I focused my Split Sight on Mazrar and company, watching them poke around the tunnels with surprising speed. They trash-talked like midschoolers but actually intelligent, coming up with new insults for the mole dungeon every minute. But unlike midschoolers, they bore impressive coordination when they blundered into another mole tunnelblazer. Mazrar served as the bait, jumping back and flapping his wings to stay in the air over it's swinging claws. Thoguzod and Rorthrezol slammed into it's arms, holding them down like wrestlers and slashing with claws of their own. And all the while Irnuuth chanted. At first, the sole result was dotting the cave walls with a scattering of dark holes. They widened, progressing into almost-mouths, and shot out a harpoon of a tentacle each when the mole was so focused on attacking it couldn't block a thrown paper bag; or dodge it's way out of one. They speared and skewered from every side, mole's deathfrenzy kicking in to no effect on the imp squad.
As it's movements slowed, mazrar stepped in and skewered the imp with his bound spear. "More mana for boss lady." He justified, only slightly interrupted by the system notification
Your imp has slain: Mole tunnelblazer. +10 EXP.
Life force drained. +47 mana
As this was playing out, I noticed movement in my main vision. a squad of human-proportioned moles with picks and hammers rounded the corner, closing in on my base like the imps I had sent. Not wanting to be outdone, I ordered my slimes to defend- big red first, everything else to support it. The large sanguine slime took up just about the entire tunnel, absorbed several hammerblows effortlessly, and shot it's smaller cousin towards the one with a pickaxe. The slime sailed through the air, dissolving the mole-miner with skill
Your slime has slain: talpid miner. +1 EXP
The mole dungeon must be really scraping the bottom of the barrel if these chumps are all it can throw at me. I had a bad feeling about something, but was too focused on the two fronts of this war to focus on what. Instead, I focused on the big slime absorb the impact of a moleman's mining hammer, bending back and springing forward to slam down on the mole. It was disarmed, knocked down, and the large sanguine slime extended a pseudopod to absorb it's broken form-
Until a flash of blue cut it off. a tall, brave-looking talpid stood between ally and enemy, shield raised and sword poised to strike. Thick red fluid oozed from the wound, big slime re-aligning itself to let it's backup back it up. The talpid ducked it's long neck behind it's shield, still knocked off-balance by the javelin strike from my dark slime. The earth slime charged forward, leaping down with a polearm swing, met for it's troubles with a step too close for comfort and a stab to it's core with unusual ease. I gasped at the efficiency, realizing what I was looking at.
The earth slime slunk away, leap enough to give my poison slime an opening to spray. The green gas wafted around the shield and inspired a coughing fit, slowing the sword-talpid just enough for the sanguine slime to regain it's position and form a striking pseudopod, launching from it's chest and draining a bit of life. The swordsman (or woman) stepped back to regain it's footing, and I urged my slimes on the offensive. Another javelin was a mere distraction, to get it's shield high as I ordered the red boss to go low-
And get stabbed deep by that diamond blade. The big red slime was leaking fast, but I ordered it onwards. Ordered it not to slow down. Ordered it to drown the invader in it's blood.
And that it did. The sword sunk deeper in as the crimson slime grasped onto the wielder's arm. It uselessly bashed with it's shield, and I knew I had already won.
Over the last minute, poison sprayed upwards, filling the top half of the tunnel. My slime was winning the tug of war over the molefolk's arm, advancing more and more every second as purple gas filled it's lungs.
"Eat it and heal." I ordered the big slime. It pulled harder, absorbing the mole in one gulp and dissolving into it with speed. "But bring me back it's sword"
The molefolk's eyes snapped open, and while it might have been my imagination glowed red. Lost fur knit back together over exposed muscle, and every now-protected muscle thrashed. That sword of diamond pierced right through the slime's side and slashed, more and more red liquid pouring out.
The earth slime rushed forward, safety protocols be damned, and stabbed for the center of mass. It's glaive struck true, dancing through the uncoordinated sword slashes and leaving more and more wounds to contend with. Between the two sources of damage, the sanguine slime couldn't keep up, slumping over one final time.
Your Large Sanguine slime (commander) has been slain.
The molefolk burst out, leaving it's sword behind to scratch and bite at my tankiest slime. Armor tried and failed to absorb clawstrikes, poison filled it's already-ragged lungs, and javelin shots scattered.
But faster than my tremor slime's health was fading was the attacker's speed. Every clawswipe got slower and slower, more and more labored, until it fell-nearly dead. Fully dead with a glaive stab to the torso
Your Tremor slime has slain: Talpid Hero. +20 EXP.
That was... less than the payout I had been hoping for. The tunnelblazer was worth 25, but this hero only 20? It's sword was doing most of the work, but still- this laid out just how powerful good equipment was. A better weapon or armor than the enemy was good in games, but a game breaker in real life; and the fighting logic of this world was as close to realism as a world full of zombies, slimes, and demons could get. And unfortunately for the world? 'good equipment' was where I was specializing.
Level has risen to 6. 1 perk point gained.
Good to have I remember when I was tripping over these left and right.
I ordered three things brought back. The hero, their sword, and my old ally's essence. The hero itself was drained for blood and left as slimefood, shared as a meal of victory and mourning.
Life force absorbed. +22 mana
The sword got my examination, in methods we knew well.
Diamond Longsword Attack damage 2d8 Durability 1221/1500 Attack speed 16 Runes None Special: None
True to known rules, diamond equipment kicked ass. The durability was monstrous, and the damage and speed could be compared to the moleclaw glaive. Lack of specials was merely annoying, but it was a good template to work from- and maybe I could focus on my upcoming enchantment on getting it any special traits.
I stopped in realization. If diamond was a tier above iron, and I had elevated an iron-quality spear to diamond-level stats, what on earth would I be able to turn this beautiful thing into?
The small sanguine slime ballooned in size trying to carry all the liquid, and I feared it would burst on the way back to dump blood into my metal form. It leaned over my rim with a precarious balance, and dropped it's present all at once to splash against the walls.
Life force absorbed. +67 mana
The world seemed vibrant. I felt full. And more than anything else, I felt creative. Not wanting to waste the diamond sword on a bad idea, I summoned a new slime, sickly green and corroding the air, and ordered it around a spare spear. Not wanting to splurge too hard, I carved a range rune into it's side, letting the slime fill in the cracks, and then began to enchant. No focus, I simply wanted to see what would happen.
Mana flowed from my core, many strands lifting the spear and slime into the air. They glowed as one, acidic slime dissolving the spear's bindings and then bound by magic to act as a new set.
Moleclaw Acidglaive Attack damage 1d12 Durability 250/250 Acid damage 1d8 Self-repair 3/hour Attack speed 20 Runes Range Special: Increased range II, flexibility
53 mana was all it took to elevate a fresh acid slime and scavenged spear into this disgustingly strong hybrid. I could still detect bits of the slime's mind, but they were even duller than before, even more subdued. The spear itself was brighter, reminding me of toxic animals-- a limegreen head retained most of its sharpness, despite being translucent. It tipped a shaft that was both flexible yet durable, self-repair saying in numbers what words failed to and spelling an end to equipment maintenance for wise wielders.
I liked my slimes, but this was power hour. And I was about to power up.
Perk selection Slime perks Itemcraft perks Mana perks Split: Can pay 5 mana to split a slime into two (both halves will need to eat and regrow) Mana replication: Can pay mana to copy unmodified gear Glowstone proficiency: Learn block: Glowstone. Glowstone absorbs 13 mana rather than 10 Sleeds: Slimes will carry other monsters into battle, granting a fraction of their stats and skill Well-crafted: Quality bonus to all items you create Essence of the tunnels: Can count unworked stone as part of your dungeon, increasing mana storage Hoplites: Slimes gain two levels of well-armed, and always start with gear Staves: Can conjure staves, allowing their holder to cast your spells Mana slimes: Increase slimes' mana regeneration and allow you to absorb their mana Goo Grimoire: Slimes always begin with at least one spell Willing hybrids: Slimes keep more of their intelligence when fused into a weapon Rune Enchanting: Enchantment increases the effect of inscribed runes
The choices were staggering. Where I had been presented with merely six to choose from, this gave me a full dozen. and seeing as "more options" wasn't an option, I chose what would help with my current plans.
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Well-crafted: Quality bonus to all items you create
I gave my surviving sanguine slime that diamond sword, then told it to wrap around the blade.
The slime shook it's core no.
Taken aback, I offered a dark deal only to be rejected. Anger beginning to rise, I wove together a command. spelled out in no uncertain terms how little it's life meant, and how it's home was on the blade, and how it will follow my orders, slime thoughts be damned
Looking more defeated than it's big cousin, the slime obeyed.
I looked at the blade, and etched a rune into the thin edge. The diamond chipped away, re-absorbed by the sanguine slime for safekeeping, and in it's place left magic of thirst. Another rune joined near the tip, one of range, and left me with just enough mana for the big finish.
"Focused enchantment." I ordered.
The sword and slime began to melt together, becoming longer. Wider. More integrated. Where dark red slime engulfed sharp cyan stone, I saw oddly pretty purple material that I wasn't sure how to identify.
A window of the same hue emerged, looking like a cross between an item's statline and my own status window.
Focus enchanting: Diamond Longsword + sanguine slime Damage Speed Durability Range Lifedrain Self-repair Magic Darkness 2d8 16 444/600 Melee 0 0/hour None None 0 +1 0 +1 0 +1 0 +1 0 +1 0 +1 0 +1 0 +1
Rolls: D, D, D, C, C, B, B, S.
Skill bonus: B, A, A
This is where the real toolbox opened up. "Focused enchanting" was an understatement, and made the mana cost of over twice a regular enchant well worth it. The base skill granted me around 8 slots for these abstract rolls, and my own enchanting skill bumped that up 3 more. And while it might have been the excess media, I was an absolute sucker for S-rank anything. the +1 beside each number was odd, but I figured it was my new perk and left it alone.
The mid-tier stats were left to bolster self-repair speed and the durability to keep up with said speed, more important numbers left elsewhere. Even with bad material I saw a respectable rise, and I could only expect better with good material. The B's stung the core stats- damage, range, and speed. Weapons were meant to inflict damage and damage per second, and this new project was no exception. Magic and darkness went together like fries and gravy. They got my A-ranks. While magic climbed in moon phases from new -> waning -> crescent -> waxing, darkness took it's own path upwards. Shaded, Creeping, Climbing, and finally Tenebrous. Temptation spiked to see how high I could raise it, but the S from lifedrain would not budge.
D: 25%. C: 60%. B: 75%. A: 100%. S: 120%
Diamond swordstaff Damage Speed Durability Range Lifedrain Self-repair Magic Darkness 2d8 16 444/600 Melee 0 0/hour None None B +1 C +1 C +1 B +1 S +1 B +1 A +1 A +1 3d10 25 838/1000 Long 2d6 10/hour Waxing Tenebrous
My loyal earth slime, going from looking scared to scavenging for grounded nutrients, received a ping. Within minutes, it received a customized blade and instructions to where to use it. The slime took off with purpose, Diamond swordstaff gripped in it's side like a charging knight
My status window:
Scarlet Brimstone, Blood crucible. Core Attributes Skills Actions Life force 55 / 90 Command 5/10 Rune analysis 100 mana Focused infusion 80 mana Mana 4 / 200 Observation 5/10 Infuse equipment 33 mana Spawn Monster 20 mana Mana gain 55 / Hour Enchantment 2+1/10 Conjure block 5-10 mana Break block 1-5 mana Mana wages 20 / Hour Inscription 3/10 Corrosive shot 3 mana Promote monster general EXP 89 / 91 Patience 3/10 Cantrips (1 mana) Runes 1/8 Level 6 / 9 Selection 3/10 Place block Drain blood Efficiency rune x0 40 mana Perk points 1 Patronage 2/10 Poison Spray Tremor Stomp Thirst rune x2 20 mana Dark deal Range rune x2 10 mana Summon Monsters Conjure Blocks Spawn: Imp (30), Zombie (20), Dark slime (10) Stone brick (2), Cobweb (5), mossy cobblestone (10) Monsters: Dark slime x2, earth slime, imp x4 Inventory: empty Perks: Well-armed (monster), Blackening magic (zombie), Arcane tutor (magic), Well-crafted (itemcraft) Expand Status Window by trial and error Enemies: Ferrous Hill