“Quick panther check.” Sean said, peering around the outhouse of gastrointestinal nightmares to check the other side. “I don’t see any nearby. You?”
"Nope." Gel response came immediately, the slime seeming to have been thinking the same thing as he was. Then, after a moment Gel asked. "Wait, why specifically panthers? I thought we were looking out for scorpions."
"We're not." Sean admitted. "I meant monsters. It's just a joke from a really good--"
Sean realized that if he finished that sentence, he would probably have to explain both the reference and then the entire plot of the rather phenomenal series it came from. Seeing as they had other plans for the next hour or so, he decided to just table thecomment for now.
"I meant monsters." Sean amended quickly. "Do you see any of those?"
“Nope!” Gel repeated brightly. “Never saw anyone chasing us, either.”
“Maybe they’re waiting till morning.” Sean guessed. He hadn’t really expected a chase, not after seeing how many other skeletons Bancroft had just laying around. Best to be safe and check, though. Just in case.
Gel made a noncommittal sound, before adding with just the slightest tone of bitterness. “Or maybe Bancroft just doesn’t care. We’re the ‘failures’, remember? I doubt he’s even realized we’re missing.”
“Bet he’s realized your cousin is missing though.” Sean responded, trying to lighten the mood back up. “She ate like, at least half of that army on her way out.”
Not to mention his whole house probably stinks now that we took the air filter out. Wonder what it costs to replace something like that. Can’t exactly pick a new ‘giant slime purifier’ off the rack at Gnome Depot. The thought amused him, but Sean kept that comment to himself as he didn’t want to accidentally offend Gel by calling his fellow slime an air filter. Then again, maybe you can? I wonder what the shops are like here.
Unaware of Sean’s mental veer-off from the conversation, Gel bubbled happily as the slime laughed.
“Haha! She sure did, I’ll never forget the sight of it, either.” The slime’s voice sounded almost wistful. “We’re lucky she came after us instead of going the other way, too.”
“Lucky?” Sean may have planned that very thing, but he wouldn’t exactly call being chased by a slim-nami of destruction ‘lucky’.
“Now there’ll be plenty left for us to eat when we make our triumphant return!” Gel said, the thought immediately bringing the slime’s normal cheer back. “We won’t miss a bite!”
“Is that why you were cheering the whole way out?” Sean asked, stepping over to the outhouse’s entrance once more. Opening the door he found the sights inside hadn’t gotten any better in the five or so minutes he had left it, but at least he still didn’t have to smell what this place was cooking.
“Well, that and getting to see my cousin go full tidal wave. That was pretty awesome. If I ever find an ability that lets me do that, I’m picking it immediately.” Gel warned.
“Works for me.” Sean said, entering the cramped space and shutting the door behind him. “I reserve the right to surf you to victory, if you do.”
“Deal.” Gel said immediately. “What’s surfing?”
“It’s when you ride on top of a wave, so in that scenario I would be surfing on top as your wave of inevitable death consumes all of our enemies.” Sean explained, while looking around for a good place to sit.
Unfortunately, there was no chance of him managing that without coating himself in filth he did not want any part. The very idea was laughable. So, Sean just remained standing and turned to face the door they had entered from. It was, in his humble opinion, the least ‘marked’ region of the room. Which was something.
“I… I may have a new life goal. That sounds amazing.” Gel almost sounded like he was choked up at the very idea of such a future. “Speaking of amazing, have you checked your evolution options out yet?”
“Options?” Sean hadn’t even considered the potential that such a choice might come with options. “We get options?”
“Oh-hoho-yeah, we do!” Gel’s was practically cackling with excitement at this point. “You have to check them out. Go on. I’ll wait.”
Then, as if the slime couldn’t actually wait, he added. “We are going to be amazing!”
Kinda figured it would just be the one. Sean thought, with mild surprise. He couldn’t help but wonder, though. What’s this world consider the ‘natural evolution’ of a skeleton, anyway? A zombie? That’d be kind of neat if it kept going like that. End up as some kind of Zombie Lord, thwarting evil all over the place with my trusty heretics.
Sean considered that amusing and strangely compelling idea for the briefest of moments, then summarily discarded it. Nope. Definitely can’t go with zombie. Not if I’ve got other options. Guarantee the first thing Gel would do if I got my flesh back would be to just eat it all. Again. Although… maybe that would bring our bond up to 200%?
Shaking his head both at his friend and the fact that he was so cavalier with being potentially eaten again, Sean pulled up his waiting prompts. Despite his inner dialogue and their less-than-ideal surroundings, Sean found he couldn’t help but feel excitement well up.
How many people got to freaking evolve firsthand?
Skipping past the evolution message from before, Sean found another swirling, multi-colored prompt awaited him. As before, this one was also accompanied by music. The tune was different, though. Instead of blaring trumpets it sounded… dark. Like some kind of celebratory dirge, or maybe the funeral procession orchestra for some great king. Sean even thought he heard a raven caw somewhere in the background.
Reading the prompt, it wasn’t hard to imagine why.
Congratulations, Acolyte of Death! Upon reaching level 5, you have earned the right to evolve into your next form! As a sentient creature, you are unique amongst your undead brethren in that you have the right to choose which of the following unlocked second-tier evolutions you would like to become:
* Skeletal Warrior
* Skeletal Berserker
* Burning Skeleton
* Bonehammer
* Dry Bones
* Slime Warrior*
Sean felt his jaw drop open in shock. Not only could he actually evolve – right here, and right now – but he had six different options! All of which were ‘second-tier’ which, given the fact that he was only level 5 right now, meant he would almost certainly be able to do this again! This was awesome! He could already hear himself saying: “This isn’t even my final form!”
His mind raced ahead, wondering just how far evolution might be able to take him in this new world. Given just how many different myths there were of the undead in his old one, there might literally be no limit to his potential here! Maybe he would be able to turn into some kind of spell-casting eldritch knight, or maybe even a lich! Those things were practically unkillable in fantasy settings.
Suddenly feeling a lot better about his start as a mere skeleton, Sean reigned in his imagination and refocused back on the prompt. Again, he was blown away by all of the options he had! Warrior, berserker, burning skeleton -- and whatever the hell a ‘Bonehammer’ was…
Mentally scanning down the list a second time, Sean fully intended to settle in and focus on each one in turn for more information. When he got to the last one however, he paused. This ‘Slime Warrior’ option was the only one that had an asterisk next to it. Which naturally implied there was something special about it. Something he should probably know first before picking anything.
Focusing in on the asterisk, Sean got yet another shock.
*As the first step in a symbiotic evolution, Slime Warrior requires two creatures to select it as their choice before the process can begin.
A symbiotic evolution? Sean’s shock quickly gave way to excitement, if this was the sort of option their bond had opened up – then the pair of them might really be able to bring the carnage! If they played their cards right, they might even become venomous!
“Gel, do you have the--” Sean began, but the slime gleefully interrupted him before he could even finish the question.
“The symbiotic evolution? The one literally named after my kind? Yes, Sean. Yes, I absolutely do. And I vote we pick that one, right now. No need to deliberate, the others can’t possibly be anywhere near as good.”
Sean had to admit, Gel was probably right here. Even his own feelings were leaning towards the last option, but the rational part of him couldn’t justify making such a choice without knowing all the cards he had on the table.
"I hear you, but just… just give me a second or two to look the rest over." Sean said. "This ‘Bonehammer’ one sounds pretty strong, and ‘Dry Bones’ sounds like the perfect choice if we were going to try and make it through that desert later."
The name ‘Dry Bones’ also tugged at Sean’s memory for some reason, and ‘Burning Skeleton’ also felt familiar. When he couldn’t figure out why though, he just let the matter drop. Maybe the prompts would have more info for him.
"Fine." Gel grumbled in his mind. "But just so you know, I’ve already made my decision. We can also only choose our evolution once, so it'd be an awfully rude move on your part to pick something else."
"What? Seriously, man?” Sean couldn’t say he was surprised at that, given how quickly Gel seemed to respond to… well, anything. But still, this decision felt fairly important. “We only get one shot at this, and you've already picked?"
"Of course I have." Gel said matter-of-factly, then in a more conciliatory tone the slime added. "Look, it's not like I didn’t think about it. But it’s only our first evolution, and we've already got a rare option! How many skeletons do you think are running around out there with slimes in their chest, huh? We’d be stupid not to pick it, I say."
"Wait, so you’re sure then? We get more?” Sean asked quickly. “Just how many more of these are we going to get? And what do you mean by it being 'rare'?"
"Oh, yeah. We’ll get loads more, I’m sure of it. All we have to do is survive and level up.” Gel asserted, then explained his reasoning. “Take my ‘morphic’ trait, for example, it lets me evolve twice as fast.”
“Sounds pretty handy.”
“Just one of the many benefits of being a slime!” Gel claimed, proudly.
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“Does it have a limit?” Sean could easily understand how polymorphic slimes might adapt to their environments more readily than other creatures, but if there was a ceiling to how many evolutions you could have – and you had to do epic things to get epic options – then evolving quickly may not always be a good thing. “Like, can you only evolve so many times?”
Gel paused, considering the question. After a moment, he said. “I don’t… think… so? I’ve never heard of a limit, anyway.”
“Well if all we have to do is survive, then that’s too easy.” Sean asserted confidently. “We can figure that part out later, and since we’re already crushing the survival part, let’s assume we keep doing that. Now. How do we get more options, and why is ‘Slime Warrior’ rare? Is it just because of what you said? Not many slime-and-skeleton duos roaming around out there?”
“Nope!” Gel asserted, just as confidently. “You and I are one-of-kind!”
Sean doubted that, but he gestured with his hand for the slime to continue. “And more options? How do we get those?”
If there was a knack to this evolution thing, now felt like the time to learn it. He may only be able to pick one, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want them all.
“As I understand it, we get more options based on what we do before hitting that milestone.” Gel explained. “I don’t actually have a lot of information on the specifics, so I can’t tell you what the requirements are for certain tiers, though I’m sure there’s someone out there we can eat who knows.”
Sean felt like they could just barter or trade for that information, assuming the person in question didn’t mind trading with a slime-infused skeleton or whatever he would end up looking like if he picked that option, but he didn’t argue the point.
“What I do know however, is something one of the servants Bancroft fed me learned. They hung outside one of his lessons once, before he came out here, and overheard a lecture about how this was one of the primary issues with getting more powerful types of undead. Most necromancers use the basic, low-level types like you or those knuckleheads back there as fodder. Thanks to that, their minions don’t get to do a whole lot before they die, and the ones that do survive usually only get one or two of the common choices." Gel explained. “I’m guessing that’s why that room we were in was basically all warrior-types. All they probably ever did was fight with whatever weapons he tossed at them.”
"So, you’re saying we could just wait around, do more stuff, and then see if we get better options later?" Even though it was his own, Sean didn’t particularly care for that idea.
Throughout their little trek through the woods, Sean had gotten the distinct feeling that they were already closer to the bottom of the food chain than he was comfortable with. It had been orb-opening, and in more than one way. Not only was most of the flora around here larger than he was used to, but that strangle-vine had looked nasty. Even if it had been easy enough to dodge around, the vibe it had given off had been a clear indicator of what would happen to them if one had managed to grab his legs.
Sure, they had taken down the scorpion easily enough. But that was just one scorpion. There was never just one scorpion, at least in his experience back on earth. They needed to get stronger, and this evolution was clearly their best option to do that.
But if we can hold out for a better one…
Unfortunately for whatever they might have earned, it looked like Gel was of the same mind as he was here.
"Ehh… I don’t know. We got lucky enough earning this one, which I’ll bet a whole, fresh human corpse was just because of our bond. I can’t think of any more we could unlock out here that would be better, and in case you didn't hear me earlier, I already picked."
“Yeah, yeah. I heard you.” Sean said, deciding not to waste any more time on the subject. The slime was right, no point holding out for a better dessert later when you were already at the buffet. Better to just be grateful and eat. “What makes this 'Slime Warrior' thing so strong anyway? Must be good for you to just jump on it like that.”
"Oh no, I'm not spoiling it. Just check it out. I’ll wait."
With a mental shrug, Sean navigated away from the tantalizing ‘Bonehammer’ option and did just that. Focusing on the ‘Slime Warrior’ option brought up a new prompt, this one bordered by red and black ropes twisted over one another.
Evolution: Slime Warrior
Rarity: Rare
Description: The chaotic melding of a slime to a skeletal frame produces a warrior capable of creating ever-shifting weaponry to suit whatever battlefield it finds itself upon. Slime warriors are insatiable hunters, pairing the tireless tracking capabilities of the undead with the endless hunger all gelatinous monsters are known for. While many meet an early and violent end due to their appetite, slime warriors nevertheless evolve more rapidly than most of their undead counterparts.
Special Traits: Symbiotic Structure, Morphic
The profound silence in the outhouse after he read the new information must have been noticeable, because it wasn't long before Sean heard Gel's voice in his mind.
"Right? Right?! “Insatiable hunters”! Sean, we are going to be able to eat literally everything we could ever want! Everything we come across! It's going to be so great, I can’t wait. Look, I'm trembling just thinking about it."
Amusingly enough, the slime wasn’t kidding. Sean could actually feel Gel trembling with excitement in his rib cage. He couldn’t blame his friend either, given how utterly fantastic this evolution sounded. ‘Ever-shifting weaponry’? How unbelievably fucking cool was that? Sean could already picture himself wielding a new weapon with each swing, confusing and overcoming their enemies’ defenses as he rained down blow after blow.
“It sounds top shelf.” Sean agreed, starting to feel like he didn’t even need to look at the other options – though he was still going to, of course. Before he did that though, he was curious about the traits listed at the bottom of the prompt. One of them was the one Gel had mentioned earlier, and Sean had honestly just forgotten he could check the slime’s character sheet for more information.
Now that it was right in front of him however, Sean brought up the description for both traits.
Symbiotic Structure: Creatures with this trait may share and exchange their biological mass with one another. Note: This effect may not be used to heal wounds.
Morphic: Creatures with this trait have an innately high ability to adapt to their surroundings, evolving twice fast as other creatures.
Holy hell in a handbasket. Sean thought, his mind immediately rushing through the possibilities that sharing mass opened up for them giving his friend’s prodigious appetite. We could be huge!
Not being able to share mass to heal each other was a pity, but that was a drawback he could live with. Especially given the fact that Gel grew in mass at least a little bit every single time the slime ate one of their downed foes, ‘symbiotic structure’ might let him literally and figuratively tower over their enemies. He was going to love his new form so hard.
Sean couldn’t help it, he began to laugh. The sudden vision of himself as a 20 foot tall giant skeleton rampaging across Bancroft’s estate, trampling antlions, giant crabs, and evil underlings underfoot without a care in the world was just too sweet a change from their current situation. It was ridiculous to imagine, and even more so because he now had a chance at making it come true.
Morphic was fantastic too, and if they both had the trait then that meant Sean wouldn’t have to worry about falling behind in the semi-literal evolutionary arms race. The trait’s description didn’t explicitly mention a limit on how many times they could do it, either. Just that he would evolve ‘twice as fast’. Which he was starting to feel would almost never be a bad thing.
Without even looking at the rest of what was on his plate, Sean knew this would be the option for him. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to poke around the rest of the buffet, though. Just in case perusing the other tantalizing offers could give him any useful information about undead he might encounter in the future.
Unfortunately, a quick skim through the options didn’t reveal much. Skeletal Warrior and Skeletal Berserker were basically exactly what they sounded like. Warrior didn’t offer him any new traits, though Berserker was an ‘uncommon’ rarity choice and let his attacks do a little more damage the lower his health got.
Positives and negatives there. Sean thought, reading over the ‘Skeletal Berserker’. But I’d rather not focus my build around staying at low health.
Based on the relative lack of other incentives, Sean assumed most of the benefits of those two options would come in the form of attribute upgrades, or maybe unlocking combat-related nodes. He already had a good idea of what he had done to unlock those two, and reading the third option it wasn’t hard to hazard a guess there, either. At least the description of it sounded cool.
Evolution: Burning Skeleton
Rarity: Uncommon
Description: Marked by an all-consuming desire to see the living set aflame, burning skeletons are one of the pyromaniacs of the undead world. Due to this, their bones are unnaturally resistant to flame and fire magic. Burning skeletons are also capable of using the eternally-burning flames kindled inside their chest to ignite their hands, feet, and other weapons with dark fire.
Special Traits: Undying Flame
This has to be because I burned down the stables. Sean figured, wondering if whatever system that was handing out these evolutions now thought he was some kind of arsonist. Glad I have other options. Doubt Gel would be able to hang out in my chest if it was on fire all the time.
Guessing that the ‘Undying Flame’ trait was responsible for the whole ‘eternally-burning-flame' part, Sean moved on to his fourth option. Like the last two, ‘Bonehammer’ also came with an interesting trait.
Evolution: Bonehammer
Rarity: Uncommon
Description: Blunt instruments in every sense of the word, these skeletons are distinguished by massive, thick protrusions of heavily-plated bone where their cousins normally have hands. Bonehammers see all living creatures, enemies, and potential problems as nails which they alone are uniquely capable of hammering into the ground. These undead are particularly noted for their habit of smashing both their hammer-hands together after a kill, a sound which attracts other undead to come feast with them.
Special Traits: Bonehander
Its name is ‘Bonehammer’, and its trait is… ‘Bonehander’? Sean wondered, focusing on the trait to bring up further information. Who the hell is coming up with this stuff? Why would anyone name a trait ‘Bonehander’?
Bonehander: Creatures with this trait may transform their hands into hammers made out of pure bone.
Ask a stupid question. Sean thought, half-amused at the idea. At least it’s not a permanent trait. That could get awkward real fast.
He had to admit, overall, this one wasn’t a bad option. At the very least, it would mean he was never without a weapon again. Still, Bonehammer wasn’t the showstopper they needed right now. A solid upgrade, but not one he would choose given the other options available. Dry Bones on the other hand, sounded insane.
Evolution: Dry Bones
Rarity: Uncommon
Description: Commonly encountered after large-scale battles in desert regions, these skeletons are known for hiding along well-traveled paths and leaving nothing but the desiccated bones of their victims behind. Dry Bones are thinner and possess a longer reach than most varieties of skeleton, a characteristic designed to take advantage of their unique ability to drain the liquids out of their prey via touch. Despite this, they are often no less durable than their more brutish cousins.
Special Traits: Desiccation
Desiccation: Creatures with this trait may attempt to drain all liquid (blood, water, etc.) from other creatures they touch to sustain their own needs.
Good gods. There are vampire skeletons now? Sean had no problem mentally picturing someone being desiccated thanks to all the CGI he had seen in movies, particularly ‘A Mummy’ with Brenden Brazer, and the results were never pretty. If it were just me, this one might be worth taking.
Unfortunately, Sean had a feeling Gel would complain rather loudly if all of the slime’s meals were suddenly bereft of all liquid.
He'd probably say that would take all the flavor out. Sean thought, amused at the idea.
There was no chance he would pick this one with Gel around, though. He didn’t know how that trait worked, but there were decent odds that he might accidentally target Gel and Sean did not want a ‘friendly fire’ sort of situation if he could avoid it.
Which really only left him with one last thing he wanted to do before he made his choice. Keeping the grin out of his mental tone, Sean decided to mess with the impulsive slime a bit.
“Gel?” Sean asked innocently . “What happens if I accidentally chose something besides the symbiotic evolution?”
“What?!” Gel blurted out, suddenly going still inside his chest. “Sean, you didn’t! You wouldn’t! I’m going to be stuck until we find another skeleton to evolve with me if you did! Where are we–”
“Woah, woah there.” Sean said, raising his one good hand up as if to pacify the slime, before realizing that motion didn’t do much when you were talking to someone inside your ribs. “Relax, I was just kidding.”
“Oh.” Gel was silent for a second. “Ohh! Okay, phew. I thought you–”
“Nah, I wouldn’t do that to you.” Sean said, cutting his friend off as he navigated back to the evolution decision prompt. “If we’re going to do this thing together, then we’re going to do it right… and that means going all the way. Together.”
Sean selected the “Slime Warrior” evolution, and mentally selected it.
The second he did, Sean felt his consciousness begin to fuzz like someone had just scrambled all the channels in his mind. Out of that confusion, a new prompt appeared in the center of his vision. Unlike the rest he had seen, this one was not transparent. It was an opaque, swirling mix of red and black, and it slowly grew until it swallowed his entire vision. When the words rushed over him, each letter the size of a growing boulder, Sean felt his awareness crumple into the background as darkness took him.
Criteria met. 'Slime Warrior' has been chosen by both creatures.
Evolution commencing.