Without missing a beat, Sean pulled up his manasphere map and spent his remaining point. Based off of what he had experienced previously, and how far the scorpion was, there should be enough time for it to take effect.
“Gel, we’ve got incoming. Big scorpion, just over the top of this dune. Headed in hot.” Sean said. He was about to dash off to a less steeply-inclined slope, but then he remembered all of the gear they were still carrying.
“Ohh, it’s going to be hot alright.” Gel with his usual glee as the slime manifested his giant, clear battle-axe. Did that get… bigger? “Hot all over our fire, when we roast this bug into steak. Are bugsteaks a thing? If not, they should be. I vote we turn this thing into some.”
“I’m down.” Sean said as he removed their non-essential gear as quickly and carefully as he could manage. He would prefer not to have any of their potions explode on them. Especially after witnessing what a single one could accomplish. “Assuming there’s enough meat to make it. Could do jerky.”
“You mean the meat that takes forever to dry?” Gel asked. “Stephani used to spend a day or more making that to sell as trail rations.”
“We could try it if we ever get the time, you might like it.” Sean hurriedly stepped away from their gear and positioned himself just below the dune.
“Though, jerky usually has salt.” Sean added, raising his shield right before the scorpion crested the dune.
“What?! That is– woah. Hey there, tall, dark, and tasty. Mind if we eat you?”
Just as Gel began engaging in witty banter with the massive scorpion who couldn’t hear him, solely for the slime’s own amusement Sean was sure, the node he had picked earlier took effect. One he hadn’t unlocked until reaching Slime Warrior.
Thicker Bones
Description: Fortifies the durability and density of your skeletal structure, increasing weight and natural resistance
Effect: Toughness attribute increased by 2.
Mana Aspect: Death
A liquid surge of pure-white bone poured out of every square inch of his body, wrapping itself around his existing frame and hardening in the scant few seconds they had left. Sand, muck, and other unidentifiable debris that Gel hadn’t gotten to was all shed from his body and flung to the desert floor. More gaps in his frame were filled in, his legs, arms, hands, and feet grew more defined, and even the hardened plates on his shoulders had widened. Sean wasn’t entirely sure how he felt like that – was he going to look like a World of Storkcraft character? - but hey, at least he was another inch or two taller, to boot.
Originally, Sean had been heavily considering the ‘Ooze Armor’ route. But he didn’t have the mana reserves to be casting that without food on hand - something they couldn’t count on in the desert. Then he had been considering upping his adaptation to increase his mana regen, but a quick conversation with Gel on their way over here had shot that idea down. The blasted attribute only increased his mana regen by another half point every six hours. Maybe that wasn’t a problem for mages with a bunch of points already in the skill and time to burn, but if Sean had anything to burn - it wasn’t time.
The final selling point had been the sheer size of the predatory arachnid coming towards them. Unlike the forest scorpions, his pulse sense was mapping out veins that made this one out to be the size of a small car! Sean had yet to test his defenses against something that big, despite his recent advancement. He might very well need every point of toughness he could get. Losing control during battle because he, well, lost control like he usually did when he got hurt just wasn’t acceptable anymore.
Not like I get much of a choice in the matter though. Sean thought, before bringing his head back into the game just as the sand scorpion got within striking distance. Its whiplike tail lashed down at them, wide as a piston, right as it leapt forward and both chitinous claws came in from either side.
Instead of trying to fend off three attacks at once, Sean mimicked his opponent and leapt backwards. Unfortunately, the pair didn’t coordinate their movements. Gel’s battle-axe flashed out with his right arm just as Sean went backwards, forcing him to awkwardly stop early and leaving them dangerously off-balance. The scorpion’s tail missed, Gel intercepted its left claw, and the right came down on Sean’s left arm – completely bypassing his shield.
Not the other arm! Sean thought in disbelief as a crushing force came down on his elbow. Come on!
You have been crushed by a Desert Scorpion’s claw for 0 damage (0 total, 8 base minus 8 due to toughness).
Oh. Well, how ‘bout that.
Sean discarded his desire to dodge and wrapped his own left hand around the scorpion’s claw. Then he dug his feet into the sand for purchase and then yanked down on the joint just after the claw with all his newly increased might. It was the first time Sean had really tried to use all of his strength, and the results were impressive. Even with its many legs, the massive desert scorpion was the one pulled down and off balance this time. Chitinous rear legs scrambled at nothing but air as the rear of the creature lifted partially up.
“Hack off its face!” Sean told Gel. “Its claws can’t penetrate! We don’t have to worry about– ”
“Tail!” Gel shouted back, interrupting him.
A viciously curved stinger wide as a dinner plate blurred down at them for a second time, only now they were stuck in place. Sean took the blow right on his chest.
You have been struck by a Desert Scorpion’s tail for 0 damage (0 total, 10 base minus 10 due to toughness). All negative additional effects have been negated due to its inability to pierce your body.
Sean’s clattering, nearly soundless laughter was drowned out as Gel’s own booming laugh filled the sands. The fight was quick and brutal after that, arachnid cries of surprise and pain going unanswered and then silent as Gel’s battle-axe crunched its carapace to bits.
You have defeated a Desert Scorpion! You have gained one experience point.
Sean rolled his orbs at the golden prompt. He had been looking forward to more exp, but apparently the “this isn’t a challenge” rule applied to fights you literally couldn’t be harmed in.
Silly universe putting the slapdown on power-leveling. Sean thought, though he wasn’t really upset about it. It did imply that if he kept raising his toughness he might have to fight some truly ridiculous foes to level up, though. Could see that backfiring… but in a good way. Who doesn’t want to star in a kaiju montage?
As they dug in, Sean learned that scorpion meat was apparently rather tasty. Which was kind of like describing your meal to a starving man, considering that he couldn’t taste anything… but the slime meant well. More information would help him cook more food. He needed to know what the real differences were though, seeing as Gel described nearly all food as ‘tasty’. So, Sean asked.
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“Hmm… The flavor of it is like… have you ever had really good dust? Like, the kind with all sorts of other bits that have mixed in over time so it eventually forms this tasty little ball of stale-but-filling goodness?” Gel asked as Sean worked his way through carving and subsequently “eating” his first-ever giant scorpion. “Not the ones with mites in them, though those are good, too.”
“You know I haven’t.” Sean said dryly as he hacked one of the creature’s claws off at the base using a hatchet they had taken from the farm. “Humans don’t eat dust.”
“I don’t actually, I’m still waiting on your memories to sink in enough for me to watch them.” Gel commented idly. “Hey-hey! Don’t throw that away, there could be food in there.”
“I’m not tossing it, I’m just making a pile calm down.” Sean said to mollify his friend as they moved on. “You were saying about the taste?”
“Oh, yes. Well, if you haven’t had good dust then the closest I can compare it to is probably a mix of that deer, the ankle of a strong man, and a shot of venom for extra kick. At least, I’m assuming there’s venom in here somewhere. Hasn’t been any yet.”
“Well I think we’re about out of room to carry any more, so unless you have a better idea I say we just eat what we can and use some for bait later.” That had been part of Sean’s idea behind carrying the pig with them in the first place. Nothing like the scent of a fresh kill to bring the scavengers out. “Boar or scorpion, it probably doesn’t matter too much.”
“Don’t joke like that, of course it matters!” Gel said, offended. “The two smell nothing alike. The boar’s smell is far more pronounced. Keep that one as the bait, and give me a second… I want to try something.”
“Try what?” Sean asked, as he watched his right arm reach out towards the scorpion’s now-severed tail they had left just off to the side.
His follow-up question about the smell of the two meats died in his mind as he watched his right arm shoot out like a whip and latch onto the tail’s stinger. Gel’s crystal-clear liquid extended out a dozen or more feet like a piece of string cheese, and when his still-broken hand grasped the stinger more of the slime’s body oozed out onto it. It hardened in an instant, and then Sean’s right arm shot back into place – bringing the stinger and tail along with it.
“Uh, Gel?” Sean asked. “What was that? We’ve got an extendo-arm now?”
“Can you yank off this stinger for me?” Gel asked eagerly, completely ignoring his question. “I want to see if this works.”
“Sure, so long as you tell me what all that was.” Sean grabbed the tail and whatever adhesion Gel had to the stinger, it hardly moved at all. Working in tandem, the pair easily tore it off.
“Slime whip!” Gel announced proudly. “I picked it up when we got all those delicious levels.”
“Sounds like a pretty epic pick.” Sean said, impressed. “How often can you do it? And what’s with the sticking to stuff, is that part of it?”
“Just check my status.” Gel said, fiddling with the stinger. “It’s got all the answers about how awesome I’ve become.”
After a quick glance at their surroundings and a check of his pulse sense, Sean decided to do just that. With a mental flex, he called up Gel’s character sheet for the first time in what felt like so long.
Name: Gel
Race: Sentient Slime Arsenal
Level: 8
Health: 9/9
Mana: 9/9
Attributes: Physical (2), Mental (8), Recovery (8)
Abilities:
* Passive
* Flesh Bonding
* Mental Link
* Advancements
* Improved Cytoskeleton
* Flowing Structure
* Active
* Mimicry
* Absorb (Flesh)
* Anchor
* Slime Arsenal
* Knowledge Swap
* Slime Whip
Traits: Slime, Parasite(Physical), Flesh-Bound
Titles: I Am Who I Am, Family Meal, Helping Hand, Minion Emancipator, Profane Luck
Damn, he’s grown a bunch. Sean thought as he marveled at how far his companion had come. Now the real question is… what do all of these do?
Focusing in on Gel’s abilities and leaving the titles for another time, Sean pulled up more information on the first one. He had seen the description for ‘Flesh Bonding’ before, but a twinge of sudden intuition had him curious.
Flesh Bonding: Creates a bond by consuming the flesh of a sentient creature. Grants the ability to share gained experience, mana, and health with it as if both were one entity, commensurate to the total flesh consumed. Grants both entities the ‘mental link’ ability. Additional bond effects granted thus far:
* Access to the ‘Morphic’ trait.
* Access to the ‘Slime Warrior’ evolution.
* Access to the ‘Knowledge Swap’ ability and a mana cost reduction to the ‘Anchor’ ability.
That one just keeps getting more and more useful. Sean thought, skipping over ‘mental link’ as he moved down the list to Gel’s ‘advancements’.
Improved Cytoskeleton
Description: Reinforces the structural filaments of an ooze’s body to allow exertions
Effect: Might attribute increased by 1.
Mana Aspect: Chaos, Nature
Flowing Structure
Description: Grows a network of elastic proteins inside the ooze capable of latching themselves together at-will in order to exert further pressure
Effect: Might attribute increased by 2.
Mana Aspect: Chaos, Nature
So, he’s essentially becoming less of a formless slime and more of a malleable, living fluid. Badass. Those two advancements made even more sense to him when Sean pulled up the ‘Anchor’ and ‘Slime Arsenal’ abilities. He skipped over Mimicry, as that one’s effects were more than obvious by now.
Anchor
Description: Gain the ‘Anchor’ ability
Effect: Anchor allows the user to selectively harden parts of their mass as an adhesive when applied to objects not of their own mass. Mana and mass expenditure required varies based on intent. Adhesion strength is equivalent to the user’s ego. Bonus effect: You may use your bonded companion as an anchor point for no mana expenditure, mass expended remains unchanged.
Mana Aspect: Order, Nature
Slime Arsenal
Description: Gain the ‘Slime Arsenal’ ability.
Effect: Allows the user to choose up to two weapons to transform part of their mass into. Damage is based on weapon type as well as user’s evolution tier and adaptation.
Weapons chosen: Battle-axe, dagger.
Mana Aspect: Chaos
Sean felt like a universe of possibilities had just been opened up as he read, and it was only his desire to get the full picture before he started barraging the slime with questions that Sean pulled up the final two abilities. As he skimmed through the next two prompts of information, the slime warrior felt like his orbs were going to pop out of his skull.
Knowledge Swap
Description: Gain the ‘Knowledge Swap’ ability.
Effect: Allows the user to swap abilities with their bonded companions. Abilities must be swapped on a 1-to-1 basis. Incompatible abilities will be converted to compatible ones.
Mana Aspect: Astral
Slime Whip
Description: Gain the ‘Slime Whip’ ability.
Effect: Allows the user to transform part of their mass into an extendable whip. Whip properties (length, durability, etc.) are based on mana and mass expended.
Mana Aspect: Chaos
“Gel, I have so many questions.” Sean said, when he finished reading the last two abilities. “And ideas. About the same of both, really.”
“Can they wait until we try this out?” Gel asked harmlessly, lifting up and waggling Sean’s right hand – which now ended in a massive scorpion stinger whose tip still dripped with green venom. WIth a mental grunt of effort, the slime shot it directly up into the air before retracting it back into place. It must have gone at least twenty feet by Sean’s estimation, maybe more.
“Or while we try this out?” Gel teased, clearly knowing what Sean’s answer would be. “That thing can’t be catching up to us already. We should have some time to experiment.”
As if on cue, the slime warrior’s pulse sense suddenly reported multiple incoming creatures. Another scorpion, a pair of large birds, and a smaller, skittish creature that was cautiously approaching from behind them.
“You know what? Yeah.” Sean agreed, turning to face the nearest of their opponents and placing himself between it and their supplies. If they weren't being actively chased right now, then Gel was right. They did have some time. He raised his bone shield again. “Let’s do that.”