"So... Any ideas?" Ian asked.

If I had my way, we would just be smacking it between my [Dispels], but the others seemed reluctant. It would be a slow and steady way to victory since we could see the Eyedra was slowly regenerating over time.

If I used a giant combination casting with all of my [Sub-Cores] and a massive chunk of my mana, I would be relatively sure I could just overpower the Eyedra's reinforced barrier. Still, it would be an enormous display of power that I probably couldn't explain away as "elf things."

The Eyedra was more than happy to glare at us from its protective bubble and lick its wounds. Only occasionally attempting to cast a spell outside when it thought our guard was down before my [Sub-Cores] would shatter it. I had thought of seizing the spell and trying to drain the Eyedra that way, but that would also be a massive revelation that would be hard to explain away. The Eyedra also kept using [Death Magic], with which I had zero familiarity, furthering my hesitancy. What if I accidentally modified it, and it killed everyone in the room?

"We need something to keep damaging it even while it hides away," Eliza replied.

"We could try a poison or something, perhaps? Jet suggested.

He had dropped his full shadow mode and was looking haggard. Whatever that was, it evidently took a lot out of him to do it for an extended period of time.

'Actually, everyone other than Pelopi and myself looks exhausted. I guess that's why they aren't happy about extending the fight out longer.'

"Poison or Acid could work..." I mumbled. "But the problem is its intangibility."

"Actually, that might not be a problem. It's been remaining tangible more often when I smack it with the blue blade." Ian said and proudly patted his axe. "It really hates the ghost-hitting enchantment for some reason."

"So. Does our super magical elf assassin have some awesome poison for us?" Eliza asked teasingly.

I paused to think.

Ideally, I'd use Bloodrot [Poison Slime], but that would undoubtedly be an illegal substance. My other big option would be [Acid Slime], which would certainly cause tremendous damage to the Eyedra with its reduced defenses and its absurd potency. The only issue was how to deliver it, as even if I borrowed a potion vial or similar, I doubted it would survive the full extent of [Acid Slime LV 7].

While pretending to be lost in thought, I started experimenting inside of myself. I formed a potion bottle out of slime and primed it with [Nitro Slime] after filling its center with my highest concentration and density of [Acid Slime]. Unfortunately, the slime bottle melted, and all the slime rejoined inside me again. I grumbled in annoyance as I felt my [Sub-Cores] fend off another attempt of [Death Magic].

I needed [Acid Slime] to prevent the [Nitro Slime] from melting. Ideally, I'd just mix the two and be done with it, but I planned to have one of the others toss the bottle at the Eyedra, likely Jet, who could no doubt do it perfectly hidden once the Eyedra became tangible. I was extremely worried that handing a bottle literally made out of [Acid Slime] would likely melt their flesh, even if it was in a primed state.

I repeated the process again, but this time, I coated the inside of the slime bottle with a mix of [Nitro Slime] and [Acid Slime] and primed both. The final result was a bottle outside of [Nitro Slime], a full container of maximum [Acid Slime], and the mix layered between. Sloshing the bottle around, I noted that the primed mixture successfully contained it, and there seemed to be no interaction between the two primed layers. Happy with the result, I pulled it out from my "bag" and held it up for the others to witness.

"I really didn't want to use this..." I lied. "But this is an extremely powerful non-magical acid."

I swished the bottle around, letting the contents swirl. The fake bottle was semi-transparent, while the acidic contents were bright green.

Jet whistled, sounding quite impressed.

"Is that... Green slime?" Eliza asked, frowning.

"Something like that..." I answered reluctantly.

"I'm shocked it hasn't melted that bottle into goop," Jet replied. "If it's as powerful as you say it is, there's not much that can keep green slime contained."

"Which is why I'm extremely reluctant to use this." I lied again, hoping it sounded reasonable.

"No doubt. I bet an alchemist would try to rob you for it." Jet chuckled.

"Indeed..." I grumbled uncomfortably and presented the bottle to Jet. "Ian makes it tangible; you throw the bottle at it."

Jet hesitantly accepted the bottle. I admittedly was a little nervous about him touching it, but there were no adverse effects.

"Well, I like that plan." Jet grinned.

"Me too." Ian agreed.

Pelopi roared.

Everyone took their positions while the Eyedra glared cautiously at us. Jet disappeared, and I could only tell his positioning thanks to my ability to pinpoint my primed slime. From what I could discern, he seemed to bounce around the room from shadow to shadow until settling directly under Pelopi. The man was literally hiding in her shadow.

I prepped my [Dispel] again, throwing more mana into it and pulling in two [Sub-Cores] for a boost, hoping to give them a bigger opportunity window. If Ian threatened the Eyedra enough with his axe, it would hopefully stay corporeal long enough for the acid to do its work.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Like clockwork, the Eyedra again attempted to stop me. I had my [Sub-Cores] hold the spell hostage until I destroyed it in coordination with my casting of [Dispel]. Once again, its barrier flickered out, and it reeled back in pain from the magical backlash. Ian wasted no time in planting his axe straight into the monster.

Ian was completely correct. The Eyedra dropped its ethereal nature within seconds of the first blow, not wanting to take the second by any means. Jet appeared and flung the acid bottle with utter precision. Using my control over the primed slime, I flipped a mental switch and set it to detonate on contact. The bottle tapped the back of the Eyedra and immediately exploded, showering the creature with acidic contents.

If the stupid eye had a mouth, I bet it would have been screaming as the acid had done immense damage, practically turning its entire rear into bloody goop in rapid haste. Jet leaped in withdrawal before firing a few crossbow bolts, screaming curses while he did so. Pelopi also let out a concerned howl before stumbling backward, clearly not wanting to go anywhere near the rapidly melting flesh.

'Thank goodness I set the [Nitro Slime] to the absolute minimum explosion... Otherwise, I might have coated them in acid.'

"I can't believe that was in my hand!" Jet shouted. "It was that volatile! And you were just casually keeping it in your bag!"

Pelopi made a grunting bear sound, clearly in full agreement with Jet's assessment.

"It was only a little acid..." I mumbled.

The Eyedra started returning to its ethereal state, preferring the axe to the acid. Luck or fortune must have been on our side, as its reforming barrier was nowhere in sight; perhaps it lost its concentration. Ian was ready and waiting to land blow after blow with his blue enchantment, letting out victorious shouts with each blow landed.

Whatever remained of the acid slime was now eating into the floor, so Pelopi charged in to start clobbering the Eyedra with her [Frostclaw]. However, she only got in a few more hits before Ian sealed the deal, and with a mighty blow, when he cleaved into the Eyeball, it burst into ghostly energy.

<7 Trait Points are now available.>

<8 Trait Points are now available.>

'Well... At least my evolution debt is paid off now.'

☑ Pay off your debt.

☐ Leave the dungeon.

☐ Find somewhere safe to sleep.

Reward: Slime evolution list.>

'Hidden quest? Is that how you're going to give it to me?' I wondered. 'Interesting that it wants me to leave the dungeon? Is that so I can't try to extort another slime from this one?'

"We did it!" Ian shouted in victory.

"We did it!" Eliza joined in. "I'm not even mad that I didn't get to hit it at the end!"

Pelopi roared and started nudging Eliza.

"Right... Clothes... " Eliza sighed and started heading behind a pillar with Pelopi in tow.

Jet looked a mixture of happy, concerned, and upset as he gestured toward the melted hole in the floor.

"I don't know whether to be glad we killed it or angry that you had something that dangerous lying around." Jet grumbled. "I don't want to know how you got it; just please tell me you don't have more of it sitting in your bag."

"I definitely don't have more in my bag," I responded. Technically, this was true since it wasn't in my bag; it was me.

Jet looked skeptical but sighed, shaking his head. "I just hope it's safely secured if you do have more."

"Well, it explains why Syl took so long to decide on the idea," Ian added as he joined the conversation. "She must have been extremely reluctant to use such a powerful one-time tool."

"True... Anyway, let's claim our final chest. I want to be out of this damn dungeon right after." Jet responded as he started walking to the back of the room, where a large, ornately decorated chest awaited.

Ian nodded but snuck me a quick wink and thumbs up before following after Jet.

"At least the dungeon isn't being skimpy on our final reward..." Jet admitted before looking over the chest.

Surprisingly, he discovered a single trap on the chest, linked to a micro-crossbow hidden within the fake lock. He disarmed the trap with relative ease and then dismantled and removed the micro-crossbow. He was eagerly examining it as he muttered to himself.

"I bet I could get this as a wrist mount..." Jet said, barely hiding his enthusiasm. "Reloading it would be a bitch, but if I had it coated with a poison or something, it would be great for emergencies..."

"Forget your toy!" Ian complained. "What about the loot?"

Inside the chest was a crossbow, although unenchanted and made of a strange wood that made Jet curious. There was also a set of hide armor, which came in a stunning bright orange with black stripes, enchanted with self-repair and size-changing. The inside was also full of various coin denominations, although the vast bulk seemed to be silver rather than gold to make up a more impressive quantity. Finally, there was the true prize, a ring of pure black metal with three individual transparent gems arranged in a triangular formation on the large setting.

<[Ring of Spell Storing].>

"Bloody hells." Jet said when he spotted the ring.

Each tiny gem held an identical intricate spherical enchantment that I hastily ordered all of my [Sub-Cores] to save the blueprint. Once again, it was beyond my [Rune Reading] level, but the name given by [Appraisal] was rather self-explanatory.

"Does it do what it says on the tin?" I asked Jet since he seemed to have some idea.

"Yes. You cast a spell into the ring, which is saved in one of the gems. This one has three sockets and is a very good find." Jet explained.

"Oh? How big is the range?" I asked with genuine curiosity. At the same time, I examined the ring from different angles to ensure my cores were recording every minute detail.

"Lowest is one, highest I've heard about is six." Jet answered. "High-ranking nobles love them; they usually store them with an offensive and healing spell."

"That sounds perfect for Eliza..." Ian mumbled. "Assuming she can store one of her healing spells, she'd have an emergency heal in case her Holy pool is empty."

"An excellent idea." Jet agreed.

"But..." Ian said with a little dismay. I noticed he was looking at me, and I pieced together his concern.

"Don't worry, I don't want it." I chuckled and gave a reassuring smile. "It's fascinating from a magical perspective, but I don't think I'd have much use in storing a spell."

'Well... At least in ring form...' I admitted to myself. 'If I could find a way to replicate this spherical enchantment on a core, or perhaps even slime when I get my silver core, then who knows what possibilities there are.'

Ian looked relieved and then a little guilty. "Are you sure? You've not exactly gotten much loot from this dungeon for yourself."

"Ian's right." Jet admitted. "You took a dagger for your friend, but otherwise, there's been nothing for you."

'Well... My real prize was the orange slime core.' Not that they know about that.

"What are you talking about?" I smiled mischievously. "I got this amazing hat."

Both of them blinked in confusion, staring hard at the hat.

"I honestly forgot about the hat..." Jet admitted.

"Same..." Ian agreed.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, just let me witness both storing and using a spell from the ring a few times for educational purposes," I said.

"That's more than reasonable." Ian smiled and then burst into laughter. "Hell, I bet Eliza will beg you to store a [Lightning Bolt] in the damn ring!"

"I understand completely," I said, giving a finger flourishing of sparks. "I've been finding Lightning very addictive."