Despite being a victim of gravity, my slime cushioned the landing, so I didn't appear to suffer much damage from the impact. I reformed my shape while I regained my bearings. I opened up my status to check my condition, as I was a little concerned since I felt odd.

Name: Syl [Dungeoneer]

Race: Chimeric Mimic Slime (Blue) LV 10

Class: Shadowcaster LV 11

Status: Injury (Minor)

Mana: Ō̵̯͇̞̜̥̜̲̬̼͉͙̻̜̉̅̈͝v̴̼̤̈͑̃̀̆͑͛̐̊̈̍̔͜e̶̢̛͖͓̦̤͉̰͍̭̣̯̔̏̓̿̋̌̓͒͛͗͝͝r̵̢̢͓͚͖͕̲̫̞̟̼̬̯͋̊ͅf̴̛̪̯͖̍̋̈́̎͐͑̈̍̇̿̐͂̚l̴̢̡̛̛̬̟̖̪̟̖̹͍̹̩̐̇̓̉̽̈́͗̈̈̔̈́̀̕ő̴̧̫̣͙̹͙̺̻̗̗̜̳̆̅̑̌̾̒͝ẘ̷̛̼̻̦͔̱͉̞̿̓̏̔̋́̊̊̚͝í̸̛͖̳͕̗̥̬͙̤͚̓̅̎͋̾͒͠͝n̶̢̖͎͚̬̯̼̘͖̳̘̜̹̯̎̂́͠g̶͖͕͕͒̓̍̽̊̆̏͌́̐̑͝

'Oh no... What's happened to my mana? That doesn't look good.' I groaned.

I had also gained a class level at some point during that scuffle, but my notifications were a mess. There was the pegasus profile, which was labeled [Equine] for some reason. I had also gained a new spell level, and... Something happened to my traits. I decided to put that all aside for now; I wanted that yellow slime more than anything else. I quickly confirmed that I could still use mana, firing an [Arcane Bolt] at the ground.

'Hopefully, it's just a visual problem... I'm sure Gramps will notice it and fix it.'

If that yellow slime was anything like me, I knew it would be heading towards the meal it secured. If I was lucky, I could ambush it while it ate and secure that delicious core for myself. I started heading in that direction while quickly examining my new spell.

The new spell [Arcane Armor] sounded great; it would create a mana barrier on myself, shimmering and protective, like a second skin. It brought back memories of the transparent slime coating I used as a goblin, which hilariously gave my previous deception a little validity. Unlike other forms of defense, however, it seemed to prevent a fixed amount of damage before expiring based on the amount of mana expended and seemingly limited by my [Arcane Magic] level.

I hesitated to experiment with it too much, but I figured a good defense would benefit me. However, when I tried to cast an empowered version, it refused the extra enhancement. I cast an enhanced [Arcane Bolt] and blasted the ground, relieved that I hadn't somehow lost that functionality with all the mana strangeness.

'I guess it's like [Decay] in that it has its own internal scaling. I'll have to see if I can take it apart or apply it in other ways later.'

When I approached the spot, I was being as stealthy as possible. I hadn't heard any further sounds of thunder, so I knew the yellow slime wasn't attacking anything. Thankfully, my intuition paid off, and consuming the dead pegasus was a yellow blob growing in size. I noted how slowly it ate and could only be very grateful I had acquired a green slime early on in my journey.

I hid behind a tree and started to extend two tendrils toward the slime, hoping I could grab its core and rip it out for a quick victory. That large violet core looked so tantalizing. Slowly. Patiently. Like two camouflaged snakes approaching their prey.

It happened so suddenly that I didn't know how to react. When my tendrils got within striking range, and I was about to make my attack, a massive jolt of energy sparked from the violet core outwards to its slimy exterior and arced towards my two tendrils. The shocking energy flowed straight up my tendrils, destroying them along the way with startling efficiency right back to the source; me.

'Shit!' I screamed, but it was too late.

I had let my guard down and was so startled that I couldn't think of discarding the tendrils before the current reached me. The attack surged within me, arcing between my core and all my [Sub-Cores] and filling me with a numbing pain. The worst part was that it bypassed the [Arcane Armor] entirely since it just traveled directly through me.

I was given no opportunity to recollect myself, and suddenly, a bolt was flung at my location, followed by the loud cracking of thunder. It splintered through the tree and struck directly against my [Arcane Armor], nearly shattering it in a single strike. Unfortunately for me, [Arcane Armor] was not infallible. Even though it had enough capacity to absorb the blow without shattering, there were still sparks of lightning arcing through and directly into me, once again surging throughout my being.

The pain was terrible. I quickly shifted into the salamander, once again donning the protective scales and hoping it would protect me. Using bare tendrils wasn't an option if it could repeatedly use that retaliatory attack, so instead, I used my extremely malleable form to enlarge and extend a scaled claw toward the yellow slime.

'If I could use magic, this would be simple... But I don't want to destroy the core.'

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The yellow slime made no attempt to dodge or retreat and simply kept up its rhythmic coiling. I could see the sparks rapidly discharging from the violet core and building up, then in a burst, it launched another bolt directly at my claw. The bolt of lightning struck against the [Arcane Armor]. Apparently, the claw counted as part of my body, so it was protected by the spell, unlike my [Pseudopod]. Still, the remaining capacity was insufficient, and the bolt shattered through it and struck against my elongated claw. When I saw the scales offer no added protection, I immediately abandoned the entire limb, but not before some of the discharge reached me and caused internal havoc.

<[Sub-Core Delta] has been destroyed. Rest to recover.>

'Shit! No, no, no, no!'

I recast [Arcane Armor] and cast [Bubble]; I needed to retreat and return when better prepared. I had greatly underestimated the yellow slime, which seemed to almost be my natural counter. I ransacked my memories of what I could recall about the yellow slime and vaguely remembered a warning about not using water against it. This became rapidly apparent when another bolt struck against my watery barrier, energizing the entire barrier before all the energy discharged into the center and converged on the most conductive target within; me.

This must have been an extreme threat to my life, as Alpha took control of tendrils and formed shields of what looked like parts of the Earthshaker's rocky carapace in a near instant and tried to enshroud me. Again, it wasn't enough, and the tendrils were annihilated; my fresh [Arcane Armor] instantly shattered, and the depths within my slime were ravaged as the pure energy arced between me and my remaining [Sub-Cores].

<[Sub-Core Alpha] has been destroyed. Rest to recover.>

<[Sub-Core Gamma] has been destroyed. Rest to recover.>

I heard what sounded like an explosion going off in the distance near the yellow slime, different from the thunder cracks, but I couldn't pay attention. I needed to escape. I had a momentary realization when Alpha tried to use the Earthshaker that the description of yellow slimes mentioned using earth or nature magic against them.

I had to assume rock and wood had some protection against the ruthlessness of lightning, but without the affinities, I could only give inferior imitations. Still, it was better than nothing; even the draconic scales proved useless. I had no time for aesthetics and merged whatever was possible with the nature boar and rock bear, creating some chimeric monstrosity out of necessity and grabbing both [Barkskin] and [Earthen Carapace].

I recast my armor spell again as I scrambled away, just in time for another bolt to lash out against me. I tried to evade, but the speed was far beyond me, and I heard the familiar shattering sound again before what remained of the lightning reached me. It struck, and the pain was immense. Once again, it penetrated through me, but I noticed considerably less lightning had reached my delicate innards. The bark and rock seemed to partially insulate me against the lightning.

<[Sub-Core Epsilon] has been destroyed. Rest to recover.>

As I tumbled across the ground, the sound of another explosion went off. I was filled with regret at my overconfidence and my lack of preparation. I had access to the guild's library; why didn't I do research on what yellow slimes or lightning could do? Or asked Lisa about it, as it was her element. I had read the warning about using water against it, which seemed to be my primary affinity as a blue slime, and even if it was some time ago, it was stupid for me not to consider it.

I had two more [Defy Death] triggers left, so I had to make sure I got away before they expired. I heard another violent explosion going off, and I finally glanced toward the source while refreshing another [Arcane Armor]. The yellow slime was surrounded by fire, and less than half of its original slime mass remained. Something had attacked it, but I had no idea what. I saw it building up another bolt of energy, and as I turned to retreat, I noticed a large [Fireball] forming next to me.

I was confused. In this strange state of seemingly broken mana, I hadn't even noticed the spell pulling on it. I hadn't ordered an attack; why was the spell being formed? My stunned thoughts weren't fast enough, as when the bolt of lightning shot towards me, the [Fireball] launched as if counterattacking. That sparked my memory.

'Beta! No!' I screamed, unable to stop the attack.

I had remembered too late. I had given Beta a counterattack order and never dismissed or replaced it, just like how Alpha had moved to defend my life automatically under another order given at the same time back when I was confronting Krutz.

Perhaps because the attack was visible, [Evasion] had tried to give me an early warning. I dodged as fast as possible, my body practically surging out of the way with alien movement only possible as a gelatinous slime. I wanted to cheer when I saw the bolt wouldn't strike me directly when I noticed it curved partway and redirected into me.

I wanted to scream at the unfairness of the situation, but pain overwhelmed me after I heard the familiar shattering sound. By now, I had lost count of how many times [Arcane Armor] had been destroyed.

<[Sub-Core Beta] has been destroyed. Rest to recover.>

I had lost all my [Sub-Cores], and I likely only had one [Defy Death] trigger left. Then I heard the explosion. If I had a heart, I was sure it would have stopped when I saw the flood of notifications.

<9 Trait Points are now available.>

<10 Trait Points are now available.>

<12 Skill Point is now available.>

<13 Skill Point is now available.>

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