By the time he’d killed his seventh giant ironslime, Clay was beginning to feel an almost continuous ache throughout most of his body. He’d gone back to the camp and changed Xavien out for Natalie, who had been eager to begin her run. At the very least, he’d been able to persuade her to hold off for long enough to let him devour a bit of lunch, but shortly after that, he was back below the earth, searching for the remaining monsters.
It didn’t help that the monsters seemed to be pulling back from their side tunnels. If he had to guess, he assumed they were realizing that they were being picked off, and either withdrawing or grouping up to patrol together. Either way, it was taking longer to find the enemy, and they seemed to be more reluctant to fall into an ambush.
Not that Natalie seemed to be discouraged about it at all.
“Well, that seemed like it went exceptionally well! Xavien said you gained another level too. Are your [Experiences] helping?”
“So far, yeah.” He tried not to sound worn out and irritated. The [Alchemist] had been more than willing to act as bait, waiting with her torch as the giant ironslime had closed in on her. He’d knocked the thing from its perch on the ceiling with the Drums, and then cut it to pieces while it struggled on the floor. “Do you want to try killing the next one?”
Natalie grinned. “I’d love to. My new [Charm] should make it interesting.” When he gave her a curious look, her smile grew wider. “It’s called [Reveal Weakness]. When I used it on the slime, I could see its core and its eyes.”
“You could see its eyes?” Clay felt impressed despite himself. It sounded like something even more useful than the Orison, in its own way. “That could be really useful.”
“I thought you’d agree.” Her smile turned a little smug. “And that’s not all. I’ve been studying quite a bit while you’ve been in here. I’ve already gained a bit of [Memory]. And since I’m at level six…”
“Your maximum [Memory] is higher than mine.” He grunted sourly. “You planning on learning some [Chants] that I haven’t figured out yet?”
“Don’t worry. I’m planning on sharing whatever I find out with you later.” She laughed, and Clay tried to look on the bright side. If the [Alchemist] was able to figure out some of the [Chants] before him, it would make it easier for him to find ones that worked. At the very least, it would save him some of the work.
At worst, she might stumble into something terrible without him being able to warn her.
He tried to sound more encouraging than resentful. “Just be careful. Some of the [Chants] might be dangerous. Tell me if you think you’ve found something risky before you try it.”
Natalie’s good humor lessened a little, and she nodded. “The… bad [Chant]. That one isn’t listed in the notes, right? I’m not going to run across it while I’m trying to learn?”
He shook his head. “No. I wouldn’t leave that anywhere that anyone could find it. Neither should you, if you do happen to find it. Until you are level thirteen at least, you need to avoid it and destroy whatever copies you find. Understand?”
She nodded again. “I will.” For a moment, she glanced back along the tunnel. “It is really that bad?”
“Even with everything I know about it, the thing still tries to take control of me.” He fixed her with a steady stare. “[Will] isn’t exactly your primary [Stat]. Even with a good [Memory]—maybe especially with a good [Memory]—you’re going to need to be careful.”
Natalie appeared to grow a little more sober, as if realizing the scale of what she was getting herself into. Clay watched her a moment longer to make sure the message landed and then broke into a smile. “All that said, if you do happen to find something interesting, let me know. I can’t just let you guys get ahead of me on things, after all.”
The [Alchemist] snorted, and he turned back to the tunnel they had been following. He wasn’t sensing all that much coming from that direction, but it would pay to check and make sure. Then they could make their way back up the tunnel and—
His thoughts cut off. Despite his expectations, his senses were sounding off, but they weren’t warning him about something coming from the tunnel ahead. Instead, they were telling him that something was coming up behind them. Fast.
Clay turned around. “Get ready. I think we’ve got another one coming. Maybe more?”
She spun around the torch casting odd lights across the tunnel walls. “How? We already cleared the tunnel behind us. How did they know to come here instead of going out of the mines?”
“They must have smelled the one we just put down. Or maybe they picked up our torch, or our tracks somehow.” He set himself in the middle of the tunnel, keeping his spear ready. “We probably aren’t going to be able to surprise them very easily. Especially not unless we try to hide in that mess back there.”
Natalie glanced at the pool of noxious fluid covering the tunnel behind them. The fumes alone would probably have choked both of them. “Right.”
Clay heard the monsters now and caught a glimpse of shining flesh scraping its way along the rock. Either it was a bigger slime than even the giants he’d already faced, or there were two of them out there. “Look for an opening. I’m going to try to keep them both busy.”
“Both?”
“Just keep your eyes open!” Clay stepped forward, and started the [Chant] of the Flame-tongued Song. He didn’t know if he’d get the chance to burn either of the things, but he didn’t want to miss the opening if it appeared in front of him.
It didn’t look like the monsters intended to give him that kind of free attack, however. One of them was fixed to the ceiling, while the other had slunk along the floor. Both had the same glimmering dark shapes as giant ironslimes. Clay felt a sudden chill as he realized he’d need to hold off two of the things while protecting Natalie. There was no other choice; it wasn’t like there was any other place to retreat to.
The slimes seemed to hesitate at the edge of the torchlight. Then they both began to contract, clearly preparing to launch their opening attacks.
Clay charged before they could, closing the distance to the slimes in a handful of blurring steps. He ignored his burning muscles and dragging fatigue. It didn’t matter that his feet felt like they were being pulled through mud, or that the air was foul with chemicals and dust. His friend was counting on him, and Rodcliff was counting on all of them. The monsters would need to die.
Unfortunately, they seemed to disagree. Both slimes erupted in a shower of projectiles that seemed to fill the tunnel. Clay pushed himself to sweep his spear in a defensive pattern that swept half a dozen of them from the tunnel air; at least half a dozen more bounced from his helmet and armor. At least one nearly hit him in the face, drawing blood along his left cheek, while another clipped his leg, just barely nicking it where it wasn’t completely protected by armor.
Natalie had fallen back behind him, and he heard her starting her own [Chant] behind him. To his mild amusement, she’d also chosen the Flame-tongued Song. He hoped she remembered that he was still in front of her before she unleashed it.
Clay rushed forward, hoping to gut at least one of the creatures before they could regather themselves for the next attack. If he could do enough damage, one might retreat, or collapse and leave him with only a single opponent. It was a thin hope, but one that he had to cling to.
The chance for a quick resolution was dashed a moment later, as both slimes sprouted a small forest of blades and spikes. Clay was forced to throw himself into a frenzy of deflections and dodges. He smashed some of the stone weapons, but more and more often, he was forced to contort himself to avoid the others, mostly pushing the attacks aside instead of managing to break them.
He lost himself to the effort of staying alive, weaving his way through the forest of stone edges that were being thrown at him. Even as he pushed himself forward, the slimes kept their distance. They steadily withdrew along the tunnel as he got closer, preventing him from getting within a spear’s length of their glistening hides. Clay finished the Flame-tongued Song, and even its scorching heat failed to do more than force them to roll back slightly, shielding themselves with the stone armor that they extruded from their skin.
Then they used a new trick, and Clay realized he was really in trouble. Along with the spikes, they began to spit out the stone daggers that they had used at a distance. They were faster than the spikes, and even if they glanced off his armor, all it would take was one in the right place and he’d been dead or crippled—likely to die shortly after. He was forced to stop advancing, and even began falling back as they continued to add more and more projectiles to the mix of attacks that he was being forced to deal with.
Clay felt desperation start to set in. He didn’t have far to retreat before he would be pushed into the corpse of the dead ironslime, or worse yet, the blank rock walls at the end of the tunnel. How far could he retreat before he was on unsteady ground? How much more could he retreat before Natalie would be put at risk by the blades? How much longer could he even keep moving with his exhausted muscles and burning lungs?
He stubbornly put aside the doubts and bore down into the effort of staying alive. Despite his best efforts, he was still giving ground, step by grudging step. The momentum was still turning against him, even as he searched his mind for an option to get him and Natalie out of the trap.
Then, behind him, he heard Natalie complete the Flame-tongued Song. He risked a desperate glance backward, hoping the [Alchemist] wasn’t about to bake him alive in an attempt to help him.
To his surprise, she wasn’t even looking in his direction, however. Instead, she was sucking in a breath at the edge of the pool of fluid that the dead ironslime had left behind. Clay’s eyes widened as he realized what Natalie must have been planning, and he abruptly turned his attention back to the slimes in front of him. They had taken advantage of his distraction to move forward, their attention focused on him and their sides already clenching to sprout new weapons.
Instead of facing them, however, Clay jumped hard to the side, leaving them a clear view of the tunnel ahead. The slimes hesitated, as if taken off guard.
A heartbeat later, light flared all throughout the tunnel as the [Alchemist] lit the remains of their fellow ironslime ablaze, detonating the shattered corpse in a flash of flame and smoke.
Clay only caught the dull reflection of that light, bouncing from the unsettling hide of the ironslimes ahead of him, but it still made him flinch and squint against its harshness. The slimes apparently caught far more of it wherever they kept their eyes. They recoiled and made an odd shrieking gurgle, their attacks abruptly falling away.
In that moment, Clay charged again. Even as the light faded, he advanced and spoke the Words of Refrain. He ducked low under the half-blinded blades of the slime on the roof, aiming his charge at the one still crouched on the floor. It had reacted on reflex, shielding itself with a double layered plate of stone that covered its face.
Clay summoned every bit of strength he could muster and swung his spear as hard as he could. The spearblade seemed to cut the very air itself as it became an arc of death sweeping towards the ironslime’s bulk. It met the stone with a colossal, crushing sound. For a moment, between heartbeats, it seemed to have been stopped dead.
Then the stone plate shattered, and Clay’s spear tore a ragged hole in the slime beneath it. Fluid sprayed from the wound, and Clay forced himself to continue finishing the Words of Refrain despite the acrid smell filling the air. He had no time to wait, and when the Flame-tongued Song activated a few moments later, it was all worth it.
The wounded ironslime shriveled and burned as he poured new fire into it. He saw it trying to retreat, and pushed forward, keeping the stream of fire centered on the gushing fluids from its wound. More and more of it burned and bubbled, with parts of it bursting like festering sores that released more fire and smoke. Those parts of it that hadn’t caught fire shuddered and collapsed, even as the spell ran dry.
{Giant Ironslime slain! Soul increases by 40.}
{Valor increases by 1! Might increases by 1!}
Clay found himself choking and coughing in the smoke, backing away from a tunnel half-full of the burning remnants of one ironslime. Behind him, he could still feel the heat of the blaze that Natalie had started. The air was so foul that his eyes were watering as he reeled back and deflected a stone spear from the slime above. He staggered, clumsily managing to avoid one spear and deflect another.
It wasn’t going to last. He couldn’t breathe well enough, and could barely see, despite the firelight around him. The slime above was already recovering from the blindness afflicting it, and even if it couldn’t see him clearly in the smoke, it would still just be able to collapse on top of him to crush him. Only the possible threat of his spear piercing its hide probably had kept it from doing it already. His only hope was to do enough damage so that Natalie could finish it off and maybe drag him back to camp.
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Then he saw Natalie running towards him, her feet pounding the stone. She had dropped her torch, and her expression was shrouded in darkness and smoke. Was she using another [Chant]? Why wasn’t she staying at range, the way he’d expected her to?
Clay took a step towards her, hoping to at least shield her from whatever mad idea she was clinging to. It was then that a spear smashed into his shoulder, punching into the plate that covered that part of his flesh. The attack didn’t quite penetrate the armor, but it did drive him to his knees, the butt of his spear ringing on the floor of the mine.
Natalie’s hand closed on the haft of his spear—and then she completed the [Chant] of Vanishing Ember.
The fire throughout the tunnel abruptly went dark. Every spark, ember, or burning pile went out at once, plunging the tunnel into sudden blackness so complete that Clay couldn’t even see Natalie’s face anymore. He felt her yank his spear out of his numbed fingers and stifled the urge to yell at her. They’d never figured out if the slimes could hear, as well as smell and see, but with the smoke in the air and the fires out, maybe they had a chance to sneak away?
Instead, Natalie appeared to have another idea. He heard her murmur something and sensed a hint of magic.
Then there was a rush like she’d hurled something at the roof. A heartbeat later, she jumped into him, knocking them both down. He was surprised enough that he actually let her knock him down, and heard her start the [Chant] for Pure Touch. His eyes widened as he realized why she would and started the [Chant] as well. At least he’d finish it faster than she would.
He heard the slime detonate above them a moment later, spraying its fluid everywhere in a wave of noxious filth. Clay choked out the last of Pure Touch and felt the fumes and poisons retreat, leaving both of them coughing and breathing hard in a small area that had been cleared of contamination. When he managed to [Chant] Heart’s Light a moment later, it revealed that they were surrounded by the dead corpses of all three giant ironslimes, coating every part of the nearby rock. His spear was a short distance away, the dead remnants of an ironslime core impaled on it.
Natalie pushed herself up and laughed weakly. “Turns out [Reveal Weakness] still works in the dark. Useful, huh?”
Clay gave her an unsteady look. Then he started laughing. “I would say so, Natalie. I would say so.”
The afternoon was already growing late when Clay led Lawrence into the mines.
It seemed like the [Occultist] had been more than willing to wait patiently for his turn. He’d even given Clay a bit more extra time to rest and relax, saying that since he and Natalie had returned early, there wasn’t any reason to rush into the next run through the mines. Clay had been vaguely grateful, taking the chance to rest and make some minor repairs to his armor.
Then they went back below the earth, once again surrounding himself with rock and danger.
{Will increases by 1!}
He grinned for a second, amused that the [Gift] had seen fit to reward him for his foolishness. His muscles and joints weren’t quite as admiring; they ached with each step, though he seemed to be recovering a little as they crept through the tunnels. Lawrence seemed content to stay quiet as they made their way deeper, his eyes intent on the darkness as the torchlight continued to reveal more of the path ahead.
Clay led him to the last branch in the tunnels, the one spot where he and the others hadn’t already searched through and cleared things. Down one side was the Lair; he could sense it easily, now that he knew how it showed up in his ethereal senses. The other was another side tunnel; he could tell that there were some slimes there, but the alarms it raised inside him were nothing compared to the Lair itself.
They’d need to clear the side tunnel before they even thought about the other path; the last thing they needed was for the slimes to flank them during the assault the next day. Besides, he still needed another two giant ironslime kills to reach the next level of [Slimebane], and Lawrence probably wanted at least one kill for himself as well…
He glanced at the [Occultist] as he led them down the side passage. “So, anything you’re looking to learn in preparation for tomorrow?”
Lawrence blinked and looked at him, as if surprised he was willing to talk about something that wasn’t the immediate task in front of them. Perhaps knowing that he was so close to the Lair was unnerving the man. “What do you mean?”
“The others seemed like they all had questions, either about things I could show them how to do in the future, or things I’d learned. I was just wondering if you had any.”
“Oh.” Lawrence smiled a little. “I guess that makes sense. There’s a bit of a divide amongst us at the moment.”
They continued forward in quiet for a while longer, as if Lawrence needed the delay to put his thoughts in order. “Jack wants to be our scout going forward, so we won’t have to rely on you to do it, and Anne really wants to make sure that the monsters are attacking her instead of anyone else in case you aren’t there to guard us. Xavien was saying something about you having some kind of destiny, one he means to support, and Natalie can’t stop talking about the ways she’s learned how to use [Chants], and how much more you could teach her. Half of them are getting ready to work without you, while the other two don’t want to admit it might happen.”
Clay snorted. “That makes sense, yeah. Which side do you fall on?”
Lawrence coughed, as if clearing his throat. “Honestly, neither. I know the Guild might decide to separate us, but there’s nothing I can do about that. I do appreciate everything you’ve done, but I don’t think I need to rely on you too heavily going forward. Part of what you’ve done is teach me what I can be going forward, after all.”
He looked back at the [Occultist]. “What would that be?”
“A friend. A hero. Someone who stands between danger and the rest of our people.” Lawrence laughed softly as they made their way forward, picking over the scattered stones left by a crushed minecart. “All things that I wanted to be for a very long time, since I received my [Class]. You helped me earn those things, both for me and for the people I cared about. Thank you.”
Clay felt his face heat slightly. “You’d have gotten there, eventually.”
Lawrence chuckled again. “So you say. Part of your charm, I suppose.” They made their way around another corner, and Clay tried to strain his senses, looking for any sign of a threat. “The truth is, we needed someone to help us look past what everyone already expected of us. You did that for us and got us here. Refusing to recognize that would be a bit foolish, I think.”
The mild rebuke actually reminded Clay of his father for a moment, though Sam Evergreen likely would have put the words in a far more definite phrase. “I… guess you’re right about the fact that I helped, but you were all good people before I got to you. All you needed was a chance, and you haven’t ever let me down.”
“Nor will we. Not today, and not tomorrow.” Lawrence’s voice was surprisingly firm on the words, and then he glanced behind them. “In any case, I suppose my main question is going to be what you are going to do after this?”
Clay blinked. He looked back at Lawrence, who was studying him closely. “What do you mean?”
Lawrence gestured to the mine around them. “Once a team comes back from a mission this… extensive, they usually get at least some time to rest. Perhaps even the chance to return home, or go on a journey. The Council may even reward you with an actual journeyman or peer rank. What do you plan to do once that happens?”
The question baffled Clay for a moment, and he turned back to the darkness ahead. For a moment, it seemed even more foreboding than he’d expected. “I’m… not entirely sure.”
Rocks shifted as Lawrence planted his quarterstaff and leaned on it. The [Occultist] grinned. “I’m all ears.”
“Well, I should probably visit Pellsglade. My parents and siblings would want to hear how it’s all gone.” He thought for another moment and grimaced a little. “I’ve also made some… promises. Things I mean to keep.”
“That does sound important. Perhaps something to do with the famed Olivia Shrinekept?” Clay blinked and saw a knowing look on the [Occultist]’s face. “Natalie has mentioned her frequently, as has Master Taylor. We owe her almost as much as you do. If you’ve promised her something, then I can see how you would not want to fail her.”
Clay shrugged. When he spoke, he was trying not to sound too defensive. “She just wanted me to be there after her Choosing. To maybe help her a little.”
“Understandable.” The man sounded far too reasonable. It was infuriating, somehow. “After that, what next?”
It was a calm, perfectly rational question; it was also a question that Clay had very little answer to.
On the one hand, he could just stay in Pellsglade. As a [Commoner] he didn’t need to go out risking his life, not once he’d finally gotten free of the Academy and the Guild. Baron Pellsglade wouldn’t complain about having him around to keep an eye on the Dungeon in the Sarlwood, even if he couldn’t kill the thing completely. His parents would probably be absurdly grateful for the change, actually.
Of course, he could also simply settle into the adventurer’s lifestyle. His abilities were strong enough that any team from the Guild would likely enjoy having him around, especially given that he could help them destroy Lairs rather than simply culling their monster populations. Clay could easily imagine himself wandering the land, breaking the Curses that had tormented people for so long. He pictured himself basking in fame and adulation for all the people he’d helped.
At the same time, he couldn’t picture doing anything like that. He remembered the words that had been scrawled on the wall of the mine, remembered the houses of Rodcliff on fire and the worn expressions the [Commoners] had been wearing on the day they’d arrived. Someone had caused that despair, and the deaths along with it. Letting them continue seemed… wrong, on a level that made the Curses they’d scattered around the place pale by comparison.
He couldn’t let that person continue doing it, couldn’t let them spread Curses throughout the land. Once he’d kept his promises and dealt with whatever the Council wanted, Clay was going to track them down and stop them, no matter what—and once he’d finished with that, he could search out the [Chant] that could destroy Dungeons, and set about removing those as well.
When he turned to Lawrence to say so, however, his senses began to scream at him. The monsters were coming, and once again they had cut them off. Clay turned around, his spear in his hands and his heart pounding in his throat. “They’re behind us.”
Lawrence paused. “I see. Maybe they put a few of the large slimes back there to lure us in for a trap. Clever.”
“They have been getting more and more aggressive all day.” Clay felt his hands tighten instinctively on the spear. “We won’t be able to avoid them, so we’re going to have to blast through. Are you going to be all right?”
To his surprise, the [Occultist] just snorted. “I’ll be fine. I’m not a tactician like Natalie or a warrior mage like Xavien, but I have found my own little niche thanks to your example.”
Despite his tension, Clay glanced over at him. Lawrence looked calm and confident. Almost eager, in a way. “And what’s that?”
Lawrence grinned, a wide smile that seemed to take up his entire face. “Why, I’m the group’s trickster. I’d think someone who claims her as a patron would have figured that out by now.”
Clay opened his mouth to ask a question, only to pause. He heard scraping ahead, and his heart leapt into his throat as he recognized the bulky forms of at least three giant ironslimes, all flowing towards him. One clung to the roof, while the other two were halfway up the walls on either side. Aside from a small space on the floor that a child would have had a hard time crawling through, the entire tunnel seemed to be blocked off by the slimes.
He grimaced. “All right, here they come.”
“Great! Looks like they are all together.” Lawrence stepped around him, handing him the torch. Clay felt his eyebrows climb as the [Occultist] fixed his eyes on the incoming monsters. “Start that flame [Chant] of yours and follow me. Get ready to brace yourself for the explosions.”
Then, before Clay could stop him, Lawrence charged forward, his quarterstaff held tightly in his hands. Clay stared after him in shock and then rushed up the tunnel in his wake. Had the [Occultist] gone insane? What was he doing? Despite his confusion, he started the Flame-tongued Song, wanting to at least have some way to respond when things went south.
Fortunately, Lawrence was talking as he ran. “I got two new techniques from the last Lair. A [Sigil] called [Mirrors] and a [Charm] called [Invisible Ward]. Both defensive, but both pretty useful. You’ll see.”
Clay was still trying to figure out what those spells could do when Lawrence put on an extra burst of speed. Ahead of him, Clay could see the slimes coming to a stop in the tunnel ahead. Their bulk glimmered in the torchlight; the things didn’t seem to see the need to retreat, not with three of them together. Their faces began to ripple and shift, obviously gathering clusters of spikes and blades to impale the heroes that were daring to charge them.
Lawrence didn’t seem to see it, or didn’t care if he did. The [Occultist] just charged in, his staff held high, as if he was planning on just battering the things into submission. The stance left him completely open to attack, almost like he was daring the slimes to strike him.
The slimes sprouted a thicket of spears, and Clay’s stomach clenched as he saw it converge on Lawrence’s gut.
Lawrence, however, laughed in triumph. The air rippled in a disc in front of him, as if it was disturbed by something that was just out of sight. Clay saw the forest of spears strike the ripple—and completely vanish.
The air rippled near the slimes ahead of them in the tunnel, in the narrow space beneath them. Clay jerked in shock as the slimes’ own spears tore out of the second ripple. He saw them tear through the bulk of the two lower slimes, gouging holes in their unprotected flesh and spilling fluid from the wounds. Some of the spears extended so far through their bulk that they reached the monster hanging from the ceiling, digging into its rubbery hide as well. In an instant, the two lower slimes were fully impaled, and the third was pinned to them.
Fluid splashed from a dozen gaping wounds as Lawrence made a sharp gesture with his hand. The ripple disappeared, and the stone spears snapped in half as the portals cut off. Clay could see the slimes starting to digest the weapons that had pinned them to each other, but Lawrence didn’t give them the chance to finish. He watched as the [Occultist] reached out and called a new [Charm], one that seemed half-familiar at this point.
Stone tentacles tore their way out of the ceiling and into the unprotected flesh of the upper slime. They burrowed through the already damaged monster like an invasive parasite, piercing the center of it. Clay saw something dark and well-protected impaled by at least two of the tentacles, and heard Lawrence shout to him. “Get behind me! Is that [Chant] ready?”
Clay couldn’t respond before he heard the fizzing sound of the giant ironslime self-destructing. He put himself right behind the [Occultist], hoping that [Invisible Ward] was up to the task. The other two slimes were thrashing, worsening their own wounds as they frantically tried to escape the death of their companion.
They didn’t quite make it. The slime on the ceiling self-destructed in a single catastrophic burst of noxious fluids. Its two companions were smashed into the floor of the tunnel, still bleeding even more of the unnatural ichor. To Clay’s relief, though, an invisible barrier of air kept the force of the blast from hitting them. Lawrence grunted under the strain of it, but he’d kept the impact at bay.
Which meant the only thing left to do was to step out from behind the [Occultist] and unleash the Flame-tongued Song. Clay saw the remaining ironslimes still thrashing weakly, but they were heavily wounded; Lawrence probably could have killed them himself, but the adventurer simply gestured for Clay to finish them.
He nodded in gratitude and unleashed the flame. It washed over the two surviving ironslimes, igniting both their own bleeding wounds and the spattered remains of their fellow monster. More detonations followed as both of the monsters were steadily incinerated by the concentrated stream of fire.
{Giant Ironslime slain! Soul increases by 40.}
{Giant Ironslime slain! Soul increases by 40.}
{Achievement Reinforced! Slimebane: 15% increase to all skills and damage against slimes. Bonus increases to 30% versus Small Ironslimes, Large Ironslimes, and Giant Ironslimes.}
When all remnants of the slimes had been burnt from the tunnel, Clay took a step back and sighed in satisfaction. He looked back at Lawrence. “Thank you, Sir Lawrence.”
The [Occultist] shrugged, scratching at the back of his head. His grin was almost shy. “It was my pleasure, Sir Clay. Any time.”
Clay nodded, looking back at the charred remains. Then he laughed. “So, a trickster, huh? Seems like you hit pretty hard for one of those.”
Lawrence grinned. “I’ll be keeping the others on their toes, that’s for sure.” He glanced at the tunnel behind. “Should we stay? Find more?”
“No.” Clay shook his head, the fatigue still dragging at him. “I think that we’ve already pushed them to their limits for now. If the slimes only had as many giants as the other Lair had horrors, then they already won’t be able to launch a raid against Rodcliff without leaving their Guardian isolated. Let them group up in the Lair, and we can crush them all at once tomorrow.”
“Once we’ve all slept. Of course.” Lawrence nodded easily, and he stepped over to take the torch back from Clay. “Let’s get moving, then, before they get any other ideas.”