MC POV
Before I start formulating a plan, my opponent he needs a nickname, Jebeleta doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.
"How about shiny. You know because he's metal." (Adam)
I guess that's fine. Also how come the name in my status is -anomaly- but some random slime gets their own name?
"We've been over this, the body your in didn't have a name but your soul did, so system got confused and called you -anomaly-. It will do till you get your own."(Adam)
I know but it's not fair.
"Well you should be happy about it. It's hard to be a badass when you have a crappy name like 'Wilson'."(Adam)
True. Well let's forget that for now and move on to shiny. Its small size must mean its condensed its mass somehow, probably means tougher defences. While its race and level will mean high attack power.
My advantages lie in my ridiculous mass and my defence. But I don't know how my defences will hold up against his attacks as I've never fought such a strong enemy.
That crack must be the mana vein Adam mention so It must have gotten that strong from absorbing the mana somehow. Then for a stupid slimes perspective that vein holds tremendous value. Could that be its weakness? Yeah I think this will work.
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I move towards shiny and spread my body through the surrounding corridors while making sure to remain outside his 50 metre mana sense range.
Now it's time for some magic. Slimes don't normally use magic as they expend their mass to do so. It will regenerate but is still a bad move mid battle, imagine for example that a magic warriors mp was linked to his health and strength he obviously wouldn't cast spells as freely. I haven't used it yet myself, but the memories of the slimes I've absorbed have given me a pretty good idea of how it's supposed to be done.
I start to convert my mass to mana and I feel my body shrink slightly, I then send it into the ground beneath me. My affinity with rock and soil make this type of spell very 'cost effective' to use and the results are immediate as the crevice evidently starts to close, just as I visualised and much to shiny's surprise. As expected he takes the bait. With his mana sense shiny should feel the mana in the earth but as it feels as though it's coming from all around him he has resorted to stabilising the crack before searching for me. Slimes aren't innately intelligent creatures to begin with, so now that it's decided to prevent the crevice from sealing he will likely do so until he's exhausted.
And he doesn't disappoint. Shiny immediately resorts to expanding the crack by creating blade like whips, and spikes from its body to open it further. After a few minutes shiny realises it's not working and tries to use magic of its own to counter me. Metal girder like objects start forming where shiny has injected its mana greatly slowing the cracks closure. While I expend mana and mass closing the crevice, the girders crumple and snap under the pressure only to be repaired my shiny's magic.
During this back and forth I don't notice shiny to be shrinking, which corroborates my condensed mass theory.
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After 4 days shiny finally can't afford to repair the metal girders causing them to completely snap and crumple like paper and the vein to close.
Now I move. From all sides I wriggle forward and enter shiny's sensory range. While I only have 14%of my original mass it's still enough to fully surround shiny. I encroach him from all sides at my fastest speed.
Shiny condenses its body further down to the size of a level 1 slime and extends thin needle like metal to pierce my body
"Reminds me of a certain homunculus" (Adam)
Not the time Andy!
"Fine fine continue your monologue"(Adam)
Thank you. Anyway the attacks actually pierce me. Me! What ridiculous offensive power. I'm happy I wore him down first because if he still had enough mass to use those metal whip blades I'd be diced up. Luckily I did and as such I still have enough mass to endure these needles.
Whilst attacking me Shiny doesn't have enough mass to cover every side any more allowing me to get closer..and closer...aaannnnddd... BAM!!!
Got I'm. One side was wrapped in my body and while he appeared distracted the other sides converged allowing me to enjoy a very hard earned meal.
[[Slime Fiend activated- enemy lv disparity 90. total mass increase 25%. Defence boosted. metal form obtained. Compressed mass skill learned. Physical attack boosted. Blade transformation obtained. Memories obtained.]]
[[level up, level up, level up, level up, level up]]
Ahhh now that's what daddy likes to see. Good time for a break if you ask me. in fact I think I'll use what little mass remains to open that vein back up. The extra mana should help my regeneration....there we go. Now let's examine my gains.
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I decided to use this opportunity to fully assimilate Shiny's memories. Metal should be my last step to becoming 'one with the earth' Because thus far I've devoured slimes who love soil, sand, rock and quarts but non who love metal. While it is undoubtedly a part of the earth.
I'm thinking that Adam chose this dungeon specifically to give me 'one with the earth' from the get go. It's a great one to start with as well, not only do I get survivability in my defence but from my insights those who are one with the earth can swim through stone like water making for a very good fleeing skill.
It's just difficult to think he planned this out when I can hear him sobbing the name 'Laboon' in my head, now that he has just finished the Thriller Bark saga.
Regardless I'm grateful to him. Enough to tolerate his nonsense at least.
"Awe I knew you loved me, haha we are gonna be best friends for life. Unless...you have to leave me behind
Oh god not again...
"He would yell into the skies if his voice could.."
Oh no don't do the line you'll make me cry too..
"because of our selfish promise.."
please dont...
" that Death isn't an apology..."
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
No..
"Because a man once said that they would defiantly be back!!"
Waaahaaahaaaaa Laboon!!!
"Laboon!!"
Laboon!!!
"Laboon!!!!"
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Bordani's PoV
Me and my team were called into the guild master, Jonas's, office by the beast kin receptionist Mono chan. She is really adorable with her fluffy white ears and tail. She's a member of the snow hound tribe and rumour is that she is a powerful Ice Mage. I suppose that it was that deadly but cute combination that got the Orcish blood in me flowing.
I have been pretty lucky in my bloodline, my grandfather was an Orc and I only seemed to inherit the more desirable traits such as their innate strength and *cough* stamina... Whilst still looking above average. The only downside seems to be my attraction to powerful women which has got me in trouble a few times and prevented my advancement from C rank.
"Sorry Mono chan but The others will still be a few minutes, they kind of got held up." (Bordani)
"Oh. That's ok Bord-kun I don't think it's too urgent. But.. Uhm ... H-how are you." (Mono)
Ahhh she's so cute when her cheeks go red like that. Ah! I need to answer! Damn! I need to say something! Quick!
"No. I mean, uh I'm fine, good even. How are you?"(Bordani)
Stupid brain don't ruin this for me.
"I'm well, Though I do need to complete some f rank quests next month to keep my guild license... so uh umn.... When y-you come back do you uhm want to take a quest together maybe.."(Mono)
"Of course. I'd love to!"(Bordani)
Yes brain good reply.
"R-really? Ah! You don't have to if you don't want to, I'm not trying to exploit you or anything I just thought ...that we..." (Mono)
"Nonsense I'd love to spend ti-...help you" (Bordani)
Noooo!! You were doing so well Brain.
"Eh? What were you going to say just then?" (Mono)
Crap. Damn it, I need a distraction.
"Bord-kun we're here! Sorry for the wait but Taron was in the toilet for ages." (Elaine)
"Yeah I got trapped in after someone locked it. Now that I think of it It was just a few minutes after I told Bordani I was looking forward to visiting Mono-chan again." (Taron)
Good timing team! Ah introductions.
"Mono chan these are my team mates. You of course know Taron." (Bordani)
"Hello beautiful it's been a while. Did you miss me." (Taron)
A flirt as usual. At least Mono-chan doesn't seem that interested, that's a relief.
"Yes Mr Taron your file said that you are almost ready to become a B class Fire Mage if I'm not mistaken." (Mono)
"Oh? I didn't expect you to read up on me." (Taron)
"Yes the guild-master said it was your skills that led him to choosing your team for this job." (Mono)
Taron besides his insesant womanising is a capable and devoted Mage with a high affinity for fire. He wears red robes and several ruby ingrained rings that increase the power of flame spells. He is quite attractive with a slight red tint in his eyes from his affinity.
"Well we will get to that when he gets here. Anyway this is Sete. He is the rouge of our group. Excuse him if he doesn't talk too much it's just his nature." (Bordani)
"Hello Mr Sete." (Mono)
Sete covers up in a cloak when in town but when he removes it for battle or infiltration his ears and slightly purple skin show his dark elf heritage, it's probably what gives him his darkness affinity.
"And this is Elaine our archer" (Bordani)
"Hello..."(Mono)
It's unlike mono to be rude. Is it because Elaine is an elf? Surely not, beast men are often quite accepting of other races. For some reason Elaine seems to find it amusing and giggles when she looks between me and Mono.
"Hehehe don't worry Mono-chan
"Oh! I see, sorry for being rude." (Mono)
Hmm? Well I'm a bit confused but as long as their getting along its fine besides the guild-master has also just arrived so we need to act a bit more professionally.
"Good you're all here. I'm sorry to call you on short notice but I really needed a fire Mage and you group were the only ones available." (Guild Master Jonas)
"How can I be of service" (Taron)
Jonas is an old Dwarf. He was assigned to this city by the guild headquarters after requesting a less stressful location to focus on his sculpting. That should give a pretty good idea as to his temperament.
"You see the dungeon here in Matora has been giving off some odd mana readings. We believe that the flow of mana in the mana vein that passes under the dungeon core was destabilised."(Guild Master Jonas)
"Destabilised?" (Bordani)
"Yes. You see Mana veins function similar to rivers. And someone has been opening and closing a damn upstream leading to the dungeon spawning monsters more erratically. We believe it's the old stone quarry north from here. They accidentally mined into the vein about 20 years ago and created a pseudo dungeon. Since then earth slimes have spawned there. It's never affected us though, So we never bothered with it until now."(Guild Master Jonas)
"Earth slimes. So that's why you need Taron. Well it shouldn't be too hard it's only about a week away." (Elaine)
"What do you want us to do there?" (Bordani)
If he wants us to remove the cause I can't accept without more information, I might loose reason a bit in battle but I have to be a responsible leader when it comes to taking quests at least.
"Just to investigate the cause and solve it if possible. It shouldn't be hard for you given that your almost B rank but if for some reason you can't. Just report it back to me and I'll send someone else." (guild-master Jonas)
"Hahahahahaha. Trying to bait us old man? No need we can solve this mess can't we team?" (Bordani)
""Yeah!""
But even if I said that no adventurer would throw their lives away so easily, if it really gets too dangerous.
"I'll see you soon Mono-chan and don't worry nothing can happen. They're only slimes after all." (Bordani)
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"I really don't like the feel of this place." (Elaine)
"How many more times are you going to say that. Nobody likes this place, whatever messed with the mana vein here whipped the entire dungeon. Not even lv1 slimes are around." (Taron)
"Yeah. What's with that. There no experience to be gained from it. Were they in the way somehow?" (Bordani)
"No clue, but it's got to be a real chore to find every last one of them so there had to be a good reason. At least I can reserve my mana for whatever's at the bottom of this place." (Taron)
"Not long now this should be the entrance to the tenth floor. Let's go" (Bordani)
"I guess... But I still have a weird feeling you know?" (Elaine)
"You too? Hmm. Draw your weapons and get in formation." (Bordani)
"Eh? Isn't that being a little too cautious?" (Taron)
"Fine whatever let's just go." (Taron)
I knew it was ominous but for Sete to be like that...whatever's down here is dangerous. Well the quest is to investigate anyway, we can always run if wee need to.
We are going down the steps into the tenth and last floor. This should be the floor that opens to the mana vein. We follow the map Jonas gave us for a few hundred feet. Elaine and Taron appear to be bickering, probably their way of dealing with the stress. They did that on the last few missions as well. Maybe there getting closer?...Agh now I'm thinking about Mono-chan again. Focus we need to-
"Ah!" (Elaine)
"What is it?" (Bordani)
"The mana in the air just changed. It's the mana vein. But for me not to feel it till now means that whatever was stopping the mana from escaping isn't anymore." (Elaine)
Elves are known for their magic sensitivity but as a magic ranger hers is one of the highest in Matora City.
"For it to happen now probably means that whatever or whoever caused this knows we're here." (Taron)
"Not necessarily we could just have good timing" (Bordani)
I joked trying to relieve the tension in the air somewhat. But is seem Sete didn't notice my intentions
"Enemy" (Sete)
"Where?" (Bordani)
"700 metres ahead. Only hear one. Sound like slime" (Sete)
Rogues have amazing senses to be able to differentiate species just by sound
"How quickly?" (Bordani)
"Slow. 0.5 metres a second."(Sete)
"Sounds like a normal slime to me" (Taron)
"Let's go to it then. Maybe we can learn something about what's going on here." (Elaine)
She's right. From the direction Sete has been looking it must be near the mana vein so there is no harm in checking.
"!" (Sete)
"What is it Sete?" (Bordani)
I've never seen him surprised before. What could it be?
"It's coming directly here." (Sete)
"Is that all? Don't scare us like that dude." (Taron)
"Yeah! That sounds good to me! Doesn't it save us the hassle of going towards it?" (Elaine)
"Sete. You have to elaborate for us." (Bordani)
Something's wrong.
"It's coming directly to this spot."(Sete)
""So?"" (Taron and Elaine)
"So how does it know we're here?" (Sete)
I feel confused for a moment before his words sink in. Isn't it common knowledge slimes sensory range increases with their strength? But there should be a limit. Aren't we 700 metres away? Is it that strong? No it can't be. Maybe it's a pet of a Mage and they had some form of detection runes. Damn there's that feeling of danger again.
"Taron set up as many mana regeneration runes below you as you can in the next few minutes, Elaine set up some traps that work on slimes, fire traps bait traps anything you've got, use them. Sete keep monitoring that slime. If anything changes tell us immediately. I'll smash a few of these corridors to restrict which direction it can come from. I'll leave open this tunnel straight ahead of us understood?"
""Yes!""
I don't know what you are. But I'm not going to fall here. I have someone to important waiting for me.