“Where are they all coming from!?” Kedryn cried as he swung his star silver carapace to intercept an airborne slime.
“We need to retreat!” Riya yelled, brandishing her own carapace so everyone could see. A paralyzed slime lay splattered over the metal piece, its edges nearly touching the elf’s fingers. “We already have more than we can handle, and that’s without the two additional slimes you warned us about!”
Glade couldn’t argue with the logic. Up until this point they had only encountered singular attacks from the frustrating creatures. The group’s entire method of handling the slimes revolved around that expectation.
Up to this point, when a slime came into range of Glade’s telepathic ability, one of their group members would approach the creature with their star silver carapace they were using as improvised shields. The other two would follow as support. The slime would invariably attack the closest target, which, if he were honest, was generally him seeing as he could easily track their unique mental signatures with his mind.
The next part was as simple as using the shield to intercept the flying slime, which would paralyze the slimes for reasons he still didn’t understand. Then they would wait for Kedryn to light it on fire.
That last step usually took the longest because both Riya and Kedryn had begun experimenting with the captured slimes in order to enhance their Natural Lore skill. Or so they said. He personally thought they simply enjoyed watching the slimes dissolve whatever they fed them.
Not only had the overall method of catching slimes proven to be effective, it offered the least amount of risk.
Until four slimes decided to attack simultaneously.
Thanks to his skill, the attack wasn’t necessarily a surprise. What was surprising was how much faster these higher leveled slimes moved. That, combined with the increased distance of their leaps, had immediately put them on the back foot.
In Glade’s humble opinion, his two companions had reacted flawlessly. Both Kedryn and Riya immediately focused on their assigned slimes, their higher levels of dexterity showing through as they maneuvered their shields into place despite the faster moving slimes. Glade had even managed to catch a slime on his shield, effectively paralyzing it.
Unfortunately, there was one left and it was proving to be far more challenging than they had anticipated. Not to mention there were two more moving toward them from further up the tunnel. If only that had been the end of their problems.
“Can’t retreat!” Glade shouted, dodging the overly energetic slime they had yet to immobilize. If he allowed the slime to make contact, not only would that distract all three party members for the few precious minutes it would take for Kedryn to burn the thing off and Riya to heal him, but his uniform would likely fall apart entirely.
It already had two holes, exposing his upper back and arm. Best to avoid getting hit again.
Glade whipped around, tracking the slime with his mind. The ball of goo was within a few feet of Riya, a ripple passing through its transparent, gelatinous body; a sure sign it was about to attack yet again. Only this time, it was leaning toward Riya, who hadn’t even noticed the threat.
Knowing he was going to be too late to intercept the slime on his own, Glade pulled the Magma Beetle’s star silver mandible from his belt and threw it.
The sharpened mandible glittered as it spun end over end in the combined glow of Riya’s light spell and Kedryn open flame, pinning the slime to the ground.
“There is one more behind us, at least 30 feet out and headed our way.” Glade said, finishing his explanation why they couldn’t retreat.
Kedryn was already in the process of lighting his paralyzed slime on fire. Glade grunted in appreciation. Best to torch the creatures now and take them completely out of the fight. It would take them at least a few minutes, but it was better to eliminate threats and free up their limited resources. Time wasn’t exactly on their side.
Calculations of risk and reward ran through Glade’s mind in an instant.
“Kid, give me your slime catcher and torch the other slimes,” he said, trading his shield for Kedryn’s flaming one. “I’ll take care of the two in front. The both of you will need to handle the one behind us. It’s coming from the corridor on the right we just passed and seems to be traveling along the ceiling.”
“I still say that slime catcher is a terrible name,” Kedryn said, already bending over to light Riya’s slime on fire.
“I told you, we’re not naming them Paralyzing Slime Shields!” Glade called over his shoulder, already running in the direction of the other slimes.
“We could have called them PSS’s for short!” Kedryn yelled after him, moving onto the other slimes.
That was all the time Glade wasted on that pointless conversation as he honed in on one slime, and then the other. And what was wrong with slime catchers? It was simple and direct.
Refocusing on the danger at hand, Glade brought up his catcher, flaming slime facing the enemy. Hopefully, the unnatural creatures would shy away. Not that he had seen any aversion in the creatures before, but who knew? They could get lucky.
Not surprising, he didn’t get lucky. Glade promptly assigned the blame to Kedryn. Not only did he have a terrible naming sense, the kid had been nothing but bad luck ever since they had been introduced.
“Mostly bad luck,” Glade grumbled, grudgingly accepting the Kid had been helpful once or twice.
Approaching from the side, Glade deliberately triggered the first slime into attacking moments before triggering the second.
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Glade easily sidestepped the first, already taking into account its increased speed. Besides, the slimes had become too predictable.
Readying his blazing shield, Glade rushed the second slime, which slammed into its flaming sibling, knocking both of them to the ground with a loud splat.
Fortunately for him, slimes had proven to be extremely flammable. The fresh slime caught fire from the brief exposure and immediately went wild, rolling back and forth along the ground in a vain attempt at putting out the flames.
Leaving the slimes to burn themselves out, Glade whipped around, focusing on the one he had dodged.
Instinct, honed through years of training and combat, took over as Glade felt more than saw the aforementioned slime was mid-air, flying directly at him.
Glade fell back, raising his slime catcher just as the creature slammed into him.
You have taken 1 point in fall damage.
His less than stellar landing turned into a sprawl, his slime catcher clattering to the ground next to him, the remaining slime safely paralyzed.
Groaning, Glade sat up in time to watch Kedryn copy his latest tactic. The Kid simply ran straight at the slime behind them, a flaming slime catcher pointed toward the enemy.
Glade watched as the Kid executed the swing with far better grace than he could have pulled off.
“Stupid elves with their stupid high dexterity,” Glade muttered, dusting himself off as he stood.
“Well,” Riya said, straightening her dress. “That was… invigorating. Does anyone need healing?”
Surprisingly, none of them did.
“Not bad,” Glade said, giving both Riya and Kedryn a nod of appreciation before turning to watch the mobile slime candle he had inadvertently created careen into a wall.
Maybe they had a shot at living through this nightmare after all.
3 hours, 9 slimes, and 13 Dusk Rats later, Glade received two notifications.
Congratulations! You have advanced to level 4. Through hard work and dedication, you have continued along your path. Let the knowledge of who you are and what you stand for continue to guide you throughout your journey.
As an Enlightened Human you gain 5 attribute points to allocate, with an additional point auto allocated to the attribute used most since the last level gained.
Note: One attribute point has been auto allocated to Wisdom.
Glade furrowed his brow in confusion. He would have thought the extra point would have been dexterity. Of course, he had been using his new mana processing technique every chance he had.
“I just gained a level!” Kedryn cried, interrupting Glade's musings.
“Congratulations,” Riya replied. “While I’m not surprised you have risen in levels so quickly given our current circumstances, it still amazes me you have already made it to level 4.”
“Congrats, Kid. I leveled too,” Glade said. “What about you Riya?”
“I leveled back at the Grotto after we completed the quest. I’m now working on bridging the divide between levels 5 and 6. But I digress. You are both level 4, which means you should be receiving…”
“Whoa! I’ve just been granted my first racial perk!” Kedryn cried.
“...you’re first racial perks.” she finished, giving Kedryn a sour look.
“Racial perks?” Glade asked, purposefully ignoring Kedryn’s creepy grin.
“Yes” Riya said, turning back to Glade. “Everyone gains a racial perk that is tied to their race or sub-race every four levels. For instance, my people are a sub-race of elves and gain perks in beast bonding, fieldcraft, or elemental attunements.”
“I have so many questions, I don’t know where to begin!” Kedryn said.
Riya forestalled his questions with a raised hand.
“I knew you would, but know that perks are not all powerful abilities like your Passionate Growth or Captain Glade’s Will. They are small things that can give an edge to already existing skills or attunements. For instance, I couldn’t choose my people’s elemental attunement perk as I don’t have an attunement in air, water, earth, or fire. Also, since my brand didn’t allow me to become a hunter or warrior, I didn’t take the beast bonding perk. Instead, I chose fieldcraft, which enhanced my Natural Lore skill.”
“Wait, you had three options to choose from? I only get one.” Kedryn said, his face screwed up in confusion. “You would think a Royal Elf would have more perks than just one.”
“I’ve never been privy to any of the Royal Elf perks, which one did you get?” Riya asked.
“Something called Shared Bond. It doesn’t give much of an explanation, only that I should be careful with whom I bond.” Kedryn responded.
“Sorry, I can’t help you with that one, but I would definitely listen to the Adjudicator’s advice before attempting to use it.”
“What did you get Captain Glade?” Riya asked.
Glade pulled up his second notification to find out.
Congratulations! You have made it to level 4. Yes, we are as surprised as you are.
Every race is given access to a perk upon reaching this level, with subsequent perks being granted every four levels thereafter. Due to your deranged choice of ingesting concentrated mana from the Eighth Plane, and surviving, prior to placement on Veil, you are the first, and only, Enlightened Human in existence. Thank the Overseer for small favors!
Because of your previous actions, your racial perks have been determined to revolve around attunement growth, mental fortitude, and a large amount of chance. As such, you are being given a choice.
- Increase an attunement level by 4%.
- Receive Wisdom Enhancement of 4% (based on your choices thus far you could use all the wisdom you can get).
- Receive 4 levels in a random skill.
Glade quickly relayed the information to both his companions, purposely leaving out the snarky comments.
“Choose the skills!” Kedryn exclaimed just as Riya said, “I’d recommend increasing your attunement.”
Glade rolled his eyes. “Let's get going. We still need to find shelter and food. You can regale me with your ideas while we’re moving.”
“Not before we gather up all the mana shards,” Riya said, glaring at him. “You may not appreciate it now, but I promise you’ll thank me later.”
Glade sighed, letting go of his telepathy skill. He hadn’t sensed any danger from the now level 5 skill. Besides, Glade couldn’t cast Manipulate Mana to find the scattered mana shards while holding the telepathy skill at the same time. Besides, it was best not to argue with the girl. He’d end up losing that argument like he always did.
Immediate relief rushed through him as the mental strain he had been carrying washed away. Holding telepathy for so long was always exhausting. And painful. But the results spoke for themselves. All he had to do was look at the softly glowing mana shards scattered across the ground from their most recent slime attack to appreciate the fact they were still alive.
A little bit of pain was worth it.