Character sheet: Ph0en1x [Title: None]
Health points 38/38 Mana 31/31
(level two) EXP 53.15%
Class: PortalSmith
Stamina: 8
Strength: 7
Agility: 9
Wisdom: 7
Luck: 2
Charm: 9
Dexterity: 9
Intelligence: 10
Equipped items: Elvish village garb
Location: Elven Meadows
“This way, this way,” Clemiticus instructed.
Desmond looked up from examining his character information and nodded to the eager elf. Clearly directions weren’t needed, yet the adventurer thought it prudent that Desmon should receive a detail description on walking a few hundred feet in a straight line.
“See right there? That tree she’s there.”
“Um, I can see her. You don’t need to…”
“Give me back my ring you round prick!” Melly shouted.
“She’s the loud one.”
Desmond looked around. They were the only three elves in the entire area. Other than the fact that he had already met the woman, there was no way the Desmond could possibly get confused.
“Opposed to whom exactly?” Desmond asked, with his eyebrow crooked.
Clemiticus laughed. “Well, just in case if you think the bouncing round things are Melly, see there’s a name above her head and everything.”
Desmond stared at the adventurer as they walked. He knew Clemiticus was strange, but a sneaking suspicious was slowly gaining traction. Something was seriously wrong with the guy.
Does he think I’m an idiot or something? Well, he did call me a newbie.
Clemiticus gave him a warm smile and when they approached Melly, he stood in front of her with his hands up.
“Woah there! Calm down Melly,” Clemiticus said as his cheerful expression fell. A sudden thought visibly flashed through his mind. “I mean, not that. Ah, I have help.”
He leaned closer to Desmond and whispered in a strained voice, “never tell her to calm down. She just gets angrier.”
As Desmond looked into Melly’s face, he could clearly see that Clemiticuses attempt in being secretive had obviously failed.
She sighed, then regarded Desmond with a friendly enough expression then quickly jabbed Clemiticus in the ribs with an elbow.
“Not to be rude or anything, but. How’s he going to help?” she asked.
“Ah! Glad you asked! This guy here. My new best friend killed a slime without using a weapon.” He snapped his fingers. “Just like that.”
“Just like that?” Melly mimicked the action. She then eyed Desmond with a newfound respect who responded with a resigned shrug.
“Okay then,” Melly began. “We don’t have a single coin to our name, and the only scrap of wealth we have,” she pointed as she spoke. “Is that glittering treasure there… We are out in this wilderness with no food or water, with no means to survive. Now please can you help?” Her expression exasperated she looked close to her breaking point.
He empathised with her, as he had experienced the same feeling of helplessness just a few moments before. Determined to help, Desmond shifted his attention to the level one slime and noticed what was causing her distress. There, within the closest slime, floated her silver, glittering ring, but the acidic bite of the slime had not affected its surface.
“Do their stomachs only affect bio-material?” he asked more to himself than the others.
Clemiticus shot him an optimistic and confident thumbs up. “Maybe!”
Desmond’s brow furrowed. “Um.”
“Just ignore him,” Melly said then repeated. “Can you help?”
Desmond nodded and flashed open his spell book and moved closer to the Slime.
“Wait!” Clemiticus stopped him.
“Wait what?”
“Gimmie one second!”
Desmond flinched as a large floating blue box flashed before him.
Party invite.
Accept? Yes/No
“Oh, okay,” Desmond said, thinking nothing of it as he pressed the button labelled ‘yes’.
Focusing on his latest target, he ignored both Melly’s hungry look and Clemiticus’ idle stare.
“Create minor portal,” he said.
-10 mana.
Melly’s eyes widened as the portal opened, then instantly and systematically butchered the monster from within, shooting out her ring with an audible pop.
“I got it!” Melly said, face beaming as the treasure returned to her hand. “Thanks’ a bunch!”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
-10 mana.
“That’s one seriously interesting attack,” said Clemiticus.
Slime level one has died.
Gained EXP. You have gained a title.
Desmond shook his head. “That’s not an attack.” Then a previous worry popped into his mind as he curiously probed, “Um, Clemiticus?”
The adventurer turned from the gutted monster. “Yeah, what’s up?”
“You killed a few of these didn’t you?” he asked.
Clemiticus nodded. “Yeah, it cost me my stick. So, what?”
“Did any of them upgrade? Like increase in level when the pop back up? I can only see level ones here.”
Clemiticus shook his head. “Um, this is a lowbie zone. I don’t think higher level one will appear until we explore further away from here.”
Desmond's thoughts rushed through his mind in a jumble as he wondered what in hell was going on. Just then, a popping sound echoed around them as a brand-new elf popped into existence. Desmond turned momentarily to see that the newcomer had also popped in where he had started.
“Oh, more newbies!” Clemiticus cheered and ran towards the new player.
Melly offered Desmond a shrug, then offered a more earnest thank you. To which Desmond sheepishly said, “Ah, don’t mention it.” As he ambled closer, he looked at her character, admiring the perfectly placed features of her face.
She returned a nice enough smile, then focused on the bounding Elf in the distance.
“I wonder how much exp…” Desmond mumbled. Quickly glancing towards his character information then realised that killing the Slime while in a party reduced his experience by two-thirds, gaining him only just over eight percent per kill.
He turned to Melly. “What percentage are you on?”
“Percentage?”
“I mean your level… Character sheet thingy.”
She looked at him, confused for a second, then remembered her belly button menu and quickly pressed it. Suddenly something invisible flashed before her and she reported, “Um… Nineteen percent.”
“Oh, okay. Then how many did you end up killing with the stick before?”
She thought for a split second, counting in her head then said, “Five I think.”
Desmond crunched the numbers in his head.
They probably got only around two percent each kill. The guy in the chat was definitely right. The portal thing is super strong.
In the distance, Clemiticus was communicating to the newbie in over exaggerated arm movements just as another popped into existence. He began chatting to both other the players pointing once towards Desmond and Melly, then towards the other tree.
Desmond ignored their interaction then focused back on the Slimes in front of him. Suddenly the slime he had killed respawned, with it the familiar upgrade in strength, level and irritation.
“Create minor portal,” Desmond repeated.
-10 mana.
“For some reason these guys level up when they respawn for me. Maybe it’s because I one shot ‘em with the portal?”
Melly shrugged. She obviously wasn’t too accustomed to gamer jargon.
-10 mana.
“I’m not sure sorry,” she said apologetically. “I would suggest asking someone who knows these things.”
Slime level two has died.
Gained EXP.
Soon the newbies disappeared together towards the other tree while Clemiticus skipped back towards Melly and Desmond. After a quick glance, he was happy to see that his character level had gone up to 73.21%. A few more kills and he would hit the next level.
“So, what now?” Clemiticus asked as he ambled closer.
Desmond shrugged. “How about we kill a few more of these until we all level up and maybe find a village or something?”
Clemiticus grinned. “Good idea.” He then pointed at the remaining bouncy level one slimes. “Go oh kill, kill!”
“I can’t” Desmond said apologetically. “I have to wait for my mana.”
A look of understanding flashed over the adventurer and Melly stared blankly.
Clemiticus turned to her and explained, “he has to wait for mana.”
She looked at him clearly not amused then said, “I know I heard him.”
After a few seconds, Desmond’s mana ticked to full, and he focused on his next target swiftly dispatching the poor little level one slime with no effort, granting him yet another eight percent. As he watched his mana slowly tick, a flicker of excitement boiled as he knew once his mana pool and regeneration increased, he would be able to cast far more portals in the future.
Well, that is what he hoped at least.
“Ready yet?” Clemiticus asked as he sat on the floor and watched the passive murder show unfold.
“One more tick, and.”
Suddenly, a scream broke the silence as the sound of an elf being brutally murdered in the distance stole their attention. As they glanced over, a slightly reddish bounding ball of death followed the surviving elf as he ran in the opposite direction, only to be tackled by the monster.
Pop! Pop!
The two Elves respawned in their original location, only for the red blob and rage to turn around and spot them.
“What?” Melly muttered as something shifted before them.
Slime level three.
Desmond’s eyes widened as a five-foot-wide partially clear red slime appeared before them. Clemiticus didn’t have enough time to react. Clearly, the adventurer was too close to its initial line of sight, instantly swallowing the man within its gelatinous membrane.
“Clem!” Melly shouted as she jumped back.
Clemiticus has died!
The slime seemed to shift eagerly as the happy meal dissolved within its innards then turned to Desmond and Melly, and its two potential choices of desert.
“Ah, um!” Desmond stammered as it lunged straight for him. “Open minor portal!”
-10 mana.
As he stumbled backward, Desmond's foot got caught on something unexpected. He tumbled to the ground, his heart racing. But just above him, the evil slime that had been so deceptively cheerful froze amid its attack.
Desmond's eyes widened as he witnessed a strange ripple of discomfort pass through the slime's gelatinous body. It let out a low rumble, almost as if it was in pain. The second portal materialised, and a torrent of clear jelly-like substance gushed through its tiny hole.
"Gross!" Melly screamed, scrunching her nose at the unexpected sight.
The slime's transparent organs spilled out, resembling a sticky, gelatinous pudding. Desmond quickly scrambled to his feet, trying to avoid the slippery goo. Within a few seconds, the surrounding ground became a red slippery mess as the jelly-like substance pooled and spread.
-10 mana.
Slime level three has died.
Gained EXP.
BING!
A singsong voice echoed, “Ph0en1x has gained a level!”
Melly stood in shock at the reddish ooze that surrounded them.
“What the hell?” Desmond stammered as a blue notification box flashed into existence.
Create minor Portal – rank e
Cost: 15 mana - 15 mana per 15 seconds to keep open.
Cast: Create a minor entry portal at a distance of 2M with the diameter of 2cm
(Exit portal created passively in front of caster.)
Requirements: You can only create portals within locations you can physically see.
“My portal just ranked up! Wait increase mana cost?” he said but then read the other information, realising that each time the portal increased in rank so too did the strength and distance.
“Bloody prick got me good,” complained Clemiticus as he stormed over with arms crossed. “What was that noise before?”
Melly pointed towards Desmond. “He just levelled up.”
Clemiticus' eyebrows shot up. “Really?” he quickly prodded his belly button and frowned. “What? My percentage went down!”
“I accidentally killed him when you died sorry,” Desmond said with a pained expression.
“That’s okay, happens.”
Melly glanced over at the newbies who had popped back up before Clemiticus. They had encircled the other tree and tried to attack a few of the other level one slimes but again, the level three monster attacked them first, resulting in yet another painful and embarrassing death.
“Well, this is getting interesting,” Clemiticus said. Watching the sad newbies' demise was like a Shakespearean tragedy played out just for them.
Melly looked over the massacre with concern etched on her face. “Maybe we should skip killing these guys now and try to head straight to town.”
Desmond wasn’t so sure. The experience points right at his fingertips was a tantalising prize he was not yet ready to let go. He glanced at his Character sheet. Quickly, he added another two points into his intelligence.
Character sheet: Ph0en1x [Title: None]
Health points 41/41 Mana 14/38
(level three) EXP 00.27%
Class: PortalSmith
Stamina: 8
Strength: 7
Agility: 9
Wisdom: 7
Luck: 2
Charm: 9
Dexterity: 9
Intelligence: 12
Equipped items: Elvish village garb
Location: Elven Meadows
“I think we should stay here for just a little bit longer,” Desmond said.
As soon as the words left his lips, he instantly regretted them. Karma, as it seems, chose that moment to poke out its fortuitous head. The three of them gulped as they stared at the massive black mass before them.
Slime level four.