Cedric popped out of the Voidsky Mountainscape and into the bottom of the smoldering crater just existing in the middle of the Gnollan forest. It wasn’t quite a relief to step out of the dungeon. Inside had been dangerous for a time, that was true, but the overworld with its innumerable, unknown dangers was just as frightening.
His two nightmare companions appeared beside him. The Arterial Shieldbearer glared at the rolling stones gardening the bleached trees, while the Voidborne Skyshade floated menacingly over his head like a stygian backdrop with red stars. The dungeon had been rough for a bit, but overall it had been very good to Cedric.
He casually triggered Tame. A habit he had developed recently.
No target selected...attempting to tame nearest creature
Taming Hartebeast Behemoth...Failed, reduce distance to begin taming.
The overworld was still stubbornly stuck on the Behemoth. On the one hand, that was good as it meant that no other tamer had stolen his beast. Especially since after speaking with Micah in the dungeon Cedric had learned that there was no easy way of taking someone else's companion. On the other hand, it meant he needed to find another dungeon if he wanted to increase his growing army of companions, because there was no way he was fighting the Behemoth with just two companions.
Unfortunately, Cedric had little idea on how to actually go about finding a dungeon. It had taken him nearly two weeks to find the Voidsky Mountainscape, and he wasn’t convinced he hadn’t been lucky that the convenient smoking crater also contained a dungeon.
“Man, I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see the stars,” Micah said as she hopped out of the portal and raised her snout to the dark, glittering sky. Cedric followed her gaze. The night sky here really was stunning compared to the one on Earth.
"No sign of Kayete here either," Cedric said.
"Hope he made it," Micah replied, yawning mightily. Cedric hummed idly in response, not entirely sure he agreed with that sentiment. The wind blew softly, bringing with it the brimstone laden air of the crater.
“Do you happen to know of a way to locate dungeons?” Cedric asked, breaking the silence.
“Uh, Locator Rods are good for that, why do you ask?”
“I need to find another dungeon and get more companions. Do you happen to have a Locator Rod on you?”
“I don’t, though there is one back in town if you’d like.” Micah said, then her eyes drooped as she frowned. “I should probably head back, shouldn’t I...”
“Do you not want to go back?”
“I do! Well...no. It’s complicated. I’m still technically on my Adaka and if I return now without a companion I won’t...I’ll fail I guess...”
“Then stay with me for a while. Heaven knows I could use the company. Who knows maybe we will stumble on a dungeon and we can get you a companion.”
“Really!?” Micah jumped up and grabbed Cedric’s bare shoulder. Her bulging pack clattered on her back. “You’d let me travel with you. Traveling with a Traveler! That’s so exciting! Would you tell me stories as we go?”
“Fine, yeah,” Cedric grimaced as he pulled her paw off him. He really needed new clothes. Being half shirtless was uncomfortable for a variety of reasons. He shuddered to think what it would be like when his pants grew threadbare. “I can tell you some stories. Less touching though please.”
“Oh, sorry!” Micah recoiled, but couldn’t hide her massive doggy grin. “I know of a bunch of close by dungeons! Let’s go, go, go!”
Micah began walking, but got pulled back as Cedric grabbed her shoulder.
“Hold your horses, sister. You know where there are local dungeons? Did your people find those dungeons with their Dungeon Locator?”
“Yeah!”
“Wouldn’t they have already tamed the monster in those dungeons then?”
Micah opened her mouth, then snapped it closed. “Oh. You’re right...All the good ones are probably taken.”
“Your people don’t go to every dungeon you find? Why not?”
Micah shrugged. “Some monsters suck. A bad creature can be worse than useless on your team. You have to feed it, care for it. Some barely have any stats, and don’t even have any crowd control or utility skills to compensate.”
“Okay. Do you know the way to one of these weak dungeons?”
“Yeah, there is a slime sewer not far from here. Barely a days walk that-a-way. Less if we can ride there.”
“Perfect! Let’s go there and get a new companion.”
“Nuh-uh. No way. I’m not going back to town with a slime. I’ll be the laughing stock for years.”
“Not for you, I want the slime.”
Micah blinked. “No offense, dude, but like...you really don’t. Slimes deal like, two damage. Take your Voidborne Skyshade for instance. It can deal upwards of 22,000 magic damage in an hour and more if the target has low resistances. A slime, even a dps focused one, would be hard pressed to outdamage your regen.”
“Hmm, that is pretty low, but could you take me there anyway? I have a hypothesis I want to test.”
“As long as we search for a good monster for me afterwards, but don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.”
----------------------------------------
So the pair set out. Micah offered Cedric a spot on her Fashta which made the journey far more comfortable. Unlike the first time Cedric traveled through the forest, the journey was a walk in the park. Periodic purple Withers from the Skyshade silenced the forest around them. Any creatures that didn’t run away from the aggressive damage over time were met head on by the Arterial Shieldbearer who easily rebuffed their aggression. Neither Cedric nor Micah even needed to hop off their mount to help.
They traveled for an hour, then made camp. Cedric regaled the young Gnoll with stories of earth. None of which were particularly magical or well told, but Micah loved them. Eventually, they grew tired, and they set up tents. Cedric slept dreamlessly, only briefly waking a few times to the gurgle and hiss of corrosive blood on flesh.
They woke early, and before noon, stopped before a swirling blue and pink portal.
“Excellent, now remember. We got to go fast.”
Entering Hydroformed Sewers.
Hydroformed Sewers (0/2)
Cedric instantly bumped his head as the portal spat him out into the inside of a four foot sewer pipe. Pure clean water rushed over his shoes as he craned his neck to look down the torch ensconced tunnel. It really was strange that all the dungeons he’d gone to had some form of illumination, but he tabled that thought for later and triggered Tame.
No target selected...attempting to tame nearest creature
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Taming Water Slime...9mo 3w 6d 21h 23m 26s
“You still haven’t told me why we got to do this fast,” Micah grumbled from behind. Every single member of their party but the Fashta was cramped horribly due to the low ceiling. “Even at your low level, you could let the slime wail on you all day and it wouldn’t kill you.”
“We got to do it quick before it levels up.” Cedric said, signaling for the Shieldbearer to lead the way.
“Oh, like your Skyshade did without killing any creatures? That’s hella weird by the way. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of something like that happening. Why do you think it will happen again here?”
“A hunch,” Cedric smiled.
“Ok, whatever. Be secretive. You should be careful though with Wither. No way it doesn’t full clear this entire dungeon in one shot.”
“Good point,” Cedric said, turning to his minions. “Alright, Skyshade, you are on Tank duty. Hug ‘em, sit on ‘em. Don’t care. Just get their attention and keep it. Don’t use Wither for any reason, but you can spam Curse and Hinder on cooldown. Shieldbearer you’re our frontline dps. Take care of any monsters that approach us. Our goal is to comb this place to find the water slime we can tame. Any augments we find on the way are a bonus. Speaking of, Micah would you like the augments?”
“Nah, I probably have them already,” Micah shrugged. “You worry too much let’s just go. Children run dungeons like this.”
Cedric nodded and they moved down the tunnel.
Ten steps in, the water in front of the Skyshade erupted. A large volleyball-sized water droplet smashed into the gossamer void of the Skyshade’s wings and latched on. It wriggled, secreting a clear cyan acid that hissed and sputtered as it dripped down the Skyshade’s front. The Skyshade paused and awkwardly tried to dislodge its pesky new passenger.
Despite the rather aggressive assault, the Skyshade had barely taken any damage. It held the little creature to its chest as the small slime glommed onto its membrane. Just then, two more nearly invisible slimes jumped out of the water and knocked the larger weightless monster under water.
Cedric took the time to identify the creatures.
Water Slime
Stats Invested: ?
Talents Invested: ?
Regenerative Touch
1m:0s
Grant your regeneration stat to another creature for 1 minute
Acidic Touch
30s
Your next attack deals an additional 20% regeneration + 45% ability power as magic damage over 4 seconds
Glom
20s
5 ft line
Jump in a direction, latching on to the first thing hit
Amorphous Form
-passive-
Take 30% reduced physical damage. This value is increased 60% against physical damage less than your regeneration
“Finally a healing ability,” Cedric grinned. Regenerative touch wasn’t nearly a direct healing effect, but neither were the potions the gnolls used. In fact, if the fickle upgrades were motivated enough, he might be able to get an ability that was as strong if not stronger than a moderate regeneration potion permanently up.
“You’re standards are so out of whack, dude.” Micah grumbled from the back. “Like it’s not even a good healing ability. At best your chances are that the slime only has like 50 regeneration. That won’t save you in any situation.”
“Maybe,” Cedric’s grin grew wider, “but I think the stats will be higher once it upgrades. Besides, it has a powerful defensive ability, a short cooldown movement ability, and not too bad scaling on its primary attack.”
Micah only grunted at that, and Cedric ended the poor Skyshade’s suffering with a quick nod to the Shieldbearer. It tore into the slimes, having surprising difficulty with the low level mobs, but it was never intended as a physical damage dealer. They continued down the pipe, encountering several more small slimes, before coming up onto an intersection. Consulting their Tame interface indicated the slime was likely to the right, so they chose that path
They kept going, encountering several more slimes before coming up to another intersection. Then another after that.
Cedric’s crystal flashed, sending an upgrade up into the air, and then back down the way they had come.
“What was that?” Micah paused, ducking beneath the ethereal strand of blue mist.
“We have to go faster.” Cedric replied. It was a good thing that upgrade was meant for the Hartebeast Behemoth, or else they might be in for a big fight. He accelerated their pace even though the half crouched position hurt his back something fierce. Micah gave him a look to which he just shook his head. “I’d really rather not fight an uber-slime in such tight quarters.
The next intersection opened up into a small room with an augmentation crystal resting on a pedestal. The Shieldbearer walked up, and got washed in a rush of acidic water for its trouble. Its health barely budged though, and Cedric rushed forward to collect the augment after the trap had been disabled.
Absorb Sure Shot Augment? Augmented skill gains a minor homing effect
“Sure Shot, do you want it?” Cedric said, urging their group faster through the tunnels.
“Have it already, you can take it.”
Absorbed Augment: Sure Shot
The crystal melted into Cedric’s palm and reminded him of the last few times augments he’d absorbed.
Absorbed Augment: Battle Cleanse: Augmented skill cleanses one negative status effect on you
This one had come from the second fallen Gnoll and was the augment that had made the Fashta nearly immune to Wither and the Skyshade’s other abilities. It had felt odd openly looting the dead in front of Micah, but she had assured him that it honored the dead to pass on their augments to the living. That seemed slightly backwards to Cedric, but he wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He supposed that was also why she had all their belongings snugged tightly in her pack.
After retrieving Tikah’s body, they had then combed the dungeon for augmentation crystals, the notifications of which still floated languidly in Cedric's log.
Absorbed Augment: Natural Calm: Augmented skill heals target for an additional 20% ability power over 4 seconds
Augments found: (2/6)
Absorbed Augment: Overclock: Augmented skill’s cooldown is reduced by 20%
Augments found: (3/6)
Absorbed Augment: Knockback: Augmented skill knocks target back based on damage dealt
Augments found: (4/6)
Absorbed Augment: Death Mark: Augmented skill afflicts target with Death Mark for 10 seconds. 45% of all damage taken while afflicted with Death Mark is dealt to the target when Death Mark is removed
Augments found: (5/6)
Absorbed Augment: Increased AOE: Augmented skill gains 30% increased area of effect
Augments found: (6/6)
Voidsky Mountainscape cleared!
Clearing the dungeon had been surprisingly simple with the Skyshade nuking everything out of existence. Though such massive firepower didn’t help diddly-squat in the Hydroformed Sewers.
They ripped through slimes, Cedric going so far as to hand his spear to the Skyshade so that it could help poke the numerous little critters down. Intersection after intersection passed, but the unerring compass of the Tame marker meant they never got lost.
Finally, the group rounded a bend to a large-ish chamber with enough headspace to stand. Cedric straightened, hearing pops in his back as he looked around. The room was donut shaped, with a raised ring surrounding a black pit where all the water from the dungeon was cascading down. Drips of water plopped into the pool from the ceiling. In the far back, illuminated by a single large torch, a small, lonely slime glooped sadly in a pool of stagnant water.
Taming Water Slime...3s
Cedric hurriedly canceled the tame. Even though he was all the way across the room, the Tame was nearly instant.
“What in the world...It has zero health.” Micah exclaimed, dumbfounded, her eyes vaguely misted as she read the creature’s stats. Cedric pulled up its stats himself and grinned. It did indeed have zero stat or talent points allocated. All its attributes were grayed out, even health. How it was alive with zero health, he didn’t know but he didn’t care. He’d made it to the tame before it had gotten boosted into the stratosphere.
The slime didn’t move, barely responding as they approached. Micah leaned down as she scrutinized the creature, careful not to touch it in case such a gentle action would kill it. It was large for a slime, but still barely larger than a beach ball.
“I figured this was the case with my monsters. I imagine the Skyshade also started like this before my crystal started upgrading it.”
Suddenly, Cedric tensed as his crystal flashed. The upgrade rose, then flashed back through the dungeon, clearly meant once again for the Hartebeast Behemoth.
“Your monsters?” Micah asked softly, her gaze following the ghostly mist of the upgrade. “You were the reason why the Skyshade leveled mid fight?”
“Yeah, sorry for not telling you guys before. I really didn’t know it wasn’t normal until I met you guys. My crystal is weird. I can’t allocate points, talents or augments to my creatures. It all happens automatically, and works even on creatures I haven’t tamed yet.”
“And it levels untamed creatures. I guess that’s a Traveler thing,” Micah looked at the jiggling, stationary slime. “So what now?”
“Now,” Cedric smiled. “We wait.”