For a suspended moment in time, I was numb. I was dimly aware that I was toppling through the air, but my thoughts were clouded in a misty haze.
Then the blinding pain struck. The agony I felt dwarfed everything I experienced before—even the crippling pain from the pit massacre paled in comparison. Every synapse was on fire, wailing and screeching.
Damn it, I’m getting hazy! I frantically searched the land below and spotted a ledge jutting from a wall. Angling what remained of my body as best I could, I prayed I would reach it.
I tumbled onto the ledge, rolling until I collided with the wall. I reoriented myself, slabs of slime dropping off in slags. They painted the ledge with green. I let out a long-suffering groan. Usually, my body would have adapted by now and the pain would have subsided. What was different this time? And why did it feel like I was being submerged in lava?
I shifted my 360 degree vision to achieve a better angle of my body, and I had to stifle a gasp at what I saw.
Half of my body was indeed gone, distorting my perfectly symmetrical cube form and leaving me resembling more a slime of goo. However, what truly caught my attention were tiny black tendrils entering through the gaping wound. In real time, they inched their way across the rest of my body; everywhere it touched, my slime transitioned from a vibrant lime green to a bruised pear color.
Out of curiosity, I attempted using [Body Manipulation] on the corrupted parts and was shocked to find…nothing. My Skill didn’t register anything even while I stared at it. Does that mean the Skill doesn’t register it as my body anymore? My naïve curiosity grew to fear, especially as the corruption continued to spread.
Even [All-Tongue] was affected by the venom. I couldn’t contort my slime to act as a ‘mouth’ so the Skill was rendered useless. The thought of losing what little shred of humanity I’d regained struck fear into my heart and galvanized the burning desire for victory.
Ding!
Health Points at 10!
Passive Skill [Infirm Regeneration] Level 2 —> [Infirm Regeneration] Level 3
10 Points left!? There was nothing to it. I just hoped [Infirm Regeneration] would pull through and hold my body together long enough for me to kill the scorpion monster.
Peering over the edge of the ledge, I located the scorpion several meters below. From above, I could appreciate the true size of the monster compared to the rest of the cavern; what had seemed huge to me was a tight fit for the monster to where it was forced to carefully scoot forward, shift slightly to the side, make an incline, and repeat the process several times in order to turn around. A child relative to the apex monster, but a giant to me.
I can use this.
I pored intensively over the surface of the monster, searching every nook and cranny for a weakness. Scuff marks and irrelevant grooves decorated the carapace of the creature but nothing that I could exploit. I flipped through the different angles of my visions, switching from mosaic to mosaic to find the best image of the scorpion. And finally, I stumbled across it.
Near the edge of the back of the carapace was a scar in the shape of a X. I enhanced my vision and zoomed in as close as my body would allow me. That Extra-Sensory Perception or what-it’s-called would have been really helpful right about now. Even without the Skill though, I fancied I could see the flesh underneath the scar.
I pulled up my stats.
Stats:
Magic Point (MP) : 13/20
Health Point (HP) : 8/10
Strength Point (SP) : 12/15
Endurance Point (EP) : 2/20
Agility Point (AP) : 6/10
No time to consider any other options. Taking the leap of faith, I vaulted off the ledge. Sticking close to the wall, I shaped what little remained of my slime into a sword and stabbed it into the rock, slowing my descent.
The barbed tail swung back and forth menacingly, hindering my opportunity of landing perfectly on top of the scorpion. Trying my best to time this correctly so I wouldn’t get eviscerated by a tail, I deactivated [Weapon Generation] and let myself drop.
I landed on the back of the monster with a splatter, cringing at how much excess slime was jostled by the impact. The speed at which the corruption spread had slowed significantly, but around ¼ of my remaining body was inoperable. I couldn’t risk losing even another ounce of slime.
The monster clicked its pincers together and its tail continued its swinging path but it didn’t seem to notice my presence at all. As long as that remained the case, I’d have easy access to the weak point.
It was harder to move than I’d anticipated; the lack of slime I could manipulate wasn’t enough to be at top speed, and the corrupted slime just got in the way. I had to return to the fundamentals when I learned how to move as a Gelatinous Cube just to reach the scar.
Scooting onto the carapace and attaching the slimmest piece of me to ensure I wouldn’t fall off, I hung off the side of the shell. Eying the X wound, I activated [Weapon Generation] to materialize a sword. Although the Skill was working, the slime was much more stiff and harder to manipulate than before. I wasn’t even able to finish constructing the sword before the slime hardened and I lost control. It won’t be long before the corruption completely takes over.
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At least I’d created something that loosely resembled a sword, if one that was crooked and had chunks missing. Jabbing the tip of the blade into the X, I started prying backward.
Logically, it should be impossible for me to budge the carapace. It probably weighed five times more than the force I was exerting, and the corruption ensured I couldn’t generate as much strength as I would have otherwise. A low growl emanated from within me; I was not going to give up. Screw logic, if that’s what’s needed to win! I will crack open this shell, no matter!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGHHHHH!
The deformed sword should have cracked. The corruption should have finished its task and killed me. I should have run out of Strength Points long before I succeeded. That was what the facts said.
On this day, at this moment, I denied the facts.
Click!
It took me a moment to realize what the sound was, and another to come to terms that I’d pulled off the impossible. I didn’t waste a third moment before sliding the sword out; it decomposed the second it left the underside of the carapace, but that was fine. For my next stage, no weapons were needed.
[Body Manipulation!]
Previously, I’d shied away from pushing [Body Manipulation] to its limits, for fear of losing sight of who I was. Now I was dealing with another problem: the venom had progressed to where I could barely move, much less change my body to the degree I needed it to.
Ding!
You have gained the Skill [Venom Resistance]!
What? I didn’t know how that was possible, but I wasn’t questioning it. The new Skill was already working its magic. The venom was still within me, of that there was no doubt, but the stiffness was fading. A minor change, but it was all that [Body Manipulation] needed.
I dissolved, completely letting go of my cube form and entering a semi-liquid goo. I squeezed through the space in between the carapace and the flesh of the monster. The heat radiating off the beast was surprisingly high, to where it was cooking me alive. Shit, did I make a mistake?
Steam rose from my body, trapped by the shell. Expand! Expand, expand, fucking EXPAND! I employed the full power of [Body Manipulation], envisioning ballooning up. Imagination became reality and before I knew it, I was pressed up against the carapace. Grimacing, I pushed past the discomfort and poured more Magic Point into the Skill. Grow! Grow!
The shell popped up and I was free from the stifling heat. The carapace clattered to the ground nearby while the monster shrieked. Despite the throbbing pain all over my body, I smirked. Time to end this.
Ding!
Health Points at 5!
Scraping the bottom of my Magic Points barrel for the last dregs, I unleashed [Weapon Generation]. A sword came to life. The monster began bucking around in a desperate attempt to throw me off.
“Too late! You shouldn’t have underestimated me!” Without wasting any more time, I plunged the sword into the fleshy head. The sword sunk in until the monster’s touched my primary body. I grimaced; a downside of having every part of your body be connected was that I could feel the unpleasant heat of the flesh as it contracted and squirmed around my sword. The scorpion screeched, slamming itself against the walls and dislodging some boulders. I held on tight, increasing the length of the sword.
From the back of my body, I spotted the tail whirling in a circle, carving marks into the wall and excreting droplets of venom everywhere. Too close for comfort. I twisted the blade harshly, intending to put the monster out of its misery.
The scorpion let out a final, mournful howl before collapsing on its own legs. I couldn’t have unsheathed my sword from its skull faster than I did, eager to be rid of the feeling of monster blood festering against my ‘skin.’ I gently hopped off the prone body, landing lightly on the ground and making my way over to the shell.
It was a miracle that they hadn’t been crushed by either the scorpion during its death rampage or the numerous boulders that had fallen. The Will-O’-Wisp was in the same place, and I doubted it would have particularly cared if I died.
“Hey. Do you wanna heal me?” I asked. Although the effects of the venom had been dulled, it was still active in my body. [Venom Resistance] simply delayed the inevitable. And it would be nice to have the rest of my body restricted.
…No.
“Why you—!”
Ding!
You have ascended to Level 5!
Accolades:
* Forming your first party
* Slaying [Juvenile Scorpius] Level 9
* Unlocking a Body-Type Skill
* Leveling up your Skills
Species: Gelatinous Cube (Level 5)
Subspecies: Insectroid Slime
Stats:
Magic Point (MP) :7/25
Health Point (HP) : 4/20
Strength Point (SP) : 9/18
Endurance Point (EP) : 0/25
Agility Point (AP) : 4/13
Species Skills:
* [Subsumption] Level 1
* [Infirm Regeneration] Level 3
Skills:
* [Body Manipulation] Level 5
* [Weapon Generation] Level 3
* [All-Tongue] Level 1
* [Venom Resistance] Level 1
* [10 Skill Points]
* [Available Skill Slots:5]
‘Juvenile Scorpius?’ What the hell is an adult one then? And also, the System needs to fix its lag problems. It’s only telling me now that I formed a party with the Wisp? And I see I didn’t get my stats restored. Damn it, [Infirm Regeneration] won’t be fast enough to restore my body before I die. Maybe eating the egg will help?
In the commotion, it’d slipped my mind why I had insisted on coming here in the first place. Sliding forward (and taking great pleasure in passing through the Wisp), I went to town on the fragments. Unlike with the larvae, my human taste appeared to be overridden by my body’s instinctive urge to be reunited with the egg. My appendages shot out and snatched the fragments a handful at a time, consuming them in a matter of seconds.
Once all was said and done, I felt a bit more satisfied, perhaps fuller, but no obvious changes. It hadn’t even healed my stats. Great, do I need to go out and find some actual food?
Ding!
Evolution is possible!
Yes or No?