water Magic], hoping to level that up to six. It was most likely my closest to the next level if I disregarded [Light Magic].

I still don’t know how I feel about that magic. I wanted that spell the magical equines used on me, but it’s been quite the bummer so far. Although, at least it blinded that shadow bug.

Vee seemed to be having fun, tossing out as much [Corrosion Magic] as she could muster. With all the aid I gave her, I almost wondered if I’d hit the next level in that before [Water Magic].

Meanwhile, Trixie was mainly just slacking off. Occasionally, she’d point out a weird-looking kobold or tease Vee for not having broken through her Mana aura yet, and at one point, I swore she was taking a nap on my head.

Although even with her nonchalant appearance, it was clear she was doing something to aid us, I could still feel slight tugs of wrongness being pointed out by my [Illusion Resistance]. I was wondering if I’d gain a level up when abruptly, there was an explosion of rocky shrapnel aimed directly at us.

Rather than blocking it, I quickly used [Wind Step] to retreat safely from its area of effect.

Trixie unceremoniously awoke from her nap, almost falling off my head and onto Vee’s opposite shoulder. She stared, looked around, and then gasped as she pointed in that direction.

<Rockslide Shell-lizard LV 30. Elemental Affinity: Earth.> x5

<Shadow Centipede LV 30.> x6

<Kobold LV 5; Scout LV 25.>

“Is that… turtles?” Vee asked curiously.

The turtles, as Vee called them, looked like large lizards with massive rocky shells. They glowed in that strangely mystical appearance, like the other monster that had attacked us. To my surprise, there were no hedgehogs or birds this time, and instead, there was a much larger quantity of shadowy centipedes. Not to mention the single kobold, who also had the same magical glow.

“Looks like they’ve changed their strategy,” Trixie pointed out. “Guess someone noticed the shadow bugs had the most effectiveness on you.”

“Then what’s with the turtles?” Vee asked.

“Well, someone did put up a giant rock wall the last time. Maybe they wanted to stop that?” Trixie shrugged.

I sighed. What is going on with these strange monsters?

Chapter sixty-one

Even Stranger

“Okay… what the hell is going on?” I asked, staring at the nearly identical monster group before me.

“What? No way, almost perfectly identical monsters that you’ve previously defeated… what a weird coincidence!” Trixie declared, dripping with enough sarcasm to drown someone.

“I hate that she has the answer but refuses to tell us…” Vee grumbled.

“It’s certainly vexing. I can only assume it has something to do with her oath, or she wants us to learn a lesson.” I sighed.

“Maybe… who knows?” Trixie giggled. “I suggest you deal with the monsters quickly, though. The shadow ones have already started doing sneaky stuff.”

Two of the shadowy centipedes had indeed completely disappeared from my sight. I began flicking through my various sensory traits when Vee interrupted by pointing directly at their location and firing a barrage of [Acid Darts], which my [Sub-Cores] quickly joined in on to boost.

When the seemingly harmless shadows were struck, they abruptly came to life and squirmed in pain. Not enough to kill them, they hastily abandoned a stealthy approach and instead began trying to swarm at us.

“I really need to get [Spatial Sense]…” I muttered, impressed by how quickly the spider pinpointed the would-be ambushers.

“You’d have it if you bought it!” Trixie pointed out.

“I’m waiting for my discount!” I defended angrily, pulling over half of my [Sub-Cores] into helping me.

At breakneck speed, we were taking apart the [Fireball] spell and replacing it with Light. My newfound level in [Mana Manipulation] and the combined might of [Core Collective] meant that things were going smoothly, and another unexpected boon was coming from [Soul Sight], which was finally proving its worth.

Fire and Light Mana were actually closely related, with Fire and Light sharing some attributes between each other. Fire spells gave off light, while Light spells produced heat, a primary component of the former.

This meant that replacing Fire with Light Mana was surprisingly easier than I had expected, even if I didn’t have a small platoon of [Sub-Cores] giving 120% effort to assist me in the task.

With the rapidly completed “Lightball” in one hand, I locked down the resulting spell construct and had my [Sub-Cores] effortlessly replicate the result. What was one was now a pair with two brightly glowing balls I tossed in separating paths, hoping to maximize the explosive radius.

<Spell [Lightbomb] discovered.>

Hey! That’s a great name!

It was like the [Flash] spell I had cast beforehand, except at a much greater magnitude and area of effect. The shadow creatures wailed in agony, and even the regular monsters seemed deeply disturbed by the resulting detonation.

“Holy shit! Am I blind in three of my eyes!?” Vee cried out.

“Nothing some healing won’t fix… or time,” Trixie replied reassuringly. “Although some warning next time would be appreciated!”

“Sorry! I figured throwing two glowing balls was enough of a signal…” I apologized sheepishly.

“True, it did an absolute number on those shadow monsters,” Trixie replied excitedly. “If there was one more of that spell, I think you would’ve killed them in one go!”

“No! Not more!” Vee complained.

“I’ll finish them off with [Light Beam],” I compromised, rapidly firing the spell and executing the almost-dead centipede monsters.

As before, they exploded into what looked like Mana. I’d almost assume they weren’t real if I wasn’t getting kill notifications for each and every one of them. Trixie was staring at me expectantly as if I was supposed to have solved the puzzle already.

The only thing I can think of is that these strangely remind me of dungeon monsters… The same levels on all of them make me think they were spawned this way. Do the kobolds have a captured dungeon of their own?

“Since you killed the shadow monsters, I’ll deal with the rest,” Vee suggested, interrupting my thoughts.

I gave her a quick nod and let her go wild. I knew my [Sub-Cores] would provide aid if needed, so I resumed my thoughts.

No… I thought I remembered someone saying dungeon monsters can’t leave the dungeon. The monster book I read also said something similar about being grateful orange slimes couldn’t leave the dungeon. Huh… I guess that’s technically not true anymore with me. I wonder if I’ve broken some kind of taboo with that?

I was only half paying attention to Vee, although when she killed the strange kobold, I noted he also exploded into Mana, something eerily close to Nature. Everything was pointing toward these monsters being spawned, somehow, and I tried to scrutinize as much as possible with all my various senses, hoping to pick up on something when Vee killed more.

Trixie must have understood I was trying to concentrate as she didn’t disrupt me, although I wished she would just give me the answer at this point as I was rapidly growing frustrated.

Then something different happened; when Vee was about to strike down one of the earthen turtle monsters after wearing it down, it seemed to abruptly explode before her blow landed. We did not get a kill notification this time, and I saw that the Mana appeared to be going somewhere rather than dissolving into the air.

“Follow that Mana!” I declared and began chasing after it.

“Hey… I’m not done here,” Vee complained.

“Catch up when you’re done, slowpoke!” Trixie teased.

I could feel Vee’s annoyance through our [Companion Bond], but I knew she could easily catch up with some teleports. I did not want to lose this trail; it was my only answer to this strange reoccurring event.

“Oh, look, more!” Trixie suddenly spoke up.

I briefly looked behind and saw another trail of the strange Mana following us. Whatever happened to the first turtle must have happened to another before Vee could kill it.

“Talk about a big mistake.” Trixie giggled mischievously. “Also, they are tortoises, not turtles!”

“I really don’t care…” I admitted.

“You should!” Trixie whined. “Turtles are way better than tortoises because turtles can swim! Tortoises just walk around all slow, like they’re always late for something. And turtles get to live in both the water and on land, so they have double the fun. Tortoises? They’re stuck in the dirt all day like boring old grandparents. Plus, turtles’ shells are shinier because they are always washed in water. So, turtles win because they’re faster, cooler, and know how to have a splashy good time!”

I didn’t even know how to respond to that. The rant had come out of nowhere and taken me by such surprise that I nearly had forgotten I was chasing after the retreating Mana.

“O-ok?” I reluctantly agreed so the pixie wouldn’t start on another rant.

“Turtles are cooler!” Vee agreed, apparently still attached to our conversation despite our growing distance.

“Good.” Trixie nodded with satisfaction. “Also, look, enemies ahead.”

“Wha—” I began trying to reply as one of those thunderbird monsters flashed right before me.

“Skreee!” it screeched as it tried to rake down with its lightning-infused talons.

“Oh shit!” I cried out, but thankfully, my [Sub-Cores] remained ready despite my distraction and threw up barriers to block the blow.

Numerous [Aegis] spells shattered, but I had recovered my senses and fired a [Force Bolt] directly at it with the direction of “away.” The spell struck the bird, and for a moment, it looked like it resisted the force-pushing effect. I rapidly threw out a second bolt, which finally overcame the monster’s resistance, and it went flying backward.

With a more reasonable distance between us, I flipped to Water alignment and formed multiple [Waterjet] spells. Each spell was anchored from a different position, all pointed toward the monster, and with an ear-piercing scream, the pressurized beams of water pierced through the air.

I’d almost expected the bird to dissolve before the spells connected, or perhaps it was too slow and unexpected as the monster was brutally skewered by the highly destructive [Water Magic].

“Man, you really should have taken over Aquillia’s job,” Trixie teased.

I ignored her and began frantically looking around for one of the trails of Mana. While I had lost sight of my original one, I caught a glimpse of one of the ones Vee dispatched after we left and chased after it.

“Someone sent those to stop us chasing the trail…” I spoke my thoughts out loud.

“Hey, that’s pretty close!” Trixie once again teased.

“Just tell me,” I demanded.

Trixie shook her head. “You’ll get your answer at the end of this trail; I think they’ve realized they can’t intercept you anymore.”

I grumbled and begrudgingly accepted that answer. Weirdly, we appeared to be heading away from the kobolds. I would’ve thought for sure that the source of these monsters would have been well protected within the horde of the kobold army.

Or do these monsters have nothing to do with the kobolds? Will an elf assassin be at the end of this trail? I wondered.

I wasn’t exactly being subtle with my pursuit, and some kobolds did attempt to break off and fight me. But when I used some [Wind Steps] and threw out some spells in retaliation, they quickly gave up on that. I was still dumbfounded by the sheer number of kobolds on display and wondered how and where they’d kept such numbers.

My ponderings were interrupted when Vee suddenly appeared on my shoulder. I had sensed her growing closer through the bond, and when she poofed onto my shoulder, she let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.

“Wow, I caught up! I don’t think I’ve ever chained together so many [Blinks] before!” Vee exclaimed.

“Glad you made it; how many more poofed before you could kill them?” I asked Vee.

“Just two more; I started going straight for the kill rather than weakening them beforehand. It was getting rather annoying having my experience stolen like that.”

“I one hundred percent agree with you on that!” I chuckled. “Stealing experience is a crime of the highest order!”

“I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s definitely annoying… Nobody likes kill-stealers,” Vee replied.

“I’m surprised you encountered kill-stealers out here,” Trixie said, sounding very curious. “I didn’t think monsters were smart enough or deceptive enough to develop such tricks. Present company excluded, of course.”

“No… it’s something from my old life,” Vee explained. “What’s kill stealing here?”

“I’m guessing taking the final blow on a monster?” I suggested.

“Guessed it in one,” Trixie replied happily. “Yeah, sometimes rogue classes, especially the archer ones, will wait in the shadows to land a killing blow. You’d be horrified at what people do to gain experience.”

“I’m sure it’s not just the humans,” Vee complained.

“Oh yeah, it’s not just them,” Trixie agreed. “There’s some stories of army generals taking all the kills for themselves and things like that.”

I gestured backward toward all the kobolds, asking, “Do you think someone is taking all their experience from them?”

“Huh…” Trixie mumbled, scratching her head as if she hadn’t considered that. “Could be! Although I don’t know how many kills those ragtag group of kobolds will get. It feels like they’re throwing cannon fodder at the dwarves, hoping to waste their supplies.”

“That’s absurd… so many dead kobolds for what?” Vee questioned.

“Necromancers do the same thing with the dead,” Trixie answered. “It can be even more brutal depending on how powerful the necromancer is. You turn the corpses of your enemies into more soldiers. Terrifying stuff.”

“Yeah, but they’re at least dead. These are living monsters,” Vee tried to protest.

“Oh, did Syl not give you the talk?” Trixie questioned. I shook my head, and Trixie continued. “Monsters are kinda… not alive? Like you two are extreme exceptions to how monsters normally behave. Monsters usually only exist to put pressure and challenge on the other inhabitants of this world.”

“But… I’ve heard monsters talk?” Vee questioned.

“Yeah? And Syl lived with goblins for a bit; it doesn’t mean anything,” Trixie replied rather halfheartedly.

I wanted to complain. I certainly didn’t feel like my time with the goblins was meaningless. But I also saw the orcs, and despite another experiment trying to persuade them to try something else, they had violently forced themselves back to their monstrous path.

It really makes me wonder what they have in store after this whole experiment ends. Will they just have random people come back as monsters like us, or do they plan on changing how monsters are created?

I would have to ask Gramps this question during our following conversation. But right now, we had a culprit to catch, and I was eager to solve this mystery!

Chapter sixty-two

Squires

The trail led us away further from the battlefield. I was beginning to wonder if we were being led on a false path, but Trixie urged us to continue following. Vee was recovering well after her rushed experience, and it looked like we would be in tip-top shape to face whatever we were about to meet.

The trail went through a large formed pillar, and so we went around it as quickly as possible using [Wind Step], hoping not to lose the trail. When we rounded the corner, it appeared we had reached our destination, although rather than kobolds or elves, it seemed to be a large group of humans, presumably adventurers.

I briefly considered it a coincidence that I witnessed one of their group members absorbing the strange Mana. I tried throwing out an [Identify] to clarify the situation, but the result was horribly worthless.

<Kaspar.> <Otto.> <Fynn.> <Hans.> <Zara.> <Helmine.>

“Trixie, they’ve hidden their levels and classes like you!” I said mentally to our group.

“Wow… that’s insulting!” Trixie scoffed. “This is a terrible impression!”

However, before I could reply to my pixie companion, the knight of the group spoke up.

“Greetings, fellow adventurer! What brings you out here?” the armored knight, Otto, asked.

My guard was immediately up; if this guy was trying to put on an act, he was rather lousy at it. Or perhaps he was just socially awkward.

“You must be that famous elf adventurer I’ve heard so much about!” the group’s spellcaster said. The man looked rather gaunt, which only added to the alarm bells in my head.

“I was attacked by strange monsters… and followed their trail here,” I eventually spoke.

“Strange monsters, you say? How dastardly!” Otto responded.

“There’s certainly no monsters around here,” Kaspar added; he was the one who had absorbed the Mana we were tailing. I would have pegged him as a spellcaster, but he was dressed in almost noble attire.

“Holy shit, talk about bad acting! What is this crap?” Vee asked angrily.

“Gee… it sure would be terrible if someone threw a [Dispel] near that Fynn guy,” Trixie said sarcastically.

“Yeah, the only monsters here are those kobolds. We were taking a Mana break before we got back into the action,” one of the women replied. Her white robes led me to believe she was some form of cleric.

I ignored their ramblings, took Trixie’s not-so-subtle advice, and threw out a [Dispel] as quickly and subtly as possible. The humans either ignored it or were caught unawares as the spell went off without a hitch, and I threw a boatload of Mana into it, causing a burst of dispelling magic to erupt around Fynn.

The entire area seemed to warp and shift around the six individuals, and the reality of the situation was abruptly revealed.

<Kaspar [Outeatus Knight]; Human LV 22; Summoner LV 30. Elemental Affinity: Blocked.>

<Otto [Outeatus Page]; Human LV 24; Reaver Knight LV 32. Elemental Affinity: Earth.>

<Fynn [Outeatus Squire]; Human LV 21; Mirage Duelist LV 33. Elemental Affinity: Fire, Air.>

<Hans [Outeatus Squire]; Human LV 29; Blackflame Magus LV 28. Elemental Affinity: Fire.>

<Zara [Outeatus Squire]; Human LV 17; Gale Stalker LV 38. Elemental Affinity: Air.>

<Helmine [Outeatus Page]; Human LV 21; Pale Apostle LV 31. Elemental Affinity: Water.>

A summoner!? So that’s why those monsters were so strange and had identical levels. Talk about strange!

Fynn clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Now, why did you have to go and do that?”

“Who cares? It makes the job a lot more fun if they know it’s coming.” Zara cackled.

“I care; we were supposed to make it look like monsters got her!” Otto shouted. “How am I ever supposed to get promoted if we don’t follow instructions to the letter?”

“Just feed her to the kobolds afterward; problem solved.” Otto grinned fiendishly as he unsheathed a wicked-looking curved blade.

“Or burn her until there’s nothing left,” Hans said, a black flame forming in his outstretched palm before he snuffed it out with a clenched fist.

“Why?” I asked angrily.

“Yeah, why are a bunch of humans out to get you?” Vee asked.

“For the glory of the Outeatus Kingdom, of course! Once your little package is delivered to our emperor, it’ll be the downfall of all who crossed our kingdom!” Helmine preached dogmatically.

“I’ve never done anything to your kingdom. I don’t even know where or what your kingdom is!” I snapped back.

“Don’t play dumb, you filthy knife-ears!” Otto spat.

“All you had to do was die quietly in the forest, and everything would’ve gone smoothly,” Kaspar said, sounding annoyed. “But I suppose the Stantons didn’t really want to join our glorious kingdom as much as they pleaded.”

“Of course, did you really expect anything from some backwater shit-hole?” Zara snickered.

“Not to mention, you deliberately got in the way of our kingdom’s negotiations; we were so close to getting the dwarves to submit their weapons to our future efforts!” Kaspar continued ranting.

“I can’t believe they’re doing a villain monolog,” Vee commented, sounding dumbfounded. “They are the villains, right?”

“To anyone not human, definitely,” Trixie answered. “Hell, even most humans they also despise.”

“I’m done,” I said out loud, shaking my head.

“Done?” Zara snickered as she pulled out a curved blade. “I guess you are done. I’ve always wanted to kill an elf…”

“Make sure either I get the final blow or Hans, as a last resort!” Kaspar ordered. “The magic boost from the legacy Emblem would be wasted on anyone else. Don’t make us have to kill you to retrieve it.”

“I’m done… I don’t care anymore,” I repeated, feeling a lot of built-up frustration.

“Syl?” Vee asked hesitantly.

“Really? She’s just going to roll over and die?” Zara questioned, sounding disappointed.

I shook my head. “I’m done holding back. I don’t care anymore. I’m tired of this shit that has nothing to do with me.”

Trixie giggled, and it sounded downright nefarious.

“Any chance you can help us?” I asked Trixie mentally.

“Not directly, but… I could certainly hide the area from any wandering eyes and ears,” Trixie answered.

“Thanks,” I replied with a nod.

Zara, the Gale Stalker, suddenly vanished. My senses picked up her behind me, coming in for a stabbing thrust at breakneck speed. I had some time to react, but rather than do so, I was fully willing to let it play out, as I had my newest explosive solution to anyone stabbing me.

But that didn’t happen, as her arm was suddenly sliced down the middle, and her weapon was nearly ruined. She screamed in shrill agony and leaped backward, clutching her bleeding arm that looked almost like a peeled banana.

Everyone in the human party tensed, and the group’s darkly jovial and arrogant attitude vanished. Zara retreated to the healer, who was already casting a spell in an attempt to close up the wounds.

I missed the mutterings of the healer Helmine over the shouts, but I did pick up on “impossible” and “What could cause wounds like this?”

“Seriously, if every assassin we run into goes for the immediate backstab without watching where they’re going, then it’s going to be very simple to defeat them,” Vee said. I could feel the confidence brimming from our connected bond.

“I didn’t even notice you casting your spell and deploying your [Rift Thread],” I replied mentally.

“That’s ’cause I didn’t!” Vee answered smugly. “I weaved it pretty much on the spot while they kept monologuing. Never waste a good opportunity to lay a trap!”

“You bitch!” Zara screamed, dangling her absolutely mangled arm in rage. “So much for giving up! I’ll be sure to gut your entrails and string you up with them!”

“I’m definitely giving up,” I retorted. “Giving up on this charade. I’m done with disguises and done with going easy. I’m going to effortlessly destroy you all, and when I’m done, feed on your corpses!”

“Whoa… sounding a little crazy there, Syl,” Trixie said cautiously. “The perception barrier is up, by the way… But please don’t go all crazy murderer on me.”

Some of the humans gulped, and they exchanged utterances about “cannibal elves” and “the stories were true.”

“Enough!” Kaspar shouted, slamming his scepter against the floor. Five magic circles formed and completed instantly, turning black and erupting with five shadowy centipedes. “Don’t let her get into your head. We outnumber her by far, even with her two pets.”

“Pet!?” Trixie and Vee cried together.

“On second thought, go full crazy monster on them,” Trixie scoffed. “Bastard calling me a pet. He’s not good enough to be gnome fertilizer!”

“You’re right, boss,” Hans said and began radiating a blackened flame. “Legacy race or not, she will burn all the same.”

“For the emperor!” Kaspar shouted.

“For the emperor!” the others replied in unison.

Wings and tendrils sprouted from my back in an abrupt and squelchy burst. The humans either gasped or stared in stunned silence as I began floating off the ground thanks to the fantastic [Enchanted Wings] trait.

“By the emperor…” Helmine muttered and began uttering frantic prayers. She was radiating buffs and other positive boons shrouding her companions.

Vee teleported away with [Blink], but I could feel her close by, waiting to fight together. Our [Companion Bond] almost seemed to throb with newfound camaraderie. On the other hand, Trixie simply vanished, although I could swear I heard her giggles being swept along the breeze.

I was slightly enlarging my form but remaining relatively elf-like. I once again fought off the temptation to become a giant worm and potentially seal the deal. I worried that such a large form would notify everyone of the situation here, even with Trixie’s assurance.

Plus, they might run. And I’d like to have some fun!

“The founding emperor was right; the elves truly are monsters!” Otto stammered.

“It’s probably just some trick or illusion!” Kaspar shouted.

“It’s not. That’s really her… or it… Whatever the elf has become!” Fynn said.

“By fire be purged!” Hans shouted, and a column of blackened flame erupted from his combined palms.

I felt relatively safe with [Blaze Slime] at such a high level. I briefly contemplated adding [Fire Resistance] to my borrowed traits. Instead, I opted to grab [Tempered Reinforcement] and [Draconic Scales (Lesser)] while using [Equipment Swap] to stash away any of my non-slime valuables.

The two traits mixing together with my form caused scales to cover my entire body. However, perhaps thanks to [Metal Slime], they almost resembled the reinforced obsidianite scales on the worm perfectly. The familiar channels were running through the scales, and when the blackish flame hit me, they lit up like a bright furnace, and I could feel my outer layer molding and reinforcing itself.

Part of me was cautious about somehow ending up in my previous situation, where I was boiled alive for my own troubles, but I confirmed I was taking no damage from the blackish flames. On a heat level, they seemed to be a step up from blue, although almost artificially. Thankfully, my two traits together had no problem with this next level of heat.

“Ha! She didn’t even try to dodge!” Zara shouted triumphantly.

“No! You understand nothing, girl!” Hans rebuked. “I can feel my flames; while they have struck true, they fail to burn away at her flesh.”

“What? How!?” Otto shrieked.

“I do not know… Perhaps she is blessed with an extreme fire resistance or holds some form of fire immunity artifact…” Hans continued to explain.

“Helmine, ignore Zara’s arm for now and assist Hans,” Kaspar ordered. “Hans, burn lifeforce.”

“As you wish, captain,” Hans replied somberly.

With [Soul Sight], I watched Hans’s lifeforce immediately plummet drastically, as if someone had struck him. But with that dip, his Mana soared to new bounds, and so did the intensity of the magical flames. What was a blackish flame now became one of pitch darkness. [Thermal Vision] told me it was hotter than before, but strangely, the black flames felt cold as they washed over me.

Then I felt a strange tingling pain and noted that while my body was taking no damage and was continuing to be reinforced, what appeared to be my lifeforce was being very slowly burnt at the edges.

<Proficiency gained. [Soul Mastery LV 7] improved to [Soul Mastery LV 8].>

<Proficiency gained. [Magic Resistance (Lesser) LV 5] improved to [Magic Resistance (Lesser) LV 6].>

“Uh… maybe don’t sit inside that,” Trixie’s voice entered my head.

“It leveled up my traits, though!” I replied excitedly.

“Yeah… but you don’t want something burning away at the edges of your soul; that kinda stuff isn’t quick to recover from!”

“Fine…” I whined and triggered [Thunder Step], bursting out of the black flames in a jolt of electrifying energy.

I slammed down right in front of Hans and swung a rapidly formed blade of mithril [Metal Slime]. Hans nearly shrieked in horror as the blade was inches from his face before a massive barrier formed between the blade and his flesh. It shattered in moments and sent Hans hurtling backward.

I clicked my tongue in annoyance and flourished my sword.

“By the emperor… is she a dragon?” Kaspar gasped.

“Or a demon?” Helmine said, gripping tightly on her golden holy symbol.

Chapter sixty-three

Healers First

“You know… Now that I’m on this side, it’s funny how nobody actually knows what Syl is,” Vee said.

“It’s hilarious,” Trixie agreed.

“It’s certainly beneficial, but now dragon or demon? What’s next?” I sighed mentally.

I was rather annoyed that whatever spell was cast to protect the mage had ejected him to safety after I had broken it. I eyed the holy woman angrily and knew she would be my next target.

“Whatever she is, kill her!” Kaspar shouted, immediately causing his party to halt to attention.

Before his party reacted, his shadowy centipedes were let off their leash and began advancing on me in a zigzag pattern. I shook my head in annoyance and cast three [Lightbomb] spells, unleashing a blinding light across the battlefield once more.

“Oh, crap! My bloody eyes again!” Vee cried out.

I mentally apologized, receiving nothing but annoyance and complaints in return.

This time, the shadowy centipedes were immediately extinguished.

“[Light Magic] was not in her dossier!” Kaspar yelled, rubbing his eyes painfully. “That explains what happened to my last batch of monsters.”

Seriously, why do they have a dossier on me? How can one elf be hated so much to have elves and humans conspiring to kill her? They’re horribly misinformed at the moment, but if the attacks keep scaling upward, they could eventually grow to something I can no longer handle. I think I should just throw the stupid bag at the elf and leave. I’ve grown rather fond of this form, but if it comes with this much baggage, I will be forced to discard it.

“Who cares? You’re the most flexible member of our group. Drink your potions and summon something else,” Zara shouted.

“It’s not that simple…” Kaspar shouted while fumbling through his satchel.

Summoners certainly sound useful… I wonder what’s stopping him, besides Mana, from just summoning creatures for his teammates to fight and gaining experience? I know low-risk is penalized and high-risk is rewarded, but even so, experience is experience. However, if your Mana regeneration is poor, it’d cost you a fortune in potions!

If he was stuck regenerating Mana, then he was no longer a concern of mine, and I knew I needed to capitalize on taking out more priority targets like their healer. Watching Evan and Eliza work miracles taught me that you do not want an enemy healer prolonging a fight. Not to mention, if this healer’s strange escape shield spell had other applications, then she could potentially let a runner get free.

No matter what, I can’t let any witnesses live. If they’ve already got info on me, somehow, then I need to ensure they stay in the dark with as many of my abilities as possible.

The healer was recovering herself first when I appeared before her, thanks to [Wind Step]. Transforming the edges of my wings into razor-sharp blades while my tendrils took on piercing ends, I had the makeshift weapons converge on her position. She looked momentarily startled but must have been trained for such situations as she immediately started casting another spell.

Her spell formed and blasted me with radiant light, fracturing upon meeting with my multiple reinforced layers and barely leaving a scratch. The woman must have been prepared for it, as she was [Multicasting], and a shield was cast at the same time, which my weaponlike appendages shattered nearly instantly.

Like before, once the shield shattered, her body was flung backward. This time, however, I had expected it, and with outstretched palms, I fired multiple [Slime Shots]. I was tempted to use my beloved spell orbs, but I opted instead to fire my explosive needles, as they were more accurate. I knew if they penetrated, the detonation afterward would be much more lethal.

This time, the woman was much less composed and began frantically trying to swerve her body as much as possible, but it looked like her emergency escape had left her vulnerable. Some needles missed her, but most hit their mark, with some penetrating quite well into her unguarded flesh. I gave a wicked smile before triggering the detonation.

Boom! I giggled.

Shouts and screams erupted from the group, who had only just recovered from the blindness, to witness their healer being nearly blown to bits. Her high levels and perhaps some magic items were the only things keeping her alive, and she wasted no time enveloping herself in some radiant light and trying to heal her wounds.

“Nope, sorry, but I’m not letting you stay alive,” I said, determined.

“Always take out the healer first!” Vee agreed mentally.

“I won’t let you!” Otto shouted as he rushed to intercept.

“And I won’t let you!” Vee responded, although, to everyone else, it just came out as spidery hisses.

Using [Blink], Vee appeared before him and then unleashed two massive magical clouds of poison and acid. Otto cried out and halted his progress, not wanting to go through such an ominous-looking area. I quickly commanded one of my [Sub-Cores] to cast [Gust] and blow it toward the Outeatus squad. I ignored him, putting my complete trust in my spidery companion.

“Kaspar, do something!” Zara cried out.

“I’m regenerating my Mana!” Kaspar spluttered, trying to chug Mana potions as hastily as possible. “Fynn, get to work!”

“Shit, shit, shit…” Fynn began panicking. “It’s not as effective if she’s already seen my class, and she has [Dispel]!”

“Amateur…” Trixie sighed telepathically.

“Do something!” Zara shouted. “Even if you have to throw your body at her! Helmine is far more important than your useless ass!”

I wondered why she wasn’t doing anything, but then I noted that her dominant arm still looked like ribbons. Vee had effectively taken her out of the battle entirely with her well-placed trap. I made sure to send feelings of encouragement and thanks over our bond, to which I got back some mild embarrassment.

I reached Hermine before Fynn managed to do anything. The woman looked rather panicked as she noted that her healing spells seemed less effective than they should have been.

“Bloodrot?” Hermine whispered in a strained tone and began frantically searching her bags for something, presumably an antidote.

While she was helpless, I began stacking all my debuffs on her. The woman was growing paler by the second. I raised my bladed appendages once more just as Fynn finally arrived on the scene.

The man had come with a small army of himself, although he was right about one thing; his class was much less effective if I knew his trick. As if agreeing with me, I even got a notification.

<Proficiency gained. [Illusion Resistance LV 3] improved to [Illusion Resistance LV 4] .>

Even before the unexpected level-up, I could already tell which was him, thanks to [Essence Sight] and my preexisting resistance level. Either way, I wouldn’t be upset about a random trait getting better, especially if it one day let me finally see through someone like Trixie’s trickery.

Unbeknownst to him, I halted my attack on Helmine, waiting for him to get in range. The woman did notice, however, and tried to cry out a warning.

“It’s a trap!”

But it was too late, and I cast [Contagion], releasing the infectious black cloud into the area and successfully passing on all the debuffs to him. He spluttered and coughed while his clones began attacking me. I ignored them as they passed harmlessly through me and finally brought down my slimy weapons on Helmine.

“May the emperor smite you!” she condemned with her dying breath.

<Human LV 21; Pale Apostle LV 31 defeated. Experience gained.>

<[Curse] partially resisted.>

<Proficiency gained. [Curse Resistance LV 2] improved to [Curse Resistance LV 3].>

She actually cursed me!? I panicked slightly.

I had no idea what she had cursed me with, but hopefully, it wasn’t anything too serious, and I’d overcome it with a bit of time.

“You filthy elf, how dare you!” Fynn yelled as he lunged at me.

His weapon was an adorned scimitar, and he danced with the blade that blurred into multiples. Despite resisting his major illusions handily, it seemed that if he kept the effect minor, he could still accomplish something.

I tried using my long-forgotten [Tranquil Flow] skill to see if I could dodge, but he was simply too fast unless I jellified my form, and spotting his actual blade was like a tree in a forest. Not that it actually mattered, though, as when his blade struck against my blackened [Tempered Reinforcement] and [Draconic Scales (Lesser)] skin, it practically bounced off.

The man continued attacking, but as he continued his assault, he began to visibly sweat and curse. His arms grew tired, and his blade was dulling.

“By the emperor, what monster are you?” Fynn cursed in question.

“That’s certainly a question,” I taunted.

He was more skilled and swifter in the blade than me, but I had the advantage of multiple limbs. Since his weapon failed to leave a mark, I began forming more weaponlike limbs with my tendrils and began lethally sparring with him.

He began parrying and dodging, but his fatigue and annoyance were piling on. When he slipped up and took a wound, the rapid start of his downfall began, as the injuries started to grow exponentially.

“I-I surrender…” he whispered.

“No, why should I care?” I replied harshly.

Even if I felt merciful, these would-be assassins had seen far too much, and I had reached my breaking point. Doom filled his expression as he desperately tried to fend for himself.

“I can tell you secrets; just spare me,” Fynn pleaded.

“Then tell me why you’re after me,” I demanded.

“We were ordered to retrieve the bag and to—” Fynn’s throat seized up. His expression paled, and desperation kicked in as he began attempting to scream or shout, but nothing but incoherent gurgling came from his lungs.

“You dare try to betray the emperor? For your worthless life? You maggot!” Kaspar exclaimed. “Hans, incinerate them both!”

“As you command,” Hans replied.

Briefly focusing my gaze in that direction, Hans had formed a massive black sphere of fire. It was the mother of all [Fireballs] that someone like Dewi would undoubtedly fantasize about. Hans was coughing blood, and the spell grew in intensity with each cough. Old wounds on his body began to reopen, and his lifeforce was withering away while his spell only continued to grow.

Fynn was shaking his head desperately as if trying to deny it right as my tendrils ran multiple blades through him. I wasn’t going to let him live anyway, but now he’d genuinely lost any purpose, and I didn’t want my experience being taken from me.

<Human LV 21; Mirage Duelist LV 33 defeated. Experience gained.>

<[Curse] intensity has grown.>

That doesn’t sound good…

I stared at the ominous notification while the growing fireball loomed in the distance. It looked like an evil sun had risen and was about to doom the world.

Well, no way I’m letting that hit me! I thought as I began to use one of my movement skills.

<[Curse] has been triggered. [Prison] applied.>

[Wind Step] failed, and I moved barely an inch from my spot. A sinister magic circle scorched into the ground around me and shone with a pale light. I tried again to move, but without a skill, and found myself unable to leave the confines of the magical circle.

Hans began to snicker as he continued sacrificing himself to his spell. I tried throwing a [Dispel] at the magic circle, but it was rebuffed instantly. I tried breaking the ground itself, but my assaults against the magical circle only flashed brighter in defiance.

Thinking quickly, I began forming and firing spells as rapidly as possible. That was when numerous summoned creatures appeared and began intercepting my spells.

I cursed in annoyance and began throwing out [Slime Shot] to the mix, but to my horror, the slime struck the magical barrier and rebounded-blocked by the curse.

“Well, that’s not good…” I muttered.

Chapter sixty-four

Spider Time

Damn, that’s useful, Vee thought as she watched her two gas spells be blown straight toward the enemies.

Magic had many useful applications, and Syl was a real Swiss army knife with various spells and abilities. If Vee was honest with herself, she had given up trying to catalog or put a number to the multiple forms of magic or slime abilities that had been displayed.

And all I got is [Corrosion Magic] and [Dimension Magic]. Not to sound ungrateful, but having one of the more basic forms would have been helpful. I just have to hope that once Syl gets the magic affinity, she can figure out something good to do with it or help me figure out something. I have some ideas but don’t have the skills or technique to work with the troublesome Mana type on my own.

Vee used [Blink] to appear on the other side of the warrior enemy, holding the scythe. She then used [Identify] to try to get an idea of what she was up against.

<Otto [Outeatus Page]; Human LV 24; Reaver Knight LV 32.>

No idea what a Reaver Knight is. But I’m probably good as long as I don’t let that scythe-like blade hit me!

While the knight was distracted, she quickly formed three spells of [Acid Dart] using [Multicasting].

[Multitasking]… [Multicasting]… Seriously, they should work on some of these skill names. I wish I had extra brains to cast spells for myself; Syl makes it look far too easy.

When the spells were formed, she noticed they got a quick boost in magical power, another extra benefit she’d gained from teaming up with the silly slime. When the spells reached their peak, Vee released them and sent the sizzling darts flying toward the knight. All three struck, and he grunted in pain.

Vee cheered mentally and [Blinked] to another spot, quickly repeating the attack pattern. The man was growing angry and trying to spot his assailant, but Vee was ensuring she was still small and hard to spot. Combined with the upgraded [Stealth] skill [Vanish], she’d become a good assassin.

Although it would be a lot easier if I cut him with some threads. But I better stick to the magic training for now. The sooner I get better with magic, the sooner I can repay Syl. She really wants that Dimension affinity…

“The spider is over there!” the woman shouted, pointing with her good arm.

Vee glanced at the source, throwing out another [Identify].

<Zara [Outeatus Squire]; Human LV 17; Gale Stalker LV 38.>

Vee snickered a bit at seeing the woman who had fallen so easily for the trap. Casting [Pocket Space], she reached in and pulled out some premade [Rift Thread], and with a trickle of Dimensional Mana combined with [Thread Mastery], she teleported and laid out the trap between her and the warrior.

Let’s see if a good old tripwire works wonders!

Vee continued casting spells at the warrior, although now that he could see her directly, he attempted to dodge or parry with his weapon. At first, Vee thought with glee that he would ruin his weapon by blocking acid, but zooming in with [Eagle Vision], she noted that his weapon was coated in what looked like blood.

I guess melting his weapon would be too easy. Oh well, let’s see if he spots the trap!

“You damned pet, making fun of the emperor’s finest!” Otto bellowed angrily.

“Aren’t you a page? That’s lower than a squire and a knight, right? emperor’s finest, my ass!” Vee taunted, although it was just spidery hisses.

Elsewhere, a pixie was giggling to herself and watching the action.

As Vee had hoped, the knight blindly charged forward straight through her deadly trap. His one foot came cleanly off with surgical precision. He turned to correct himself in time, though, and avoided getting another amputation by instead taking a massive gash into his thigh.

Regardless, he still hit the ground, and Vee capitalized on it by releasing another batch of [Poison Mist] and [Acid Mist] at him. The man coughed and spluttered while screaming bloody rage. Eventually, he stood up with a false foot of hardened blood.

Reaver? Blood? Vee wondered.

The man looked like hell as he frantically tried to escape from deadly mists. He retreated backward to avoid the trap, but his lowered mobility meant he was easy target practice for the spider to unleash a barrage of spells.

“I will not yield! You’ll run out of Mana eventually!” Otto yelled, coating himself in some form of blood armor.

Vee smirked as she cast [Pocket Space] and pulled out a potion. She drank the concoction and felt her Mana reserves rapidly replenishing.

“By the emperor, did that spider just drink a Mana potion?” Zara cried out.

Otto screamed out in rage. He retracted his blood armor and even his makeshift foot. Blood began to coalesce onto his weapon, which took on a much more malefic appearance of spikes and power. He continued his nonstop yelling as he launched his weapon toward Vee, the weapon spinning like a bloody buzzsaw through the air.

At first, Vee thought it would collide with her traps, but through sheer luck or misfortune, it seemed to arc high enough to not get caught. Vee was tempted to [Blink] away, but then she got another much more humiliating idea.

Vee began casting [Pocket Space], and as soon as the weapon entered the range of her Mana aura, she finalized the spell. There was some initial resistance, but with a bit of effort on her part, the weapon poofed and was deposited into her storage space.

Vee cheered while Otto collapsed to the ground in disbelief. His last stand was so easily thwarted. Not long after that, she received a notification of his defeat as he succumbed to the continuous poison and acid afflictions he was plagued with.

<Human LV 24; Reaver Knight LV 32 defeated. Experience gained.>

“Emperor, save us… I thought the elf was the monster, but you might be even worse!” Zara said as she glared daggers at the spider.

Remaining in her position, Vee began casting spells at the assassin woman. Sadly, she didn’t have the same level of [Corrosion Magic] as Syl, as she desperately wanted the actual [Caustic Cloud] spell.

With Syl’s help, they remodeled [Poison Mist] into an acidic variety inferior to the higher-tier spell. [Caustic Cloud] also had other effects they hadn’t fully unraveled like a stacking and growing intensity of dissolving power the longer you were stuck with it.

Syl had tried breaking down its components but had gotten distracted by [Light Magic] or something else the crazy slime had discovered. Not that Vee could blame her, but the slime was quickly distractable and bounced between activities like a kid with too many toys.

I wonder if that’s because Syl was young in the last life—like she never grew up. Or maybe I’m making baseless conjectures.

Despite being disarmed, the assassin woman dodged her spells easily, causing Vee to feel rather annoyed. She debuffed the woman with [Erode], which went unnoticed, and then kept hoping for a lucky hit.

I could… set up portals. Huh. Now that’s an idea!

Vee began pulling out some portal patterns she had prearranged and stored away, just in case Syl wanted to do another teleporting bomb test or she needed to make an emergency escape.

With a bit of effort, she began storing the various coordinates of each circular web as exits and depositing them in a perimeter around the battlefield. Then she pulled out another small web, but each gap could be given differing coordinates. Vee had tested this in her own time but had yet to put it to any battle experience.

Nothing like a live test, I suppose!

Raising two of her back legs, and with [Thread Mastery], she created the construct on her back. It vaguely resembled a howdah, or perhaps a radar dish was a more apt comparison. Then, she finalized the portals by injecting each gap with one of the spread-out portals, four in total, although her web construct had room for a maximum of eight.

I hope this works! Vee pleaded and began casting her spell.

Trixie and Syl had explained the whole Mana aura thing to her in detail, and Vee knew she could cast spells within that aura pretty much at will. So she had the spell originate right near one of her portal openings and fired it through. The spell hurtled out in the distance, although in the wrong direction.

Oh balls… Vee grumbled. I have to remember which web goes to which portal. On the fly. By myself. Why don’t I have ten little mini-brain helpers?

With her remaining good arm, the assassin began pulling out various throwable weapons. To Vee, they looked like either kunai or shuriken, and she couldn’t help but laugh.

Is she going ninja on me? This really is a fantasy world!

Zara threw her weapons at Vee, and right before they launched, they seemed to be infused with Wind. They soared through the air at blazing velocity, forcing Vee to use [Blink] to escape. The woman somehow predicted her location, presumably with a skill or trait, and more throwable projectiles were already in midair.

In a panic, Vee cast [Pocket Space], and moments before hitting her, they poofed into her storage.

Huh… Am I projectile-proof as long as I have Mana and the storage room? Vee thought with bemusement.

Zara, on the other hand, looked furious. Which was perfect for Vee, who jumped on the opportunity to cast more spells through the portals. If she could land even one good spell, the affliction would take hold, setting a ticking clock for her victory.

Four spells passed through the portals, two of which went directly to Zara. Vee silently cursed her for confusing two of the portals, but her curse was short-lived as her hope was realized. Zara sensed the unexpected attack at the last second. She dodged one spell only to be hit by the other.

Vee was about to celebrate when the woman seemed to throw caution to the wind, use a blur, and appear right before Vee. Wielding her backup knife, the woman stabbed a thrust at Vee, who, in retaliation, undid her shrinking.

The tiny spider became full-sized in barely a wink, and Zara’s composure broke as dread entered her eyes. The now giant spider, on instinct, lunged forward. Zara’s dagger struck against the spider’s carapace while Vee’s fangs sunk deep into her flesh.

The woman screamed in agony as she began trying to frantically stab the spider. But her desperate flails started to slow down as the poison took hold, and she eventually went limp.

<Human LV 17; Gale Stalker LV 38 defeated. Experience gained.>

Vee winced a little as she saw the stab wounds, pulling out some thread and rapidly creating a makeshift bandage with [Thread Mastery].

That’s weird… I thought Syl had orders on the [Sub-Cores] for shield spells. Am I out of range? Actually, I don’t think my last batch of spells was boosted either.

Vee glanced in Syl’s direction, which was like a homing beacon, thanks to the [Bonded Companion] Emblem. Her usual elven disguise was replaced by some weird, draconic-looking creature with wings and tendrils bursting from its back, all covered in a layer of blackened obsidianite with brightly glowing channels.

Damn, that looks cool! Scary but cool. Scary cool!

Then Vee spotted the strange magical circle, with Syl trying to break the containment.

“Syl? Are you okay?” Vee asked. There was no response.

Across the bond, Vee could still sense the slime’s emotions, which were flipping between confidence and anxiety. Vee followed her gaze and saw the massive black sun.

Oh shit! Vee thought and quickly used a chain of [Blinks].

Vee appeared directly behind the man, so close to the black sun that she could feel the unbearable heat radiating off it. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the entire thing had this sickening sense of wrongness to it, and instinctually, she knew she couldn’t let this hit her or Syl.

Vee waited mere moments for her usage of [Blink] to recover while also creating some [Rift Thread] on the spot. She dared not cast and withdraw prepared thread from [Pocket Space], fearing the mage would sense her Mana usage.

The only other combatant was the summoner, who was running away from the spot while his minions were blocking the spells Syl was throwing toward the mage.

With [Rift Thread] ready and prepared to use [Blink] immediately after, Vee lashed out with a deadly whip straight for the mage’s neck. It struck some form of arcane barrier, but it was short-lived. The man finally reacted to the sudden attack, but it was too late, and without another layer of defense, he was decapitated.

<Human LV 29; Blackflame Magus LV 28 defeated. Experience gained.>

Vee frantically used [Blink] in rapid succession to escape, not even taking the time to recover her [Rift Thread].

Operation Save the Slime was a success! Vee thought right as the giant black sun exploded.

Chapter sixty-five

Black Sun

To my surprise, Vee had taken out the crazy black flame mage with a flawless assassination. I could only dock her points for her timing. If she had been a little faster, I wouldn’t be staring down such a massive spell that was rapidly destabilizing itself.

Why couldn’t the spell just disappear when its creator died. Why does it have to stick around like some doomsday weapon?

My mental complaints went unanswered, and now I needed to quickly protect myself. I would no doubt still be caught in the blast radius, but at least now I wasn’t going to be its direct target.

I aligned myself to the Fire element in hopes it would offer some form of protection from the evil-looking flame and then ordered all my [Sub-Cores] to cycle through every single defensive spell I had. [Bubble], [Zephyr Shroud], [Arcane Armor], the works. While they began casting spells, I grabbed every defensive trait I could think of.

My form twisted and shifted as I tried to stack as many traits as possible. From scales to rocky hides to barkskin, nothing was off the table. When defense or resistance was mentioned, I grabbed it.

At the same time, I was trying to create as many shells around my cores as possible. Mithril, adamantine, steel, nothing was off the table. I even started trying to manually hold together a shell made of obsidianite.

Thanks to my delegation, I completed what I could with ample time before the spell erupted. I had done all I could, and now I could only brace for impact.

I hope Vee and Trixie are okay…

The explosion was actually smaller than I expected. My own self-destructing worm had far more force behind it than this spell. But sadly, what it lacked in raw explosive might, it made up for in creepy soul damage, or however Trixie had described it. The entire area was swept up in an immense sense of wrongness, as if the whole area had become unhallowed.

The flames licked against my form, and I felt some of my defenses breached. Overall, I was secure, but I felt that tingling burning around the edges of my being, like something was directly attacking my lifeforce. It wasn’t painful; it was more like a growing fatigue as it burnt away what it could. My [Arcane Armor] shattered multiple times, each time immediately reapplied with a fresh one. It might have been the only spell actually stopping this form of damage.

Worst case, if it kills me, I’ll take over one of my [Sub-Cores] thanks to [Core Collective]. Hopefully, they aren’t taking this damage since they don’t have a soul.

I braced myself, but a creeping doubt infested me. The explosion had long since ceased, and even the burning had stopped. But the black flames and malignant aura still blanketed the area.

<Proficiency gained. [Curse Resistance LV 3] improved to [Curse Resistance LV 4].>

Despite the level-up, I was still stuck. I tried to contact Trixie or Vee a few times, but I was alone in this cursed prison. Despite no physical pain, I felt dreary and awful. This was an almost embarrassing way to potentially die, and some part of me was apprehensive that my emergency death prevention would not be enough.

But what else could I do? I couldn’t think of any other traits I could buy. Should I dump points into upgrading [Curse Resistance]? I really didn’t want to, but it felt like it might be my only option to hopefully overcome the prison and leave this area.

I was frantically going through my profile when I noticed my [Magic Resistance] trait right above [Curse Resistance]. I had wanted to upgrade it from Lesser, and I had the points to do so.

A way better option than using them to upgrade [Curse Resistance], at least!

<Spend 4 Trait Points to Tier Up [Magic Resistance (Lesser) LV 6]?>

Yes!

<[Magic Resistance (Lesser) LV 6] becomes [Magic Resistance (Greater) LV 1]. Trait Points Remaining 16.>

The trait point number was different than I remembered. I must have leveled up during all the fighting but hadn’t had time to go through all the notifications.

Trixie had explained that tiering up a trait was a massive bonus, and she had not been kidding. I could quickly identify the reduced degradation of my lifeforce and felt a lot better about weathering through this situation.

I was still stuck, so I reviewed my notifications to pass the time. My [Sub-Cores] would refresh my shield, so I felt safe despite the hazardous circumstances.

I noted that Vee had killed Otto, Zara, and Hans. However, I saw no death notice for the Summoner, which meant either he had died to the black sun or Vee had yet to take him out.

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 17.>

<20 Skill Points are now available.>

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 14>

<19 Trait Points are now available.>

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 18.>

<21 Skill Points are now available.>

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 15>

<20 Trait Points are now available.>

I gained two levels, so that’s why my trait points changed.

I had gained a surprising amount of levels. Between five high-level humans, the summons, and the random kobolds, it was a buffet of experience points. If I assumed the Summoner hadn’t died in the explosion, I might even get a third level in my race or class out of this.

Other than experience, I hadn’t gained too much. However, there was one notable exception.

<Proficiency gained. [Attack Mastery (Lesser) LV 7] improved to [Attack Mastery (Lesser) LV 8].>

Oh wow… This took ages. I think I was still on the floating island when this last happened? I guess fused skills require a ton more effort.

<Spend 2 Skill Points to Tier Up [Attack Mastery (Lesser) LV 8]?>

<[Attack Mastery (Lesser) LV 8] becomes [Attack Mastery (Greater) LV 1]. Skill Points Remaining 19.>

I had no demonstratable difference in the newly upgraded skill, but I hoped it would be as effective. And then, to my surprise, I got two sudden notifications.

<[Curse] resisted.>

<[Prison] lifted.>

“Get out of there!” Trixie’s shrill scream assaulted my mind.

I bolted with [Thunder Step] into [Wind Step], with maximum chaining to try to cover the most distance. Thanks to [Essence Sight], I could see the perimeter of this accursed area, and when I breached it, the sickly feeling finally dispersed.

“Wow… That was awful,” I muttered.

“Jeez, you dumb slimeball doofus! You had both of us so worried!” Trixie cried.

I looked around but couldn’t spot her. My reconnected bond with Vee told me she was also not nearby and was quite a distance away.

“Where are you two? Is Vee alright?” I asked.

“All good on my end!” Vee replied. I felt relieved.

“You saved me; thank you!” I said.

“I’m sure you would have survived… or something.” Vee brushed it off. Anyway, this stupid Summoner guy is still around. I’ve been stalking him. I figured you might want to get some revenge.”

“I’m honestly surprised he survived. Or hasn’t fled yet since he did,” I replied.

“Well, he keeps running in circles,” Vee answered.

“Circles?” I questioned. “Trixie?”

“Guilty!” Trixie giggled triumphantly.

“I thought you weren’t allowed to interfere or something,” I asked, and I started heading toward where I felt Vee was.

“Yup. You’re right again,” Trixie answered. “But I just so happen to be changing what he sees on the horizon; it’s not exactly my fault. He just so happens to be looking in that direction.”

“Your honor, I didn’t mean to stab him; he simply slipped and fell onto my knife!” Vee responded sarcastically.

“Exactly!” Trixie agreed. “I’m glad you understand it. I was beginning to worry you were maybe a bit challenged since you still can’t imagine yourself as the rock.”

I expected Vee to scream in frustration, but there was nothing but silence. However, I could sense a burning and simmering anger brewing over our bond. I wished Trixie would stop pushing her buttons so much, although some of me wondered if that would finally be enough to get Vee to break through.

It would be kinda funny if she does it through the power of spite, only for Trixie to exclaim that it was her plan all along. Actually, I bet that’s exactly what she will do!

As I headed in that direction, I shifted to my elven form rather than the strange, blobby, defensive amalgamation I had tried to create. I tried consuming a health potion, but it did nothing for the strange lingering feeling.

<Status: Healthy>

That’s not true at all, though! I’m definitely not healthy! Should I purposefully break my core and hope I feel better? No, wait, that’s stupid. I’ll maybe consider it if I don’t feel better in a day or two. Plus, who knows, maybe the Summoner has some last-minute tricks up his sleeve? If those shadow centipedes grab me again, it could be enough.

When I arrived, I had expected the Summoner to potentially be out of breath, but he was mounted on a unicorn that was galloping at quite a speed. It really seemed like he had a monster for every occasion, and I couldn’t help but applaud his utility.

I found my thoughts drifting toward possibilities, wondering if I should look into them before slapping myself back to reality. I had enough on my plate and so many classes and skills to explore. I wanted to look into traps, evolve, and still finish and see what Elementalist had to offer me.

Besides, what would I even need summons for? The only actual benefit would be if I had my [Sub-Cores] pretend to be a bunch of monsters.

I debuffed his mount before casting a deadly [Waterjet] spell. The beam tore through its legs and sent him toppling to the ground. He tumbled a bit before recovering, instantly taking a ready stance. His shadow shuddered, and a pair of shadowy centipedes emerged from it. When he saw me, he went from apparent shock to a rage.

“How!?” Kaspar screamed. “How did you survive?”

“Guess your friend didn’t try hard enough,” I mocked. “And now you are the last loose end I need to tie up.”

Kaspar snarled, his fists clenching tightly. “I guess it falls to me to uphold their sacrifice in the name of the emperor.”

“You and your lot started this!” I shouted. “You’ve got nobody to blame but yourselves. I just wanted to do some adventuring, but you keep sending assassins after me. In fact, thanks to you, I’ve had some immense growth, so maybe I should be thanking you?”

Kaspar’s fury was momentarily snuffed out, and he looked quite concerned as he scrutinized me.

<Proficiency gained. [Identity Fabrication LV 6] improved to [Identity Fabrication LV 7].>

Thanks for the level!

He cursed, almost spitting in anger. “You should not have grown so quickly. Experience boosting traits? Some other elf bullshit from the god’s favorite race?”

I’m not even an elf… Although I have looked over the human profile, I can see his point.

“If your emperors are so great, why didn’t they spend their accomplishments bettering humans?” I questioned. “Surely one of them earned enough to do something. Or did they selfishly spend it on themselves?”

“What madness do you speak of?” Kaspar shouted, reaching for an ornate dagger with a bloodred jewel in the hilt.

“The elves have these boons from their progenitor sacrificing everything for them,” I explained. “Surely your emperor could’ve done the same thing? Or was his accomplishments so bad that he got no offers?”

“You’re mentioning some things you really shouldn’t be…” Trixie warned me telepathically. “Although I do agree, their emperor could have done something. Maybe losing the war so badly was that much of a setback for him. Or maybe he was just selfish.”

Kaspar glared at me as he held his dagger. “Your lies will not damage my faith.”

I was going to taunt him when he abruptly stabbed his own hand.

“Did he just stab himself?” I asked.

“Yeah… Either he lost it, or maybe he’s trying to summon a demon or something?” Vee suggested. “Evil cultists do that type of stuff, right? Blood sacrifice, summon a demon?”

“How do you know that, but you can’t pretend to be a simple rock!?” Trixie shouted. “No, forget that. Syl, kill him!”

“Oh shit, he is summoning a demon?” Vee asked in surprise.

Meanwhile, I had already launched an attack. I blasted a [Lightning Bolt] and half a dozen explosive needles through [Slime Shot]. One of the centipedes intercepted the spell, while the other coiled around Kaspar to intercept the needles.

Not good enough, I thought and detonated the needles.

The flurry of explosions went off, and I noted the centipedes had died, but there was nothing about the Summoner.

Not waiting for the smoke to clear, I fired a few more spells into the smoke. They hit something, but I was still not getting a kill notification.

I threw out a [Gust] to get immediate answers and saw Kaspar. He was clutching his hand in pain while far too much blood was being siphoned from his arm. Around him, a glowing magical circle was forming. Vee fired an [Acid Dart], and I received my answer; the magic circle erected a barrier that ate the spell.

“Damn… Too late,” Trixie said.

“I guess we will add demon-slayer before dragon-slayer to our accomplishments!” Vee said reassuringly.

Now that sounds like something worth an Emblem!

Chapter sixty-six

Sacrificial Summoning

“Can you teleport inside?” I asked Vee.

“Nope, I tried already,” Vee answered. “[Spatial Sense] shows the entire area as blocked off. I don’t think my [Rift Thread] is getting in.”

Despite Vee’s guess, she tried to see if she could penetrate the barrier. Unfortunately, her fears were confirmed, and her thread struck across the barrier, causing magical sparks on contact but otherwise being fruitless in penetrating.

Kaspar laughed mockingly as he clutched his rapidly bleeding arm.

“Any you can do?” I asked Trixie.

Trixie shook her head. “If the demon plays by the rules, no.”

“Really!?” Vee yelled. “This is a demon we are talking about. Surely this warrants a bending of these so-called rules?”

Trixie shrugged. “Rules are the rules. Believe it or not, the demons are extreme in their following of them. As much as I like Syl, I’m not about to risk angering the Fairy Queen or the Demon King. Besides, I think you two can handle a demon.”

“Wonderful…” Vee groaned.

“Can I go all out?” I questioned Trixie.

She nodded and gave a thumbs-up. “Nobody will see or hear anything going on here.”

“I don’t understand how that’s not against the rules, but whatever.” Vee groaned again.

The magical ritual finally reached its crescendo, forming a portal interlaced with black magical energy and blood.

“Pay careful attention to what bargain he gives the demon,” Trixie warned me. “Some last-second advice. I’ll be silently observing from here on out. Good luck!”

I silently thanked her and stared expectantly at the forming portal. At the same time, I felt like I should get some prep work and began sending [Sub-Cores] into the ground below. I had tried this against the elf assassin rather ineffectively. Still, I’d make enough preparations this time by melting out a sizeable hollow surface below the ground to hold and store an arsenal of slime mass.

I’ll have the upper hand against this demon if I control this entire area. If I’m lucky, it won’t have [Acid Resistance] or something like that, and then if I devour the whole area, I could claim a quick victory. Sure, maybe it’s not the most honorable of victories, but I’m a slime!

The portal finalized itself, and stepping out was a hunched figure. It had elongated arms ending in clawed appendages. Two pairs of leathery batwings adorned its back and two curved horns on its head. Its face was remarkably featureless, with no nose or mouth, and two gaping red holes were where its eyes should have been. It glanced around at its surroundings, a sense of hostility shrouding the area.

An inhuman screech echoed from its mouthless form, causing the human next to it to visibly shudder. Even Vee and myself were not left undisturbed by the strange cry.

“Demon! I’ve summoned you to bargain!” Kaspar shouted, his voice cracking slightly in panic.

Vee fired another spell at Kaspar, but it struck the barrier. The demon’s head swiveled and stared at her.

“Do not interfere!”

The words were thrown into our minds as if we were forced to comprehend them. If [Telepathy] was like a mental handshake, this felt more like a mental hammer to the face.

“Can’t blame a girl for trying…” Vee shuddered.

I sent her some reassurance and continued my preparations.

Kaspar seemed a lot more confident after that outcome and couldn’t help but sneer at us. His sneer seemed so exaggerated that I wondered if he was trying to bait us into attacking and angering the demon more.

“Hold back…” I mentally whispered to Vee.

“Seriously, I wasn’t planning on trying again,” she confirmed.

Trixie said to listen to the negotiations carefully. Does that mean if we get into a fight before they are done, it would be unrestricted somehow? How powerful is this creature?

I threw out an [Identify], but it was frustratingly insufficient for the situation.

<Blocked [Summoned]; Demon.>

So its name is blocked, and presumably, its levels and other things are blocked. I can see it’s got an Emblem; I assume that’s to show it’s linked to a Summoner rather than here naturally. If I kill Kaspar, is it forced to go home?

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud cracking noise, like bones snapping. The demon’s form was twisting and churning before our eyes. Kaspar’s confidence visibly dropped, and it looked like he was not expecting this either.

I guess his unfamiliarity with demon summoning is a good thing. Perhaps this is his first time having to resort to this. It certainly feels like a last-resort maneuver.

Bones and flesh continued to contort until the demon looked somewhat humanoid. Its almost featureless face ripped apart into a mouth, and even a nose started forming. Its excess flesh began turning into rudimentary clothes, but it kept its wings and iconic horns.

“You wish to make a deal?” the demon questioned from its newly formed mouth.

“I offer you five years of my life to kill that elf over there!” Kaspar shouted, attempting to sound confident.

The demon’s newly formed face turned toward me, and I felt a scrutinizing gaze look over me.

“Five years?” the demon repeated. “Five years of your paltry life would be insufficient to accomplish this task.”

Kaspar gulped. “Ten?”

The demon cackled, a drawn-out cacophony of mocking laughter. Abruptly, its laughter halted.

“Boy, stop being so foolish. If you provide insufficient payment, then this one will clearly claim your life once I am defeated. There is no reason for you to be such a cheapskate.”

“Cheapskate? This is years of my life we are talking about!” Kaspar responded, outraged.

“Yes… human years. So precious and few.” The demon cackled mockingly. “Do you not want to serve your emperor a victory?”

“I do…” Kaspar admitted.

“Surely your emperor will reward you? Perhaps he knows a way for you to reclaim your lost years. All you need to do is survive this encounter, after all.” The demon chuckled darkly.

I wanted to object, not liking how these negotiations were going, but I held my tongue. I did not want to risk the demon attacking me for free or perhaps giving the summoner a signing bonus. Wanting to know my situation, I equipped my [Apex Hunter] Emblem.

I had almost expected the cry and feeling of “Worthy!” to echo in my head, but instead, I got a similar feeling when I first interacted with Trixie. It was as if the Emblem itself was unsure how the demon stacked up against me or if its level of deception was too great to overcome.

“Twenty… mo! Twenty-five years of my life!” Kaspar exclaimed.

“Deal!” the demon cried out triumphantly, holding out a sinewy hand.

Kaspar grasped the hand, and the magical circle suddenly flared to life again. I watched him visibly wither before my eyes as years of his life were taken from him. On the other hand, the demon became more pronounced, as if his form was being more established.

“A good deal,” the demon moaned happily.

Kaspar took a moment to gather his breath, then pointed directly at me. “As per our contract, I wish for you to kill that elf!”

The demon turned to me again, and I could feel the open hostility between us now. It felt like staring down at an angry predator. Oddly enough, now that the deal was finalized, that almost tingly feeling my Emblem was giving me had seemed to stop.

Is it no longer “worthy” anymore? I wondered.

I felt its gaze scrutinizing me more.

“Elf?” the demon questioned.

“Yes, kill the knife-eared bitch!” Kaspar demanded, thrusting his finger at me.

“Just to confirm, you wish for me to kill the one known as Syl?” the demon asked again.

“Yes!” Kaspar shouted, his patience running dry. “Who else would I be talking about!? She’s the only elf here!”

“I ask because that one is not an elf,” the demon replied. “But thank you for the confirmation.”

Kaspar seemed flabbergasted, staring at me with apparent shock and surprise, “Not an elf? Then what the hell is she!?”

Is this really how my secret gets revealed? Well… as long as I kill Kaspar, it should be fine; Trixie promised to keep the area sealed from spectators.

“I do not know,” the demon replied. “Some form of changeling or mimic creature, but that is not an elf.”

“B-but she has the bag? She matches the description perfectly. The elf ambassador even tried to protect her. How can she not be anyone other than who we were looking for!?” Kaspar demanded.

The demon shrugged. “I do not know the answers to your question. Nor do I care. I merely asked and pointed out that it was potentially hindering our bargain. I will kill this Syl individual as agreed upon.”

“A skin walker? Some undead parading around her body?” Kaspar began muttering to himself right as the demon tensed and flew directly at me.

As the demon left the magic circle, it seemed to finalize on his body, and [Soul Sight] showed a bonded connection between the demon and Kaspar.

“Wait for it…” Vee whispered eagerly.

I wondered if she had set up traps again. If the demon died by charging recklessly into her death web, I wouldn’t complain, even if it was anticlimactic.

A win is a win, in my book.

The demon suddenly halted its approach. Vee muttered curses, and I realized it must be able to see her traps. Then, it did the unthinkable and raised its limb before making a chopping motion and slicing through the air.

“What!?” Vee screamed aloud. “How!?”

A creepy smile formed on its face as if it could hear her thoughts. Then it teleported and was right before me.

“It has [Blink]?” Vee cried.

Attack! I ordered.

Tendrils burst from the ground around my elven form, trying to converge on the demon. It seemed unperturbed by the circumstances and tried to skewer me with its elongated arm.

Bring it, I’ll eat you alive!

Its arm struck; at first, I thought it would fail to penetrate through my various defensive traits, but then I noted the tips of its elongated nails were brimming in what I knew was Dimensional Mana, thanks to being around it so much with Vee.

It went straight through what was supposed to be my body. Kaspar cheered. Vee let out a worried cry. The demon remained unfazed. Meanwhile, I smirked as I turned my slimy body into an engulfing weapon.

“An aberration?” the demon questioned as my body-turned-maw and perimeter of tendrils began latching onto him.

I made sure [Acid Slime] was activated and my tendrils were evenly distributed between [Cryo Slime] and [Blaze Slime] as I didn’t know what would work on the demon. There was an intense sizzling noise where contact was made, but I quickly noted that it would not be enough to overcome the demon’s natural resistance.

It can never be easy, can it? If I engulf him entirely and crush him in pressurized and dense slime, I might be able to get through.

More tendrils began wrapping around the demon, who remained eerily calm despite effectively being within my mouth. Some tendrils became laced with mithril barbs to further pierce or cut through its defenses.

How do I damage you? I wondered, staring at the bound demon.

My immediate thought was spirit, as the demon seemed to have a body composed of a similar construction as the Undine I had fought.

I began throwing out debuff and affliction spells to see what would stick on the creature, causing it to hum as if it found the situation intriguing. Even when [Mana Burn] landed on it, it seemed perfectly content to let this happen.

“Are you going to just let that monster kill you? What did I pay you for!?” Kaspar screamed.

The demon clicked its tongue in annoyance. There was a rush of energy in its body, and I sensed a large amount of Dimensional Mana forming.

“Watch out, Syl!” Vee cried out.

Thousands of tiny invisible cuts formed around the demon’s body in an outward emanation. I felt my slime and tendrils be ripped apart all at once as if the demon had somehow turned itself into a living blender. Then there was a flare-up of Mana before everything within a ten-meter radius of the demon was suddenly sliced into infinitesimally small portions.

“Hmm? No damage at all?” the demon questioned.

I sighed in relief. Thankfully, none of my cores were within the deadly perimeter of death the demon created. Slime from my underground reserve immediately burst upward to continue the attack against the demon.

“Very interesting…” the demon continued to postulate.

“Stop fooling around and kill it, damn you!” Kaspar demanded again.

“Without proper understanding, how do you expect me to vanquish such a strange foe?” the demon questioned as it sliced apart incoming tendrils.

They weren’t entirely destroyed, so rather than halting the attack, it merely delayed it as split tentacle burst forward as two tendrils each now.

“I think I’m beginning to understand what creature I face… truly fascinating!” the demon joyfully cried out.

I wish I could say the same, I thought bitterly.

Chapter sixty-seven

Demon

The demon continued to bask in its own confidence as it examined me.

Meanwhile, I still had not found a good way to attack it. It didn’t cleanse my debuffs or afflictions, but they didn’t seem to have that much effect. I had always thought that if push came to shove, I could always rely on my slime powers to seal the deal, but now I was beginning to wonder if that indeed was the case anymore.

Vee was not idle in this battle, throwing out [Corrosion Magic] and the occasional makeshift [Rift Thread] weapon. The former the demon ignored while the latter it seemed to always slice apart with its arms in a prompt fashion.

I had tried seeing if any of my concoctions from [Poison Slime] would have an effect, but even the notorious Bloodrot seemed ineffective against the otherwordly being.

With [Soul Sight], I examined its connection to Kaspar more closely; it seemed to flare to life with more vigor on occasion but was otherwise dormant.

I guess I need to go for the summoner. I mean, I had the inkling already, but I had hoped to eat and defeat this demon on my own without resorting to its lifeline.

Begrudgingly, I had tendrils burst out toward Kaspar, who cried out in horror. The demon instantly vanished, leaving a path of destruction in its wake before appearing directly next to Kaspar and banishing my attacking tendrils with a wave of its elongated arm.

“Now, why did you have to go and spoil our fun?” the demon questioned.

Rather than answering, I began firing explosive slime at the summoner, forcing the demon to defend him. At first, the demon blocked with its body or by counterattacking, but when my assault proved unrelenting, he grabbed Kaspar by the waste and teleported away with the human.

Kaspar’s cries gave away their position, flying high above the ground.

“Put me down; I don’t wish to be manhandled in this manner!”

“If I left you on the ground, I’d be placing you in the belly of the beast,” the demon said.

More of my slime began to burst out of the ground. Each was a possible attack avenue as I fired shots at the demon. It flew with supernatural grace and managed to avoid attacks, and when I detonated them nearby in hopes of causing damage, it was once again forced to cover Kaspar with its own body.

“I see your point,” Kaspar admitted, staring in horror. “What matter of abomination is this?”

“I believe it’s some form of slime,” the demon said.

Kaspar laughed. “A slime?”

The demon shrugged. “Or something close to it. Its mass is not actually its body; wounding it deals no damage. A slime is the only such creature I can think of that matches those characteristics.”

“Then… you simply need to destroy its core!” Kaspar shouted.

I shuddered at what I was overhearing and began tossing out even more ranged attacks. I ensured my cores were not holding back, and spells and slime projectiles polluted the air.

“Easier said than done,” I overheard the demon continue to explain. “It hides its true self deep within an ocean of slime.”

Kaspar gulped, no doubt realizing the demon’s words were accurate when it mentioned “belly of the beast.”

“Then, can you not help me retreat and come back to defeat this monster?” Kaspar suggested.

My heart sank; this would be the absolute worst outcome imaginable. A foe with my secret, escaping and telling others. While I could abandon my disguise and even possibly rename myself, I had no idea if they had other means of tracking me. My situation felt extremely hopeless.

“No,” the demon replied.

“No?” Kaspar repeated in question.

“It is not the deal we struck,” the demon answered.

Kaspar seemed outraged. “Is this how you extort more years of my life from me? Even though it would be to your own benefit to fight without me in the area!”

The demon shook his head. “The deal once made cannot be changed. A new bargain cannot be struck until the first is concluded or one of the involved parties has perished.”

Well, that’s good news for me! I thought cheerfully.

“Trixie wasn’t kidding about them being sticklers for rules,” Vee commented, mirroring my thoughts.

“Fine!” Kaspar spat. “If it’s a slime, then its weakness is cold. I shall summon some icy minions to aid you.”

“The slime tried to freeze me; I do not think ice would work,” the demon explained.

“A mutated white slime?” Kaspar questioned. “Very well, I’ll summon a lightning creature. One of the other greatest weaknesses of their pathetic kind.”

“Wow, what an asshole,” Vee growled.

“Yeah, he’s hiding up there from this so-called pathetic creature,” I agreed.

Since direct ranged attacks were not working, I revealed one of my trump cards. I began preparing a barrage of spells, all originating from different points. I held them at the ready, waiting for each one to be completed, and thankfully, the demon didn’t seem to notice my preparations.

Meanwhile, Kaspar summoned three more of those lightning birds. I watched his Mana nearly bottom out before he pulled out another potion to consume. The birds squawked and began charging some form of lightning attack.

“I’m going to fire the lightning back at them and then my spells, too; coordinate with me if you can,” I informed Vee.

“Roger!” she energetically replied back.

The trio of birds screeched before dive-bombing toward me; once in range of some of my slime, each one let off a sizeable bursting spark of electrical energy that surged through me. Kaspar immediately seemed to celebrate victory, but it was well within the means of my [Voltaic Slime] to handle it, and I began storing and redirecting the energy.

The demon continued staring curiously; it opened its mouth to say something right as I fired all of the gathered energy with a bit of some extra oomph I had generated myself.

Kaspar cried in shock as the massive bolt of energy was fired out at breakneck speed, the demon barely reacting in time to avoid it. Meanwhile, my spells went off. Magical explosions detonated in the air as [Fireballs] and [Lightbombs] went off. A barrage of [Icicle] spells were fired, and beams of [Waterjets] were aimed.

I had thought my victory was secured, but once the spells were unleashed, the demon seemed to immediately notice their presence. It began a series of rapid teleporting maneuvers around the battlefield while holding the screaming Kaspar like a sack of potatoes.

“Truly fascinating! A magical slime that can cast spells and has overcome its natural weaknesses!” the demon exclaimed excitedly. “I may have offered my services far too cheaply in this deal.”

I had also cast [Fireflies], hoping that the homing spells would be effective against such a tricky target. I watched as the magical fire bugs fluttered after the target as best they could, but even in mass quantities, they were ill-suited for this situation.

I felt my morale drop moments before a gash struck the demon’s side. I immediately knew that Vee must have set up a trap and wondered if she had some method of predicting where they would appear, thanks to [Spatial Sense].

“I forgot about the spider…” the demon spat, although it didn’t even look like it had taken much damage.

[Essence Sight] saw the magical umbilical cord between the demon and summoner pulse, and the wound rapidly sealed itself. I had my [Sub-Cores] continue their attack while I observed and tried to strategize with Vee.

“Shit… we need to kill the summoner,” I grumbled in frustration.

“Unfortunately, that demon bastard is keeping him tight,” Vee agreed. “I really thought you had them with so many spells.”

“Spell orb time?” I suggested.

“Might work,” Vee hesitantly agreed. “Hell, if you did your worm self-destruct thing, maybe you could catch them in the blast radius.”

“I worry they would just teleport away from the explosion radius. Even if I did multiple explosions at various points, I reckon it could teleport to safety,” I admitted.

“Yeah, it’s got [Blink] or something better,” Vee explained. “I certainly can’t carry passengers with mine, and he does it so frequently. If only we could trick them into a trap.”

“That’s it!” I replied excitedly, Vee’s words triggering an idea.

“Really? Great! What’s the plan?” Vee asked.

“I’m going to offer a mutual surrender,” I answered. “I can capitalize on the fact he wanted to kill the elf; well, she’s dead. If I beg for my life, maybe he will buy it.”

“I dunno… sounds risky…” Vee replied.

“I’m an excellent actor!” I said confidently. “I have the [Acting] skill to prove it.”

Vee reluctantly agreed, and while my [Sub-Cores] kept them distracted, I began formulating my plan. I knew he wanted Sylthaeryn dead, and then he also wanted the bag, and that would be my exploitable opportunity.

Withdrawing the bag from the safety of my underground slime reservoir, I began scrutinizing it as much as possible while crafting a perfect replica of the bag. While I had not and could not eat the bag to get a perfect understanding, I was far from the little slime who spent time practicing making tree replicas from sight.

No, I had a whopping [Morph Slime LV 8] and [Chimeric Mimicry LV 7] to work with. By examining it thoroughly within my slime mass and scrutinizing it with my various sight-related traits, I felt like my plan was flawless. I’d eaten plants, cloth, and almost everything in between; I had confidence in creating a perfect facsimile of the magical plant bag and even called on Alpha to give me a helping hand.

My [Sub-Cores] seem to follow orders even if I can’t. They knew how to work with spell crafting even when I couldn’t correctly use [Soul Sight]. So, hopefully, Alpha’s unseen aid will give it the finishing touches it needs.

With my perfect replica made, I gave it a deadly center. Nothing was off the table as I filled it with Bloodrot-laced mithril shrapnel, plenty of acid, and even some freezing slime for good measure. Then, purely for theatrics, I formed a fake humanoid body and decided to open negotiations.

“We seem to be at a stalemate!” I declared and halted my attacks.

“You’ll succumb eventually, monster!” Kaspar shouted back, although he was clearly not in the best of conditions because of how much jostling around he had been subjected to.

“I wish to bargain for my life,” I said.

“Ha! You killed my underlings, humiliated me, and I sacrificed years of my life. Why would I ever make a deal with you?”

“Your original target was the elf, Sylthaeryn, was it not? I merely took on her form. She is dead.”

“Even so, a monster such as yourself should perish.”

“Even if I offer this bag of hers?” I asked, pulling the bag out of myself.

Kaspar visibly reacted at the sight of it, and I felt like I had gotten a nibble on my fishing line.

“I can take it off your corpse,” Kaspar answered.

“Vee, could you produce a [Rift Thread] web for me?” I asked aloud rather than telepathically.

Vee abruptly appeared beside me, pulling out an intricate web of [Rift Thread] that she had clearly premade.

“What is that spider doing?” Kaspar demanded.

“It appears to be weaving dimensional thread… fascinating… Perhaps even more so than the slime creature?” the demon answered.

“If this bag is so precious to your efforts, then I suppose I should just destroy it out of spite,” I said, motioning to bring the bag above the web.

“I’ll kill you if you destroy that bag!” Kaspar threatened.

“You already threatened my life, so I might as well spite you and your emperor.”

Kaspar was grinding his teeth as he stared at the bag.

“Would those threads destroy it?” he asked the demon.

“Unless that bag has protections from dimensional rifts, I cannot see it surviving,” the demon answered.

“What about the whole contract thing?” Kaspar asked. “You said you couldn’t go against it until complete.”

“You could mark the objective as complete,” the demon answered. “As long as you swear it to me, I can treat it as done. Do note that there will be no refunds.”

“My life for this bag?” I asked again. “Sounds like a fair trade, wouldn’t you say?”

The silence was deafening as he seemed to struggle to make up his mind about my proposal. I began motioning to drop it through the web to ensure he didn’t have enough time to ruminate on it and possibly see through my deception.

“Wait!” Kaspar shouted.

“Yes?” I questioned, tilting my head.

“I’ll agree on one condition,” Kaspar said.

“What is it?”

“Give me the bag first,” Kaspar replied. “I don’t trust a monster to keep its word.”

“And I’m supposed to trust you?” I asked.

“Hey! Don’t push it!” Vee warned me telepathically, but I ignored her. [Acting] guided me, and I put my full faith in it.

“I’m an honorable [Outeatus Knight],” Kaspar explained. “My word is my oath!”

A knight that tried to assassinate me multiple times, sure… very honorable. I wanted to roll my eyes at the crap he was spewing, but [Acting] held me firm.

“I see…” I replied, pretending to mull it over. “Very well, I’ll trust you, sir knight.”

“Excellent!” Kaspar exclaimed happily.

<Proficiency gained. [Acting LV 5] improved to [Acting LV 6].>

Excellent… I agreed.

Chapter sixty-eight

Inevitable Betrayal

“How would you like me to give you the bag?” I asked.

“I’m most certainly not going to go down there and retrieve it from the belly of the beast,” Kaspar said, shaking his head. “You can toss it up here physically or even use [Air Magic] to do so. I’ve seen you cast plenty of wind spells.”

He summoned another large bird creature, which looked big enough for him to ride on and seemed to lack the apparent affinity effects of his previous summons. He immediately started chugging another Mana potion afterward, determined to keep his Mana levels at a steady supply.

“Alright then,” I agreed and proceeded to fling the bag upward by firing it with [Slime Shot], aimed in his general direction.

At first, he was hesitant, and only once he confirmed it was the bag did he send out his bird creature to fetch it. It clutched the bag and proceeded to prod and poke it a few times before it returned to its master.

“Satisfied?” I asked.

“Very,” Kaspar said, looking smugly satisfied. “Tell me, demon, how do you measure against this monster?”

“If I wasn’t protecting you, I’d feel confident in my victory,” the demon spoke matter-of-factly. “I’m hindered by my effective attack range being within a twenty-meter radius.”

And here comes the inevitable betrayal. Just a few moments more… I need him away from that demon in case it can protect him or teleport him away.

“Excellent,” Kaspar said, barely hiding his fiendish grin. “Then I shall retreat on my bird and leave you to it.”

The demon nodded before effectively tossing the summoner toward his bird. After a minor panicked cry, he collected himself and had his commanded creature catch him on its back.

“I thought we had a deal!?” I cried out, feigning outrage.

“The terms have changed, and I cannot, in good faith, allow such a monster to roam freely,” Kaspar sneered. “For the good of the world, I’ll have to besmirch my honor. A noble sacrifice.”

“What a joke; I can’t believe how far his head is up his own ass,” Vee commented disapprovingly.

“He’ll get his comeuppance,” I reassured her mentally.

He took the bag from the beak of his bird mount and began stroking it affectionately. He pulled out what seemed to be some form of enchanted reins that connected to his summoned flying steed, which then began to turn away from me.

“Proceed with the deal, demon,” Kaspar ordered.

The demon simply nodded. Rather than fly toward me, it merely vanished using its teleportation skill and began tearing into my fake body.

Boom!

The fake bag detonated. Its payload was entirely unobstructed as it went directly into and through the summoner. The demon’s head immediately swiveled upward to look at what had occurred right as more tendrils grabbed on to it in an attempt to prevent it from teleporting to aid.

The demon snarled as it began tearing slimy tendrils apart, only for more to latch form and latch on to him. My [Sub-Cores] also started pelting him with various spells, hoping something would finally damage the creature.

Vee also seized the opportunity, lashing out with a makeshift whip of [Rift Thread] into the screeching creature. That was the final straw as it began gathering energy once more. Vee teleported away, and I ensured none of my cores were nearby as, once again, the thousands of tiny blades formed an aura around the demon and sliced anything and everything into non-existence.

Once it was free, it immediately used its [Blink] ability, but I knew I had already secured my victory.

<Human LV 22; Summoner LV 30 defeated. Experience gained.>

I had witnessed his body falling from the sky, his mount destroyed in the resulting blast. No doubt he was burning, dissolving, and freezing. Not to mention the Bloodrot-laced shrapnel. It was a truly horrendous contraption for any living creature.

“No!” the demon bellowed in anger and violently struck the ground near the corpse.

[Soul Sight] showed me that the strange umbilical cord between them was now severed from the summoner and burning like a candle toward the demon.

“I hadn’t finished claiming my meal!” the demon roared again and turned to me. “I shall ensure you suffer for your interference!”

Oh, wonderful. I was hoping it would disappear instantly, but I guess there’s a time limit now.

The demon vanished from the spot and began tearing into any slime it could find. Previously, it had armed only its nails with the cutting imbuement, but now its entire arms were aglow as it attempted to rend through me.

“Vee, stay back, I don’t want you getting hurt,” I told her telepathically.

“Really? I can help you,” Vee suggested.

“He’s going to fade away, I think. I just need to outlast him, and then we win. I’ve got an ocean of slime between him and me, not to mention a couple of extra lives even if he does get me.”

“Okay… but be safe,” Vee warned.

“Got it!” I replied confidently.

The demon continued its rampage against the slime I kept throwing at it. While it was mindlessly destroying, I tried to capitalize as best as I could on the situation and find some better methods of attack. I started cycling between various forms of [Metal Slime] weaponry, hoping to find something to combat the demonic foe.

Obsidianite and adamantine didn’t seem notably effective, much to my dismay. However, there appeared to be some minor effects when I produced some piercing and slashing weapons made from mithril. It still largely ignored my spells, which felt very disheartening.

Demons must be highly magic-resistant. I’ll need to do some research into how to effectively fight them.

Any minor damage I did to it healed rapidly, although at the cost of the magical umbilical cord burning away faster. That was the primary reason I didn’t want to simply wait it out; I hoped to get further skill or trait experience while I could.

Maybe I’m approaching this wrong. Perhaps I need to find something like how lead-silver worked on Trixie? I could start cycling through other types of metals, even weapons that aren’t generally made of.

Of course, I immediately tried to cut into it with lead-silver weapons. They were slightly effective, more so than my other attempts, so I knew I might have been on the right track.

Pure silver and the Mana-enriched silver worked more effectively, even causing the demon to hiss in anger, but they did not halt its rampage. And so I began trying to mix silver with anything and everything, hoping to create an impromptu alloy that would work against the demon. I told my [Sub-Cores] to join in and experiment with alloys, hoping they would solve my problem.

With its time growing slime and no doubt realizing what I was attempting to work out, it started being far more destructive in its attacks. Rather than creating a radius of destructive energy around itself, it started making some form of magical attack that cut out a cube in space.

When I saw it happen, alarm bells rang in my head, and Vee, who was watching, must have seen something genuinely horrific, as she had even let out a mental screech.

Bastard is destroying my slime! The nerve!

I kept retreating my cores, only keeping one in range to maintain better direct control over the assaulting slime. Thankfully, it seemed like the demon lacked the proper measures to find my core, and blind destruction was its only avenue.

Again, another cube removed rock and slime from existence—a terrible display of power. While I was celebrating his lack of better sensory traits or his destruction being limited in range, I was interrupted by a strange notification.

<[Truesilver] alloy discovered. [Metal Slime] updated.>

Truesilver? I pondered and realized either one of my [Sub-Cores] or I had mixed mithril and silver together in what must have been the proper ratios.

Mithril and silver had both affected the demon, so I formed a fresh batch of bladed weapons, including a particularly awe-inspiring rapier, and assaulted the demon.

Blades cut and pierced the demon’s flesh with a newfound strength. The demon’s attitude instantly flipped, and he went from blind destruction to desperately protecting himself. No more cubes of destruction and no more seeking my death; now, it was purely focused on slicing incoming tendrils with its clawed hands or forming that aura attack as a last-ditch effort.

I guess hoping I could kill it on the spot is too much, I thought bitterly as I watched the last remnants of its tie to the world burn away more rapidly.

Tendrils of truesilver were very effective as I tried to shackle the demon, forcing it to use its ultimate move to free itself. More and more of its lifeline burned away, and when only an inch was left, it let out a bellow.

“Enough! You may have won this time, little slime, but tread carefully! Us demons hold their grudges for eternity!”

And then, before I could retort, attack, or do anything else, it vanished. In a somewhat gruesome display, the demon turned itself inward and fled into a black and red extradimensional hole that popped like a blood boil when the last bits of its form fled.

<Demon banished. Partial experience gained.>

“Holy shit… we did it?” Vee spoke up first.

“Looks like it…” I said cautiously and began recollecting myself.

“Congrats!” Trixie said, suddenly appearing.

“A lot of help you were,” Vee grumbled.

“Hey, I kept any outside witnesses away!” Trixie said.

I nodded; it’s probably what I cared about the most.

Vee, however, was still not satisfied. “I still think you should have been duking it out with us, fighting together as a group.”

“I’m not really the fighting type… More the mischievous and playful companion,” Trixie reported.

“Okay. Sure. Then why didn’t you make Syl’s tentacles invisible, the spells, the bombs, or something?” Vee pressed.

“Um…” Trixie hesitated. “Well. I could have. But if I did, then the demon could have been less restricted.”

“I’m not buying it,” Vee declared.

“It’s fine, Vee, don’t worry about it.” I tried to reason with her.

“It’s not fine,” Vee continued. “Sure, we got out of it this time, but what about the next time?”

“I’m sure Trixie would help us if we really needed it, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, if I could, I would,” Trixie replied, although I felt like she was still dodging directly answering.

Vee didn’t bother responding to that, although I could still sense her emotions in quite a turmoil from our bond. Unfortunately, I could sympathize with both their points of view.

I’d never really expected Trixie to ever come into the thick of it with fights, as I’d never needed it before, and I was happy to have her as a supporting role and some companionship. It was more experience for me, with the occasional helping hand and some companionship.

On the other hand, Vee was more worried about survival than growth opportunities. While she seemed to enjoy developing her power, it was more for the safety of additional levels. Meanwhile, I was happy to take more risks, as I could usually take them without any significant consequences.

I guess I’m the weird one here… Maybe I need to find Vee some more safety-related traits? I could also get some levels in a [Bonded Companion] related class. If I got a skill or upgrade that ensured her survival, then she might be willing to take more risks or overlook Trixie’s shenanigans.

Once I had regathered myself, we moved to claim our spoils from the battle. I gathered the remains of the summoner’s corpse without issue, but we ran into a problem when we looked at the area that contained the others.

“The area is unhallowed,” Trixie grumbled, looking particularly unhappy.

“Anything we can do about it?” I asked.

Trixie sighed. “Unless you have some [Holy Magic] hidden away, I don’t think so.”

“Great… So we must risk some soul damage to get our spoils?” Vee whined.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” I replied.

“No, it is; your soul is not looking good, Syl,” Trixie informed me.

“Then you should fetch them for us,” Vee said.

“Ugh. Fine!” Trixie whined as she fluttered into the infernal area.

“So, what’s our next plan? Cause I can tell we are both annoyed as hell by these attacks,” Vee asked me.

“I’m going directly to the embassy and shoving this bag in his face, and then we leave,” I answered. “Then I guess I give the elf disguise a break. Maybe we can just do some wondering on the surface.”

“Oh yeah, we can go see the beach!” Vee said excitedly.

“Anything to get away from these annoying attacks for something I’m not even related to. Now I’ve got a demon grudge; how bad is that?”

“Probably bad.” Vee sighed.

Well, at least I have a truesilver against the next demon I encounter. I tried to think positively.

Chapter sixty-nine

Slimy Results

While we waited for Trixie to return, I reviewed what I’d gained experience-wise from the fight with the summoner and demon. I started with my raw levels first, eager to see if I’d reached my next big class milestone.

<Class Experience threshold reached. Elementalist is now LV 19.>

<20 Skill Points are now available.>

<Racial Experience threshold reached. Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) is now LV 16>

<17 Trait Points are now available.>

“Only a single level in my class and race?” I whined. “We killed a summoner and stopped a demon; surely that was worth more!”

“I did take half of it, sorry,” Vee said. “Also, we only gained partial experience with the demon. It was banished, not killed.”

“I guess you’re right, and no, I’m not complaining about sharing the experience,” I reassured her.

“It’s probably also why we didn’t get anything from [Apex Hunter], or at least I didn’t,” Vee added.

I shook my head; I’d definitely not gained a skill point for banishing the demon. I sighed and looked over my traits and skills. Hopefully, something good happened there.

<Proficiency gained. [Pseudopod LV 7] improved to [Pseudopod LV 8].>

Oh! I didn’t even notice!

I created my full eight pseudopods and wiggled them around, causing Vee to stare at me while radiating confusion.

“Are you trying to be an anemone?” Vee asked.

“New trait level; I can have eight tentacles now!” I said excitedly.

“What do you mean eight now? I’ve seen you have way more than that.”

Rather than try to explain it, I showed the trait to Vee, hoping it would clarify things.

<[Pseudopod LV 8]

It can create and control numerous tendrils equal to the trait level of the available slime mass.

The degree of manipulation increases per level.

Quantity and size distribution are limited to available slime mass. Compatible with other slime traits.>

It did not.

“I don’t get it,” Vee grumbled. “How is this any different than what you usually do?”

“This is all handled by the trait. When I change the shape of my slime overall or try to morph it into shapes, I have to almost consciously control it. When I mimic a form like a weapon, elf, human, dwarf, or monster, I have another trait, [Chimeric Mimicry], that does the heavy lifting and handles copying the form. Likewise, the tentacles made by the trait are effectively controlled for free and have much better manipulation than when I try to do it manually.”

Vee hummed mentally while she mulled it over before finally speaking up again, “Maybe you didn’t notice it much with being distracted. But I’m sure you had more than seven or even eight super tentacles against the demon.”

“Really? I know my [Sub-Cores] are pretty good at controlling my slime for me when I delegate. I wonder if that’s the reason?”

I ordered Alpha to create half a dozen tentacles without using the [Pseudopod] trait. I felt the slime mass being withdrawn and forming into some makeshift tentacles. I didn’t even need Vee to point out that these were far from the highly controllable tendrils I usually use.

“That’s weird…” I mumbled.

“Can each of your cores make eight tentacles?” Vee suggested.

“They couldn’t before,” I immediately replied, then paused. “Before I evolved!”

I snapped my fingers and grinned excitedly. I held out one arm and ordered Alpha to make eight tentacles on the arm. It happily complied as usual, and they wiggled with speed and dexterity. Then, I held out my other arm and ordered Beta to do the same. Another eight little tentacles formed, and I couldn’t help but cheer.

“It’s per core!” I said happily.

“Nice, that solves that mystery. Although I can’t see when you’d ever need, what, 80 tentacles? Unless you want to try impersonating a centipede without using your mimic trait.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely overkill; my previous evolution has almost set me up for letting my [Sub-Cores] act independently from myself.”

“But they’re still stuck to you?” Vee asked.

I nodded. “At least for now, they still can’t act or follow orders unless they are connected to me. Maybe [Core Collective] will do that if I uncap it, or maybe I need another trait.”

“Or maybe it will be your next evolution,” Vee suggested.

“Very possible. I upgraded from Mimic Slime to Chimeric Mimic, which was a big jump. So maybe I’ll get a Distant Cluster Slime? I’d love to be able to use my [Sub-Cores] over a wider area.”

“That name is terrible; maybe something like Remote Cluster Slime?” Vee teasingly suggested.

“It can be called anything at this point; I’d just be happy for the upgrade. I’m always worried about losing the connection, potentially the core, and all of the slime mass under its control.”

“I wondered why you don’t always spread out as much as possible unless things really call for it.”

“Yeah, I’m being a bit stingy and neurotic, I’ll admit. But in my defense, it is easier to move around and more compact. There’s a reason I didn’t take one of my evolution options, which was focused on just being a massive all-consuming blob.”

“Really? Wow, ’cause that definitely fits you,” Vee teased.

“That’s rich coming from the one with the extra-dimensional stomach,” I retorted, looking over what other skills or traits had improved.

[Derived Element (Air) LV 8]

At this point, I’m surprised you aren’t at the max level yet!

[Magical Subterfuge LV 6]

[Exploit Weakness LV 6]

[Elemental Shift LV 6]

[Trap Mastery LV 5]

Nice. I got some good upgrades there. It’s a pity I didn’t get a level in [Nitro Slime], but its last improvement was pretty recent. I’d love to get all my slime traits to an even level eight across the board.

There was also one final notification.

<Your accomplishments have been acknowledged.

Emblem Achieved: [Banisher].>

So I did get something from the demon! I hope it’s good!

<[Banisher]

Increases damage against summoned creatures by 10%.

Increases stability damage to summoned creatures by 10%, reducing the time they can stay anchored away from their home.

Equipping this Emblem doubles these bonuses.>

Not bad… but nothing amazing? I hoped for something cool and flashy like [Demon Slayer], but I didn’t kill it. I suppose this does make my next fight with one somewhat easier.

“You know… I just realized we didn’t give Trixie a bag or something.” Vee spoke up.

“Why would that matter?”

“Well, she’s tiny; how can she bring back any loot?”

“Oh… maybe she has her own storage?” I suggested.

“I hope you’re right. Otherwise, we will be stuck here waiting for a while as a tiny pixie drags a big sack of loot across the ground.”

“While that would be pretty funny, she can create these magical little minions with [Nature Magic] to carry stuff for her if she has access to plants.”

“Wow. And to think I only have two types of magic,” Vee grumbled.

“Next evolution?” I suggested. “Or we could try to get one via a class for you.”

Sadly, that idea fell through. I even tried showing [Derived Element] to Vee, but it said she lacked the required class to take the trait.

“Why do you even want to split your cores up?” Vee asked.

“Well, if I could leave one with you, you’d permanently have a magical helper at the very least. But imagine if I could have each core take a different form? I could have my own little adventuring party or have some great disguises with monsters.”

“Wow. Okay, yeah, that sounds absurdly powerful,” Vee agreed.

“I sort of had this idea of potentially pretending to be a Monster Tamer and have my cores pretend to be a slime or something else, which was why I even had [Bonded Companion] in the first place. The idea sort of fell flat when I realized that you can’t tame slimes.”

“Regular slimes anyway,” Vee added. I nodded.

I withdrew some slime and demonstrated by having Alpha take the form of a griffin, still connected to me by a slimy tendril.

“This is sort of the idea I had,” I explained. “But the big risk is that if this tendril breaks, not only does the disguise break, but I potentially lose all that slime. So I haven’t risked it yet.”

“Makes sense,” Vee agreed.

We continued to chat a bit while I showed off some monster forms. It entertained us both and hopefully allowed me to gain some experience toward the next level of [Chimeric Mimicry] or [Morph Slime].

Trixie eventually showed up looking rather peeved off. As soon as she left the corrupted area, she made a few retching noises and shook herself like a wet dog.

“Never again!” Trixie declared.

“That bad?” Vee asked.

“It wasn’t painful, but very uncomfortable,” I explained.

“You’re anything but normal in that regard,” Trixie snapped back. “I was being serious when I said you shouldn’t be letting your soul accumulate so much damage like that. Didn’t you say one of your fears was being mind-controlled again? Well, having a weak soul would make it easier for you to submit.”

I shuddered.

“Adding that to the top of my list of things to avoid. Soul damage. Avoid at all costs. Yup!” Vee responded nervously.

“Anyway, we should head back,” Trixie said. “Wasn’t there a kobold-dwarf war going on?”

“Was the war even real, or was it all these Outeatus people?” Vee asked.

“I think it’s real, and they were just capitalizing on the opportunity,” I replied.

“So what’s the plan then?” Trixie asked.

“I want to throw this bag at the elves and leave,” I answered.

Vee nodded.

“Really?” Trixie asked. “I thought you were pretty invested in dealing with the kobolds.”

“We can sneak out and look for the leader to assassinate or something; I could even turn into a kobold to do it or just go giant worm on them.”

“Wow, you must be especially upset if you’re willing to drop all pretense,” Trixie replied with a hint of bemusement.

“Syl, the elf adventurer, can go on hiatus for a while, as far as I’m concerned,” I grumbled. “I like being on the attacking end, and I’ve had one attack against me too many.”

“Are you going to report it to the guild?” Vee asked. “The attempted assassination, not the hiatus.”

“I suppose.” I shrugged. “But the elves first; I’m done with this stupid magic bag everyone seems to be after.”

Vee nodded in agreement, but Trixie seemed less reluctant.

“You really want to go see the elves?”

“I’m throwing this bag at them and leaving,” I answered. “Why do you not want to see them?”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Something like that… I’m just not on great terms with a few of them.”

“I thought you said spirits got on well with the elves and dwarves?” I asked.

“Yeah, but I’m extraordinary.” Trixie giggled.

Vee’s mental sigh was almost deafening across the companion bond, and I had to admit that I was beginning to agree.

Trixie must have sensed it or something as she huffed and puffed in some playful anger. “Look, when you get to be as old as me, you sometimes ruffle a few feathers. And among the ageless, some grudges get held for a very, very, very long time.”

“Okay, if you don’t want to see the elves, then you can go tell Thern and his family what happened,” I offered.

“Sure, that works for me,” Trixie replied happily.

Moments before leaving, the pixie upturned a tiny satchel she had, and its contents magically spewed out. Bags, weapons, tools, and coins aplenty poured out.

“I thought you couldn’t put dimensional storage inside each other,” I murmured curiously.

“My bag isn’t dimensional; it shrinks stuff,” Trixie answered.

“Huh, I wonder if I could make something like that?” Vee asked.

“Unless you want to donate your… skin? Chitin? I don’t think so,” Trixie answered. “This is made from the skin of a monster that could naturally shrink and grow and then was enchanted to reactivate its natural properties.”

“Uh… no thanks, I like my exoskeleton attached.” Vee rejected the idea.

After removing the items from any enchanted bag, I tossed them into my [Core Storage]. When I had the time or energy, I’d go through them more thoroughly to see if they had anything worthwhile or maybe even some info to give the dwarves about their hostile actions.

That would probably be too convenient if they had evidence of their orders or actions. I doubt I’m that lucky.

Returning to the battlefield proper was both a surprise and a relief. Most of the kobold army looked scattered; even more dwarves had taken to the field with the occasional human adventurer. There were massive scars and craters throughout the area, indicating there were some hefty siege attacks propelled toward the reptilian invaders.

“Wow, we really missed out on some of the action,” Vee said.

“Yeah, but they were mostly small-fry; I doubt you would have gotten much experience,” Trixie said.

After making sure my profile and disguise were all correctly in place, we began our retreat back toward the safety of the city. I threw out the occasional flashy [Fireball] spell at the retreating kobolds to keep up appearances.

When we got back, I approached one of the dwarves in charge and questioned him about the state of the battle.

“We won today, but they will be back,” the dwarf replied. “Many of them retreated and got away, and I’ve been told it was similar on the other front. They’ll regroup and attempt something else tomorrow, if not sooner. Watch the sneaky gits try to do something during the night shift.”

“I’m surprised they could just throw away so many lives,” I commented.

“Lives,” the dwarf spat. “Them monsters don’t have lives. Most are motherless, spawned from essence. They don’t care how many they throw at us, as it’ll just make more spawn. We even had to cull our dungeon so it could take in some of the excess essence.”

I guess that’s one way to reduce a monster army from respawning. No wonder all the major cities are near a dungeon.

I thanked him for his time and joined the queue to get back behind the city walls.

“Well, that was pretty grim,” Vee remarked.

“Definitely makes me wonder what the gods were thinking when they decided to let souls come back as monsters,” Trixie replied telepathically. “They must have known most of you would be killed on sight. Not everyone can shapeshift like Syl here.”

“Ha! If you think that’s bad, I couldn’t even understand what the dwarves were saying. Then one day, I get this [Universal Language] skill added for free,” Vee responded.

“Yeah, not understanding what the kid said to me while he carved me over his bucket was terrifying. Although I got [Universal Language] after being bonded.”

“See, hearing all this makes me think they wanted you to die. Very cruel,” Trixie replied, shaking her head.

“Survival of the fittest, I suppose.” Vee shrugged.

“Well, if we stick together, I intend to survive,” I replied confidently.

“After seeing you literally throw hands with a demon, I’ll agree to that!” Vee cheered.

Chapter seventy

Some Answers

“So now that he’s dead, can you actually tell me a bit about summoners?” I asked Trixie. “I assume you immediately knew those monsters were summoned.”

Trixie hummed and hawed a bit before nodding. “Okay, I think it’s fine to answer a few questions. And yes, I did know they were summoned. They’re quite different from normal monsters, even with a basic [Mana Conception] trait.”

“You’re calling [Mana Conception] basic while I’m still stuck on [Mana Sight]…” Vee grumbled.

“I mean, I was born with it,” Trixie said with a shrug.

“Okay. So those monsters gave me experience. What’s stopping a summoner from just grinding their own monsters?” I asked.

“Experience debt,” Trixie answered, shuddering as she did. “Every summon costs a bit of experience, with most of its cost being taken by Mana. You can’t drop down a level, but you can rack up a debt which will delay your next level.”

So I wasn’t unique in being in some debt. Interesting.

“That’s potentially very powerful if you get to a high level. You could just summon infinite monsters, assuming you had the Mana?” Vee asked.

Trixie nodded. “It’s definitely a strategy employed by summoners. Get to a comfortable level, and don’t worry too much about ever reaching your next level. There’s a catch, though. You don’t want to die while in debt. There are dire consequences for doing so.”

I’m guessing it’s similar to my situation. I died in my last life with a lot of boons before accomplishing anything and was turned into an [Experiment]. I suppose Gramps and the others can’t reap as much if they owe levels. If even Trixie worries about the consequences, it must be extraordinarily bad. It’s a good thing I paid off my debt, or maybe Gramps would have made me reincarnate as something even beneath a slime, like perhaps an ant or a bug.

“Okay. That explains why they don’t just farm their own monsters; they’d be sacrificing their growth. So how does one unlock the summoner class?” I asked.

“You’re born with it unlocked or not at all,” Trixie answered.

“Damn.”

Trixie shrugged. “Not like you need the class. Honestly, I think you have more than enough going on already. [Dimension Magic] is way better than [Summoning].”

“I’d disagree, but I’m guessing I haven’t exactly seen its pinnacle. Unless we count what that demon was doing?” Vee asked.

“Kinda… not many demons have magic; instead, their affinity is incorporated into their being. A form of almost natural sorcery, if that makes sense?” Trixie answered.

“Not really, but thanks,” Vee replied.

I tried to think of an example from the many profiles I’d consumed at this point, but I was drawing a blank. At best, I could assume it was something like an organ, like the [Inferno Sac], which generated something when fed with Mana.

“But yeah. You both should be super grateful. [Dimension Magic] is so scarce,” Trixie stated.

“What else is on par with it or above it?” I asked curiously.

Trixie didn’t reply immediately, taking time to mull it over. I thought she might have given a non-answer, but she surprised both of us.

“[Time Magic] and [Golemancy],” Trixie answered. “Those are the two that immediately come to mind.”

“Really? Making golems is on par, but not summoning monsters?” Vee asked with surprise.

“Yes, because unlike summoning, they are almost unrestricted,” Trixie explained. “Sure, it costs you resources and time, and your resources spent affect your results, but you aren’t paying in experience, and from what I’ve heard, there’s almost no cap on the amount of golems you can have.”

“I guess the Kingdom of Keld makes more sense now,” I commented.

Trixie snapped her fingers. “Exactly! Also, unlike [Summoning], it allows you to have other affinities. This is another reason you’d hate it, Syl, as one the drawbacks in summoning is having no magical affinities yourself other than summoning.”

“Huh… That’s a bummer, but why?” I asked.

“You have to remain entirely neutral to be able to summon anything. If you somehow end up with an affinity, you will be restricted to only summoning monsters that match your affinity.”

“Sheesh!” Vee interjected. “Now that is a big downside.”

“Yeah. No summoning for me.” I chuckled.

We had finally reentered the walls, and most of the dwarves were still cheering and celebrating. Boasts were going all around, and plenty of places offered free booze; you’d think they had just had a festival instead of a siege. I even overheard some dwarves boasting and hoping the kobolds made big attacks like this more often.

Crazy dwarves. Although I guess I have to agree, it’s a great experience right to your doorstep, compared to the humans in Stantondale, who were so grim about the prospects of being attacked.

When we had broken from the traffic, I asked one of the city guards if they could give me directions to the elven embassy. After getting directions, I started heading in that direction.

“So… [Time Magic]?” Vee asked Trixie, who had yet to split with us.

“Incredibly powerful and dangerous,” Trixie responded. “The downside is it takes up massive amounts of Mana to use on any big scales, so they tend to focus on one or two targets.”

“So I’d be perfect for it?” I asked.

Trixie sighed. “Yes. You have an immense Mana reserve. But it’s something you are born with, so I don’t expect you’ll be able to get it.”

“Yeah, but you said the same about Dimension, and I evolved to get it,” Vee countered.

“A Time Slime?” I suggested with a smirk.

“Punny!” Trixie giggled. “But I seriously doubt it. I can’t think of any monsters, mutation or otherwise, that have anything Time-related. It’s probably something solely for the humanoid races.”

“So, no walking clock monsters or something like that?” Vee asked.

Trixie shook her head.

“And I don’t know how you’d trigger a mutation requirement,” I admitted reluctantly. “Like, you got Dimension affinity adjacently through advancing shrinking. What could I possibly do like that? Go backward or forward in time?”

“Technically, we’re all going forward in time,” Vee teased.

“Boo!” Trixie jeered. “Puns are great. Logic jokes are terrible.”

While we continued to chat, I had an idea about how I might qualify for a time-related mutation. If I found a time-based dungeon artifact, perhaps I could use it on myself. If I repeatedly exposed myself to the item equivalent of [Time Magic], that could be enough to open an option to something.

Or maybe I can convince Mother and Gramps to make me one during our next talk? Still, twenty-four levels to go till my next evolution… It feels so far away. Vee’s massive upgrade has me feeling a bit antsy at wondering what I’ll be offered. A further progression down this mimic line, or something to upgrade [Core Collective]? Something entirely new? Ahh, I want to know!

When we neared our destination, Trixie fluttered off my head and sighed.

“Okay, I’ll go tell Thern and gang what happened.”

“Yeah, we can meet at the Adventurer’s Guild. That way, I can tell Lukhek at the same time,” I replied.

“Sure thing. Just so you know, I charge extra for being a messenger pixie,” Trixie teased before poofing from sight.

“I hate when she does that,” Vee commented.

“I thought I’d finally be able to see through her with [Illusion Resistance] combined with [Magic Resistance (Greater)], but apparently, I was mistaken,” I replied. “Either her skills upgraded, or she was holding back the other times I had briefly seen through her ruses.”

“That’s slightly terrifying,” Vee admitted. “I guess it’s a good thing she’s mostly limited to illusions, then?”

“Well, unless she has something to make the illusions real, like the Cait Sith I fought. But I trust Trixie; she swore a Spirit’s Oath to me.”

“To you, but I don’t think I’m included in that arrangement. Plus, the stories I’ve read say to never trust fairies or pixies.”

“Look… I know it’s kinda frustrating when she doesn’t answer things, but she does help.”

“When it suits her,” Vee complained.

“Look… I’ll try to talk to her a bit about it. But she never really joined me with the requirement of being forced to help out. She kinda just wanted to be along for the ride, if that makes sense?”

Vee sighed. “It does, but it’s also extremely unfair. We are fighting for our lives, but she can just go, ‘Oops, sorry, I can’t get involved’? I feel like friends should do more than that.”

“She mentions restrictions a lot,” I offered. “And trust me, I know she can be tightly bound to her word. I’ll speak with her. It’s tough; I feel like I’m in the middle, but I agree that if our lives are on the line, she should help. I’d help if her life was on the line, and the same goes with you.”

“Thanks, Syl,” Vee replied. “For what it’s worth, I trust you. Although you probably knew that already from this bond thing.”

I nodded. “Speaking of which. We should look into finding ways to further benefit from it besides giving you some training boosts.”

“Sounds good! Thanks!” Vee said happily.

The elven embassy was located in the noble district of Dhoggurum. Unlike Kaerlin, however, it wasn’t so strictly segregated, although it did feature more visible security and opulent-looking streets.

The roads were tiled with decorative carvings as trimmings and were immaculately clean. Despite there not being a physical barrier to entry, I did have one guard ask if he could assist me, which doubled as him scoping out my intentions. However, he instantly brightened up when I mentioned the elven embassy and offered to show me the way.

Yay for not getting lost again.

The elf embassy was a masterpiece of organic architecture, seamlessly blending into the underground cavern it inhabited. Its smooth, ivory-white walls had been carved from luminous stone, etched with delicate, swirling patterns that shimmered faintly. Crystal windows reflected the glow of bioluminescent fungi, casting an ethereal radiance.

Despite being underground in a dwarven city, a breathtaking garden flourished around the small mansion, fed by a magical spring.

Luminescent flowers bloomed in shades of blue and violet, their petals gently pulsing like living stars. Vines with silver leaves draped over trellises, and some trees were on what I presumed was the lawn.

“Holy crap, I think we found where the elf lives,” Vee said in fascination. “It’s like he’s somehow transplanted the surface into the underground. Crazy!”

I thanked the guard for his assistance, and he gave a cheery smile and waved before continuing with his day.

“So… throw the bag at them and get out?” Vee asked.

“Is it wrong that I kind of want to see what’s inside?” I asked.

“Oh, hell yes! I was worried I was the only one,” Vee answered immediately. “I was going to suggest I [Blink] inside and have a look-see. But if you also want to, I don’t need to risk it.”

“Yeah… don’t do that,” I warned. “For all we know, they have some teleportation detection ward or something worse. The last time I spoke to Tamnaeth, he seemed relatively nice, if a bit nervous. I’m sure he won’t mind us having a little tour. If he refuses the bag, I can just drop it off in a room.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Vee agreed.

As I approached the mansion, a well-dressed dwarf in what I could only describe as a butler’s attire approached.

“Good day, ma’am. I hope you are well. Your eventual visit has been expected for some time.”

“You’re expected?” Vee questioned.

“I guess that makes things easy?” I quickly replied mentally to Vee.

“Thank you. Is Tamnaeth home?” I asked.

The butler dwarf nodded. “If you’ll just follow me inside. I’m sure my coworkers are preparing the tea room as we speak.”

“Wow, you’re really getting the royal treatment!” Vee said excitedly. “I can’t wait to see what they have for us!”

This silly spider and her stomach…

Chapter seventy-one

Elven Embassy

Entering the mansion was quite the spectacle. It really felt like we had been transported away from the dwarven city and were now in a miniature forest home.

Vee kept mumbling to herself in wonder as she stared at the various ornaments while staying in her small, compact size upon my shoulder. I followed the dwarf closely, not wanting to get lost.

There are so many different plants. Keeping them all alive must take a lot of time and effort. I wonder how they substitute the lack of sunlight. Is it an enchantment or something?

We entered what must have been a reception room, as it had an ornate table, plenty of chairs, and some sofas arranged around a magnificent fireplace with beautiful engravings in the marble stonework.

“Tamnaeth will be with you shortly. Can I bring you a drink in the meantime?” the dwarf butler asked.

“Yes, thanks,” I replied and took a seat on one of the plush couches.

The dwarf stared at me.

“I think he wants you to tell him what you want to drink,” Vee commented.

“Um… do you have coffee?” I asked.

The dwarf nodded, looking relieved. “I’ll get some right away.”

“Really? Coffee?” Vee asked while the dwarf left.

“It was the first thing that came to mind after water. Plus, you mentioned something about caffeine and poison,” I answered telepathically.

Vee sighed. “Figures even in the lap of luxury, you’d try to make some form of progress.”

“It often doesn’t work out, sadly. There was this magnificent restaurant that had all sorts of meats and dishes, but I didn’t gain a single profile or trait from eating them!”

Vee gasped. “Food is for eating and enjoying! It’s not just for silly profiles or whatever. You have to take me to this fabulous restaurant!”

“Sure, if we are ever in Kaerlin, we can go to Moonsong. Or, better yet, if we go to Stantondale, we can go to Trevor’s Inn!”

“Really? An inn better than a restaurant with a crazy name like Moonsong?” Vee asked skeptically.

“Trevor had a bunch of levels in chef. His food was so good I didn’t even mind the trait point I had to spend to taste it.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing…” Vee grumbled. “I suffered with raw food and effectively cannibalism for so long while you’re lamenting over a trait point to taste food.”

“I don’t think you can count dwarf meat as cannibalism. You’re a spider,” I countered. “Besides, I’ve eaten frogs, slimes, bugs, goblins, rocks, metals, and the list goes on.”

“I don’t know whether to be impressed or feel sad for you. Eating rocks and bugs.”

“I mean, I am a slime…”

“I hope you weren’t eating them in your elf disguise. You’d break so many hearts,” Vee teased. “Here’s this supernaturally beautiful elf, and she’s chowing down on some raw bugs.”

“No. I’m not that dumb. I learn to pretend to eat and everything. Although I will say using a knife and fork when I can just dissolve things is a test of patience. Likewise with chewing.”

“But chewing is the best part!” Vee whined.

The door opened, and Tamnaeth entered. He was still just as I remembered him, although rather than our last time, he seemed very happy to see me.

“Syl, I’m so glad you finally came to visit. I was worried that after you refused my protection offer, you would avoid visiting,” he replied politely.

“H-o-l-y shit. Sexy elf man,” Vee commented. “And here I’m stuck in the body of a gross spider. This is the worst timeline.”

“Really?” I complained mentally before trying to ignore the spider and her ramblings.

“At the time, I thought that if more assassins came, it would be one way to train myself further. And my new companion as well,” I replied, trying my best to sound diplomatic about it.

The dwarf butler came in and started handing out drinks and snacks; I could hear Vee audibly gasping at the various pastries and fruits on display.

Tamnaeth nodded. “I can see that. You’ve certainly grown leaps and bounds in levels since I last saw you. Although you mentioned at the time, has the situation changed?”

I nodded as I took a sip of my coffee.

<[Caffeine] has been sampled. [Poison Slime] updated.>

I hid my glee before replying, “I was attacked again while outside dealing with the kobolds.”

Tamnaeth looked furious; his teacup trembled as his grip tightened on the handle.

“Rat bastards. Another shadow elf? Or hired goons?”

“Outeatus Knights,” I answered.

Tamnaeth’s composure broke, and he actually dropped his cup. The dwarf butler was startled and immediately began trying to frantically clean up the mess.

“Those retched inbred humans!?” Tamnaeth shouted, veins practically bulging on his neck. “How dare they!”

“I took care of them,” I answered. There were no survivors. But they were after this bag, and I want to leave it with you.”

I placed the bag on the counter, and Tamnaeth’s rage instantly faded. He stared at it almost longingly before shuddering a little.

“I cannot take this, Syl, but I know someone who can,” Tamnaeth spoke softly.

“Can I leave it here? I want to be on my way and be absolved of this matter; I have dungeons I want to conquer and a world to explore,” I insisted.

“I’m afraid that is not an option,” a new voice answered.

The room had a new presence as if he had suddenly existed. At first, I thought it was teleportation, but it almost felt like he had always been in the room already. Even Vee was startled, entirely caught by surprise even with her [Spatial Sense]. All signs pointed to this not being teleportation.

The newcomer was a tall, slender elf with sharp, elegant features and long, flowing platinum hair. He wore an ornate, embroidered robe shimmering with various enchantments and what looked like interwoven segments of mithril. His fingers were adorned with intricate rings, and a glowing amulet hung around his neck, radiating magical energy. Though his piercing eyes gleamed with wisdom and power, his expression was calm and composed.

<Llewel Fei [Nature’s Grace]; Elf LV 83; Chronomancer LV 77; Arcane Apothecary LV 42.>

Worthy! The cry resounded in my head. Although such a confident outcry from my Emblem instilled a sense of impending doom in me rather than my usual joy.

Vee swore, no doubt also being taken aback by the other elf.

“Syl, do not fight him!” Vee warned.

“Why not?” I asked mentally.

“[Time Magic]! The thing Trixie directly warned us about!”

“Syl, please meet Llewel,” Tamnaeth said.

“It would be nice to meet you, but not if you won’t let me drop this bag off and leave,” I responded.

“Syl!” Vee cried mentally, but I ignored her.

“For your safety and for the good of the Grove, that is not an option,” Llewel said. Despite him offering me no compromise, his tone lacked the snark I’d almost expected it to. “If the Outeatus Kingdom is involved, then there can be no further delay. I wouldn’t be surprised if they orchestrated this kobold panic to arrange your isolation. There are probably assassins heading toward this very building as we speak.”

“I can handle a few assassins,” I replied confidently. “And I’m not going anywhere with you. The only reason I’m even here is to drop off this bag as a courtesy, and unless you want to make an enemy of the Adventurer’s Guild, of which I’m a Gold-rank member, you will leave me alone.”

Llewel paused as if considering my words. Tamnaeth’s forehead was beginning to dampen as he sweated.

Wasn’t he supposed to be a diplomat? You’d think he would be used to situations like this.

“Damn, did that actually work? I guess you really know how to throw the right words around. Guess joining the guild was a good move!” Vee cheered.

“I believe even the Adventurer’s Guild will forgive a bit of impropriety when family matters are concerned,” Llewel finally said. “Your mother has demanded your return, and I must follow her orders.”

“She’s not. I’m not—”

“[Stasis],” Llewel chanted; it came out so fast that I didn’t even notice him casting the spell. It was as if he had somehow already prepared it or perhaps could instantly cast spells.

My body—no, my entire being—froze in place. Slime, cores, everything seemed unable to respond or react.

<[Stasis] is in effect.>

“Syl! I can’t move!” Vee replied telepathically.

Telepathy still works?

“I can’t either!” I replied in a slight panic.

I tried opening a telepathic bond to Llewel to demand my release or explain the situation, but my mental handshake met what felt like an impenetrable wall of barriers. My feeble handshake was rebuffed like a club hitting it.

“Remarkable, no matter how many times I see it!” Tamnaeth said. “The combat applications for such a powerful spell must be immeasurable.”

“Not quite. The effect is powerful but leaves the target virtually out of time,” Llewel explained casually. “While they cannot act, they also cannot take any harm. Even trying to move them from the spot would be met with extreme resistance.”

As if to demonstrate, he flung a cup toward me; it wouldn’t have damaged me anyway, but the object rebounded off me. While I kept trying to activate skills, traits, or even my [Sub-Cores], I could only stare and watch as the two elves conversed.

“You can even try stabbing her with your glaive if you wish,” Llewel further added.

“I-I could never!” Tamnaeth stammered.

Llewel shrugged. “Her mother said she was feisty, but I think I underestimated her evaluation. Either your report didn’t do her justice, or there’s been some remarkable growth before my arrival.”

“B-both, I think,” Tamnaeth responded nervously.

“I’m not blaming you. It’s hard for a non-caster to evaluate these things. Her Mana is extraordinarily large. It will undoubtedly be larger than my own, given some time.”

“I see… So what is the next step? I assume she will be furious when your spell breaks.”

Llewel nodded. “We will be teleporting back to the Grove.”

Vee and I both gasped telepathically as if we were prisoners in our own bodies at this stage.

Llewel began taking out what looked like a rug from an extravagant satchel, no doubt enchanted for storage. As he unraveled it, I could see woven into it one of the most complex pieces of runework I’d ever seen. I tried to comprehend what I saw, but it was far beyond me.

“That’s… What? That’s possible?” Vee muttered. “It’s almost like what my spells, but turned into even more grand patterns. This makes what I do look like I’m playing with dirt and twigs!”

“Damnit, is there nothing we can do!?” I cried.

“None of my spells are working, I can’t even touch my Mana,” Vee answered. “I think we are going to get kidnapped by these elves whether we like it or not.”

“No! No, no, no!” I panicked.

Tamnaeth removed the couch, causing me to remain suspended in the air in my still-frozen position. Llewel placed and fully unraveled the carpet underneath me, with Vee and me aligned in the center.

“It’s a good thing her spider was close by. Otherwise, this would have complicated things,” Llewel offhandedly commented, as if this was just an ordinary experience for him. “I’d hate to be responsible for separating a [Bonded Companion].”

“Especially one still so fresh. Vee might’ve reverted to her wild nature. Explaining that to the dwarves would have been problematic if she went on a rampage,” Tamnaeth added.

“Her mother might have had both our heads for causing her [Bonded Companion] to die. I do not know what happened to her first, Shalana, but losing a second so soon might’ve driven her to insanity.”

“I’m not Sylthaeryn, damn it!” I screamed to no avail.

I even tried a last-ditch effort to change my displayed profile with [Identity Fabrication], but even that was apparently off-limits while stuck in [Stasis].

Both Vee and I even tried calling out to Trixie. But either she was out of range, or something was blocking her. Like it or not, it seemed like we had to simply accept our fate that we would be teleported.

“Wait, you’re fat!” Vee said, sounding hopeful.

“Really, Vee? This isn’t the time.”

“No, your dimensional weight! Maybe they won’t be able to teleport us because of that!” Vee said, sounding hopeful.

“Gods, I hope you’re right.”

The elves had seemingly finished their preparations. Llewel retrieved the bag I had left on the table, placed it on the rug, and began channeling Mana into the various enchanted weaves.

“The dwarves and guild will be irate, even if this is a family matter,” Tamnaeth said.

“I fear the Feirelle Branch far more than the dwarves or guild,” Llewel retorted. “If anyone complains, bribe them. Or bring up the fact that Outeatus Knights attacked Sylthaeryn and that we feared for her safety. She is an elven princess, after all.”

“Oh fuck me, you chose a princess for your disguise!?” Vee complained.

“How was I supposed to know! She was in the middle of a forest dying!” I complained.

Tamnaeth nodded. “They will probably think I’m blowing smoke, but I’ll try. There must be some witnesses to the battle that took place. And I’m sure there must be some record for Outeatus Knights entering.”

“I should bloody hope so after the fuss they caused with allowing me entry,” Llewel complained. “Weeks! I even had to swear an oath to not use any offensive magic. Blasted dwarves, did they really think I was here to kill someone? I’m an arcane scholar; I have better things to do.”

“This isn’t offensive magic?” Vee whined. “Sounds like he’s playing very loosey-goosey with the rules.”

“He must have been very attentive with his words, or maybe this really isn’t offensive magic? He did say it can’t harm us. You could probably even use this to save an ally by freezing them under a deadly attack.”

“Right, that’s everything,” Llewel announced. “Thank you for your services, Tamnaeth. I’ll tell the branch of your aid.”

Tamnaeth bowed.

“Moment of truth…” I said hesitantly.

“Yeah, let’s hope you’re fat enough to stop this teleport!” Vee attempted to lighten the situation.

The magical rug began to flash rapidly as its enchantments burned iridescent and floated up, creating a three-dimensional pattern. The air thickened, and I felt the familiar tingling feeling of a potential teleportation.

The process halted, and Llewel almost fell over.

“Not enough Mana?” the elf questioned in frustration.

“Ha! Score one for the gluttonous slime!” Vee cheered.

Then Llewel began to channel more Mana into the rug.

“Oh gods, he’s going to have enough Mana, isn’t he?” I whined.

“He did say he had more than you, though.”

The rug continued to shine, and Mana flooded out of the elf. The air was thickening again, but I could almost instinctually sense that it would still not be enough.

“Blast it,” Llewel complained.

“What’s the issue? Is there something I can help with?” Tamnaeth asked.

“I don’t have enough Mana to fuel the teleport and keep the [Stasis] spell going,” Llewel explained.

I was beginning to feel some hope, but then he shook his head and uttered the last thing I wanted to hear.

“I’ll just activate the forceful teleport measure. What’s a few damaged objects in storage?”

“Oh no… No, no, no!” I pleaded.

“Syl?” Vee asked.

“My [Core Storage]!” I blurted out. “All my slime and stuff—it’s going to rip me apart!”

“What? Surely not?” Vee questioned.

I began trying to frantically think of what Thern and Thessa had mentioned, but Llewel had already made his decision.

I felt an immense tearing pain deep within my core. I was the reason the teleport was failing, after all. Me and my stupidly fat storage.

“Gods, can’t I pay the Mana cost!?” I begged. “Damn it!”

I tried activating the trait. Nothing.

I ordered my [Sub-Cores] to withdraw slime. Nothing.

The pain was growing further, and I felt something in my core begin to crack.

Oh, gods… I can’t even borrow the pain-reducing trait! This is basically torture! This [Stasis] spell must have a flaw; can’t I do something? Why is my magic resistance not enough? Is it the soul damage that Trixie mentioned? Or is this elf mage just that damn powerful? The only thing I can seemingly interact with is my profile. Should I buy upgrades to my trait and hope to escape?

My options were minimal. But if I did nothing, my core would explode! [Core Collective] would keep me alive, I assumed, but would the next core crack and explode, too? Or would losing my primary core be enough to dump out enough storage for the teleport to complete.

Then, an idea struck. It was still something I didn’t truthfully want to do. Still, it was a better option than blindly buying resistance levels and hoping for the best, and a small part of me still instinctively rebelled against such a horrible expenditure of trait points.

I’ll buy new [Sub-Cores]! Maybe that will spend enough slime to lighten the load!

Time was running short, and my core felt like it was barely holding together, so I began frantically purchasing.

<Trait [Sub-Core Lambda LV 1] obtained. Trait Points remaining: 16.>

I could hear cracking noises.

<Death blow blocked. Core Shield has been spent.>

I almost forgot about that feature… Hah…

<Trait [Sub-Core Mu LV 1] obtained. Trait Points remaining: 15.>

The sound of splintering fractures rang.

<Trait [Sub-Core Nu LV 1] obtained. Trait Points remaining: 14.>

Just a bit more… Hold on…

<Trait [Sub-Core Xi LV 1] obtained. Trait Points remaining: 13.>

And then I shattered.

<Death Subverted. [Sub-Core Alpha] has been elevated to Prime Core.>

The pain immediately ceased, and the glowing light of teleportation enveloped us. I felt like I was barely holding on to consciousness as the world warped and trembled around us before ultimately shifting into a kaleidoscope of colors.

Epilogue

Trixie sighed as she headed toward Thern’s place. She didn’t feel like being an errand pixie but made an exception this time. She really didn’t want to deal with the elves, potentially be dragged into some official business for the Fairy Queen, and then be obligated to follow through.

I’m not shirking my duty if I didn’t receive a request in the first place! Flawless logic!

While she was casually fluttering about, obscured from a casual observer, the sudden sound of a siren blaring interrupted her relaxed demeanor.

Did those kobolds attack again so soon? Trixie wondered.

Guards were hastily forming, including some that had to be very high-level. Unlike her slimy companion, she couldn’t just use something as simple as [Identify] to get the result; instead, she could see how much essence a person was worth.

“Someone attacked the nobles’ quarter!” one of the dwarf guards shouted his explanation to his coworkers.

“The kobolds?” another dwarf asked.

“That’s the theory. But the elf embassy was attacked directly, from what I heard.”

The elf embassy was attacked? Trixie pondered before coming to a reasonable conclusion. Syl!

Trixie began flying hastily after the dwarves, heading toward the location. At the same time, she began focusing on the enchanted coin she had given the slime. There was no signal.

What? Unless the coin is destroyed or half a continent away, I should be able to sense it. Trixie panicked.

As she got closer to the nobles’ quarter, she could overhear plenty of screams and shouting.

“Stay back!”

“Don’t touch it, whatever you do!”

“Bloody beards, what caused this!?”

“We need to keep it contained!”

“It’s eating through my [Rampart]. We need something stronger!”

Then Trixie saw the scene and gasped. A vast section of the nobles’ quarter was flooded with a strange blue substance leaking out into the streets. If that wasn’t bad enough, the substance seemed to be melting rapidly through anything it came into contact with. Even worse, portions of the mass were radiating either extreme heat or extreme cold, and when the two opposing forces met, they violently popped and scattered further.

Slime! Is Syl attacking? Was Syl attacked? Is she going on a rampage? What’s going on!? Trixie’s panicked thoughts danced around from one idea to the other.

Syl had often mentioned having almost a sea of slime stored away, and at the time, Trixie thought it was a joking exaggeration. But seeing this scene before her, she knew that it hadn’t been in jest.

Trixie fluttered to an elevated position and proceeded to fly inside the district to scope out the situation and try to locate her slimy friend. With all the slime below her, the pixie had to shake her head and refocus, feeling an almost woozy pleasure from the high ambient Mana in the area.

Definitely Syl’s slime, then… What made her attack? Did the elves discover her secret? Or did she just have enough time to deal with them? Or was it those human assassins again?

Trixie did not like the looks of what she saw. The slime was entirely unguided and uncontrolled as if Syl had just thrown it all out in a blind rage rather than the usual control and precision. The other possibility was that the slime mass was uncontrolled because there was no longer a core to control them… Like a dead slime.

No!

“My friend xxx is a xxxx!” Trixie tried to shout out loud. Golden chains apparated around her throat and choked her, halting her attempted revelation.

After her coughing fit stopped from the magical choking, Trixie grinned happily. If she was still held to her oath of secrecy, then Syl was still alive!

But where are you then? No way you’d just dump out all this slime and flee? I know Vee can teleport, but she’s nowhere near powerful enough to teleport a long distance. I don’t think she even has the Mana capacity to do so, not with Syl as a passenger.

Trixie began digging through some surface thoughts of individuals in the area, trying to understand where the elven embassy was. Most of it was pure chaos of concern and pain, understandable given the circumstances. After a few attempts, she caught wind of a rescue team trying to save the life of the elven ambassador.

Found it! Trixie cheered and hastily flew that way.

What should have been a fabulous building looked like it had exploded from the inside out. It was a ruined wasteland of melted soil, plants, walls, and furniture. A once proud beacon of the elves had turned into a melted wasteland of slime.

The fact that it’s melting makes me think that Syl intended to attack. I thought she said she was a [Mana Slime] and only temporarily borrowed the other slime powers? But then why’s it acidic, burning, and freezing?

Trixie tried drawing in the area’s essence, but the overwhelming amount of Mana was both intoxicating and partially blinding her.

I’m not sensing life… Did Syl really abandon all this slime? I always took her as quite neurotic about saving and not wasting. It’s very out of character.

“We have to treat it like a lava leak!” one of the nearby dwarves shouted.

Trixie paused her thoughts and began listening in to the conversation. It was a squad of dwarves well-suited to hostile environments. They were decked out in full-plate armor and waded through the hazardous slime with barely a care in the world.

Evidently, they were looking for survivors and pulled something akin to a raft that floated behind them. It brimmed to life with enchantments, and Trixie noted that it was likely operating at optimal conditions thanks to the Mana-rich environment.

“Bah! If it was lava, we’d be having an easier time; what the bloody beards could have caused this?”

One of the dwarves was clearly a geomancer, casting [Earth Magic] to funnel or divert some of the flowing slime. Unfortunately, the slime kept melting through the rock.

“A crazy alchemist is my guess,” one dwarf postulated. “It reminds me of a powerful green slime, but it’s blue and at both ends of the extreme temperature spectrum.”

“Definitely sounds like something a crazy alchemist would do; green slimes don’t usually live long enough to become this powerful unless they spawned in the dungeon.”

“Did the kobolds take over the dungeon?”

“Dungeon is confirmed secure. This attack was isolated on the elven embassy…”

“How’s the ambassador looking?”

At this point, Trixie fluttered closer and noticed that one of the dwarves was on the raft, attending to an elf’s unconscious form.

“He’ll live. It looks like he had several enchanted artifacts to save his life. Even his clothes survived the acid bath. On the other hand, his flesh isn’t looking good; patches of frostbite and scalding all over. He needs a better healer to regrow the dead skin; otherwise, he’s in remarkably stable condition.”

“Good, I don’t think the Grove would be too happy if the ambassador bit the dust.”

“Captain, look over there!” one of the dwarves shouted, pointing toward a black mass floating in the slime.

“Is that…”

“It can’t be? Floating in the slime?”

“Obsidianite? Did an evolved worm attack this location?”

“Gods, that is a lot of it. No doubt the city will confiscate it for repairs and death benefits.”

“This mystery gets crazier and crazier…”

Well, I’m not getting any answers from an unconscious elf. Let’s explore the mansion if it isn’t entirely submerged in slime. That obsidianite is no doubt Syl’s. Did she dump her storage out or something?

Trixie spent some time investigating and trying to find something to explain what happened. As more time passed, the level of the slime dropped due to the combined effort of the dwarves getting rid of it or the slime spreading out.

Trixie was beginning to feel hopeless until she finally unmasked a hint. It was heavily obscured from all the damn slime. There was a singular spot, and Trixie could barely smell the hint of transmuted Dimensional Mana.

Someone used an artifact to teleport, and that’s the only reason to explain this artificially created Dimensional Mana! I also sense something a lot more obscure. Time?

Trixie paused and collected her thoughts to confirm her findings. An almost unbelievable revelation was reached.

Did Syl get slime-napped?

“I must say our two subjects have been working remarkably well together!” Mother spoke fondly.

“I must admit, things have been going surprisingly smoothly since their partnership,” Gramps agreed with only minor reluctance. “While the whole magic bribe situation is admittedly tedious, I’m intrigued to see such a rare breed of spider in action.”

“Well, you have only yourself to blame for that mistake. And then so clumsily locking it away. It’s almost like you begged me to make a deal with the slime.”

“Bah!” Gramps scoffed. “At least it looks like Syl will be focusing more on the next evolution. This whole class journey has delayed my expectations considerably.”

“Hmm? Do you think Syl will actually follow through with that? Especially once the milestone skill is revealed for the twentieth level in Elementalist? The temptation to get to thirty would be big.”

“I’ll lock the racial experience distribution myself if I have to. I’ve been waiting too long and want to see the fruits of my labor. Besides, unless that spirit mentions something, I doubt Syl will focus on it.”

Mother sighed. “I guess you’re right in that regard. Quite the scatterbrain. But what makes you sure Syl will pick the evolution you want?”

“It’s the clearly best choice. Only an idiot would not pick it.”

Mother stared at Gramps before giving a smug smirk.

“I know what you’re thinking, but even Syl will see reason,” Gramps said. “Besides, Syl picked my Chimeric evolution over the clearly flawed Doppelganger evolution. I trust in my candidate. And even if that wasn’t the case, your candidate has certainly planted seeds in my favor.”

Mother hummed in thought. “So what do you make of these attacks against them?”

“The humans from that one kingdom?” Gramps asked rhetorically. “I couldn’t care less, to be honest. I don’t involve myself in the world of politics and puppetry—it’s beneath me.”

“I just thought you might have an idea since it was your subject they were after.”

“The humans are boring. And outside of my jurisdiction.”

“Which is ironic considering one of their main complaints is that they lack good traits. Something you’re in charge of.”

Gramps guffawed and shook his head. “Not my problem. I was overruled and told to stick to playing with my monsters. I’m sure even you proposed some changes to the various civilized species to foster more magic?”

Mother nodded somewhat somberly. “Indeed, and I was ignored. Strange that.”

“Th-they like the drama and politics!” Unc interjected.

Gramps and Mother flinched, not realizing he had snuck into their room.

“What do you mean?” Mother asked, seeking clarification.

“They like the underdog, overcoming adversity and p-persevering!” Unc explained. “It’s why they asked me to give certain areas d-droughts or dangerous ocean currents.”

“Interesting…” Mother responded.

“Bah! Hogwash.” Gramps dismissed it. “How mundane and boring.”

Then, the unfolding event caught all of their eyes. The two monsters were confronted by an Elven Chronomancer. Mother even recognized him. He was ancient and powerful and one of only a handful of the remaining elves with access to the scarce [Time Magic].

“I hope they don’t kill him…” Mother muttered.

“Who’s side are you on!?” Gramps muttered angrily. “This is disastrous. Why have the elves sent such a powerhouse to attack my subject?”

“W-well, she is going around as one of the elf p-princesses,” Unc answered.

“What!?” Gramps and Mother replied in sync.

Syl and Vee were both frozen in the [Stasis] spell. Mother noted that the magical restraint might have been resisted without Syl’s current soul damage. But in the current condition? A fool’s hope. Vee didn’t fair any better, lacking any good magic resistance skills.

Syl should really share [Magic Resistance] with Vee, Mother thought. At least no harm can come to them while they are trapped like that.

Then, the elves began setting up a teleportation platform. While Mother admired the craftsmanship of such a long-lost artifact, Gramps was starting to fret.

“Are they abducting my subject!?” Gramps snarled.

“Our subjects. And it appears so,” Mother replied somberly.

“S-something’s going wrong?” Unc asked.

It looked like the teleportation had stopped.

“Ha! There’s too much slime for him to teleport!” Gramps shouted joyfully.

“You weren’t kidding about Syl’s size… my word,” Mother said as she looked over the numerical value of Mana required for the action to be complete.

Then, the elf activated the spell override, and the results instantly became apparent to the three present.

“That shouldn’t be happening,” Mother stated.

Gramps sighed and shook his head. “The slime isn’t considered living. It’s a valid target for the teleport to eject.”

“But it’s in [Core Storage], isn’t it?” Mother asked.

“Which uses the existing template of the most advanced storage enchantment,” Gramps answered.

Mother gasped. “Not [Pocket Space]? Why?”

“I wanted it upgradable, and I wanted features to prevent degradation. [Pocket Space] lacks those benefits, and I didn’t want it tied to the magic system. Syl couldn’t cast spells at the time.”

Syl’s core cracked. Unc flinched, but Gramps remained steadfast.

“Good thing for [Core Collective], but almost everything in Syl’s storage will be dumped out,” Gramps explained.

“Well, if death was the alternative, I suppose that wouldn’t be so bad,” Mother reasoned.

“Those poor dwarves…” Unc replied moments before the red core shattered, and a tsunami of slime burst from the location where Syl, Vee, and Llewel once were.

Gramps pulled up a screen quickly and started making a few adjustments.

“What are you doing?” Mother probed as she looked over. “Are you adjusting Syl’s experience distribution?”

Gramps nodded. “Syl already spoke of changing the distribution once the Elementalist class hit level twenty. There’s going to be quite a few deaths as a result of this catastrophe, and I don’t want the experience to be wasted.”

Mother sighed and ignored the apparent tampering. Pulling up her own interface, she noted the teleportation destination.

“Looks like they are teleporting to the Grove,” Mother informed the two.

“No! That’s even farther away from Leon!” Unc cried.

Gramps sighed and slammed his fist down hard, evidently done with his tampering.

“I don’t know why I even bothered changing the distribution. This is disastrous. They will no doubt learn the slimy truth and execute Syl. What a waste of so much potential…” Gramps lamented.

“I-I don’t think the elves will kill Syl,” Unc interjected. “Unlike the other humanoid races, they seem to get along with monsters. A lot of effort is put into preventing them from succumbing to the evolution craziness. I’m sure if Syl tells the truth, things will go s-swimmingly!”

Gramps and Mother shared a glance at one another.

“Syl? Reasonable?” Gramps bitterly chuckled.

“They’re doomed…” Mother sighed.

Name: Syl [Apex Hunter]

Race: Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) LV 16

Class: Elementalist LV 19

Status: Healthy

Mana: Overflowing

Emblems:

[Experiment]

[Apex Hunter]*

[Elven Legacy]

[Dungeoneer]

[Nature’s Bane]

[Manhunter]

[Banisher]

Traits:

Slime:

[Mana Slime LV 13]

[Acid Slime LV 7]

[Poison Slime LV 7]

[Blaze Slime LV 7]

[Cryo Slime LV 8]

[Voltaic Slime LV 7]

[Nitro Slime LV 7]

[Metal Slime LV 8]

[Luminous Slime]

[Morph Slime LV 8]

[Pseudopod LV 8]

[Slime Shot LV 8]

[Vaporize Slime]

Core:

[Core Collective LV 8]

[Core Storage LV 6]

[Sub-Core Alpha LV 6] [Sub-Core Beta LV 6]

[Sub-Core Gamma LV 6] [Sub-Core Eta LV 6]

[Sub-Core Delta LV 6] [Sub-Core Theta LV 6]

[Sub-Core Epsilon LV 6] [Sub-Core Iota LV 6]

[Sub-Core Zeta LV 6] [Sub-Core Kappa LV 6]

[Sub-Core Lambda LV 1] [Sub-Core Mu LV 1]

[Sub-Core Nu LV 1] [Sub-Core Xi LV 1]

Mimic:

[Chimeric Mimicry LV 7]

[Chroma Shift LV MAX]

[Consuming Osmosis LV MAX]

Mana:

[Mana Circulation LV 8]

[Mana Reinforcement LV 8]

[Derived Element (Air) LV 8]

[Mana Infusion]

Attributes/Other:

[Soul Mastery LV 8]

[Enhanced Vitality LV 5]

[Magic Resistance (Greater) LV 1]

[Curse Resistance LV 4]

[Illusion Resistance LV 3]

[Sonic Resistance LV 1]

[Prodigy]

Senses:

[Soul Sight LV 8]

[Dark Vision LV MAX]

[Thermal Vision LV MAX]

[Eagle Vision LV 4]

[Electro-Magnetic Sense LV 5]

[Tremor Sense LV 5]

[Olfactory Sense]

Trait Points remaining: 13

Skills:

General:

[Universal Language]

[Equipment Swap]

[Dissection LV 7]

[Mapping LV 5]

[Tracking LV 3]

[Identify LV 6]

[Multitasking LV 6]

[Perception LV 5]

[Aerial Finesse LV 4]

[Thunder Step LV 5]

[Wind Step LV 4]

Tamer:

[Companion Bond]

[Companion Training LV 6]

Combat:

[Tranquil Flow LV 5]

[Attack Mastery (Greater) LV 1]

[Affliction Mastery LV 6]

[Exploit Weakness LV 6]

Magic:

[Water Magic LV 5]

[Fire Magic LV 6]

[Corrosion Magic LV 6]

[Ice Magic LV 5]

[Arcane Magic LV 5]

[Lightning Magic LV 5]

[Earth Magic LV 5]

[Air Magic LV 5]

[Light Magic LV 3]

[Mana Manipulation LV 7]

[Magic Efficiency LV 6]

[Magical Overcharge LV 2]

[Counter Magic LV 5]

[Elemental Shift LV 6]

[Elemental Adaptation]

[Ritual Casting]

[Mana Suppression]

[Elemental Harmony]

Sneaky:

[Vanish LV 6]

[Assassinate LV 6]

[Identity Fabrication LV 7]

[Acting LV 6]

[Rogue Expertise LV 4]

[Magical Subterfuge LV 5]

[Trap Mastery LV 5]

[Subtle Afflictions]

Skill Points remaining: 20

Profession:

Enchanting:

[Rune Reading LV 6]

[Rune Engraving LV 2]

[Rune Framework LV 7]

[Rune Tracing LV 5]

[Rune Design LV 3]

[Runecrafting LV 2]

[Rune Inspection LV 5]

[Rune Filigree LV 3]

[Rune Repair LV 2]

[Brand]

Profession Points Remaining: 0

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