~~~~~~~~~~~
We are gathered here today to commemorate Azur’s first colony amongst the stars. Through countless labors and sacrifices, it is my honor to welcome you all as the settlers to begin our own new dawn.
It is our roots which strengthen us and give us our resolve. May we ever seek to achieve more and greater things. The Architect was the one who brought us out from our own dark age. We may no longer remember who they were, however their legacy lives on through you. While none now yet live who can tell tale of their achievements, our presence here is a testament to their strength, their drive, and their perseverance against all odds.
Male? Female? Alone, or with companions? We do not know who they were nor how they achieved such a miraculous turnaround of our world. Nor do we need to as they never sought out the fame, seeking to continue their works out of the spotlight. But yet their legacy lives on as each of you step foot on this planet. May this day be recorded for all posterity to know that it was not the bureaucrats or politicians who brought us here, but SCIENCE!
We do this for the good of all, that all may live in a better tomorrow. I do hereby declare that this planet is now the first full member of the Azur Star Union!
-Speech delivered by Prime Minister Godot on Dansin Prime, circa 944 AC.
~~~~~~~~~~~
I fell asleep after fiddling around with the sigil for another few minutes and Dansin deciding that we’d be unable to do anything about it until we eventually found what it fit into.
Having my own body back felt one step closer.
***
I woke up with a yawn. My mind had been racing all last night and my dreams had been... scattered. All number of incongruous events happening one after another in no sensible fashion. Exactly what they were was being lost as the seconds of awareness ticked onward. The feeling of confusion remained.
“So how do we want to prep for the slimes?” I asked.
“Spare set of clothes for sure. It would be nice if there was an alchemical cleaning agent but I think we’ve already asked Colette for more than enough. I like her, but don’t want to be a bother.”
“Could just pay her with those coins we took from the box last night,” I offered.
“It’s not a question of payment, I don’t think she has the ingredients necessary. Getting them would take more time than I think we’d want to wait.
“Fair enough. Think there was a bathhouse not too far from the sewer entrance. Probably want to make ourselves known there before delving in. There’s a good chance they’ll straight up refuse us if we show up covered in literal shit.”
“Don’t need to swim the river. Those Daggermouth Lurkers might be tasty but going in nude might be tempting fate too far.”
“That’s not something you need to remind me of. I am all too aware of those teeth,” I let out an involuntary shudder at the memory of my first kill here.
Walking through the dusty morning streets, I made my way northward to my supposed entry point to the sewers. Not more than a block away was the bathhouse I’d remembered passing by on our walk the day before. Making my approach, I was greeted by a cheery voice.
“Morning to you Adventurer! Stopping by to get that armor cleaned? I could have it and you tidied up before noon. Four gilder?” A thin elven woman in her mid 40’s offered.
“Not sure how much help it’d be if I’m heading down to the sewers to take care of the slime problem in a bit. Just wanted to check and see if you needed any heads up. Hope to not get messy but I’ll want a good cleaning once I’m out of there regardless,” I told the proprietor.
“Oh so you’re the Adventurer that finally took our quest! The slimes have been a right nuisance lately. As of we didn’t have enough to worry about with that riot, one just tried to climb up the outflow pipe yesterday. Had some salt to drive it away luckily. I’ll be glad once they’re finished. Will give you a discount on cleaning, 15 gilder.”
“That’s almost four times what you just told me a moment ago!”
“And it’s half as much as I should be charging if you’re going down there! Do you know how difficult it is to clean that acidic slime off armor?” The elven woman huffed.
“Not really,” I replied.
“Well of course you don’t. You don’t get stuck scraping it off for hours on end. The hefty rewards aren’t just for you. It’s to pay for everyone else to clean up after you. That quest has been up for weeks you know.”
“And that’s the reason I was avoiding it too. But I need the money.”
The woman let out a sign, tension leaving her face, “I suppose I should be glad someone is desperate enough to take it at all. I’ll get a room ready for your return. Payment up front though.”
I handed over the requested gilder and made to leave when I was stopped by a hand on my back.
“Take care down there. I might not like cleaning up after it, but I’d rather see you come in here than not. The slimes might seem weak, but they’ve brought down many an unprepared adventurer,” the woman added thoughtfully.
“What’s your name?” I asked her.
“Evalene,” she replied.
“Well then Evalene, I’ll be sure to come back in one piece so you can complain about how much of a mess I got into.”
“I’ll get the bath warmed up for you, just keep all your body parts intact,” the woman smiled as she sent me on my way.
Once out of earshot, I asked Samara, “So what is so bad about slimes? They sound like some kind of slug monster. Surely they’re no more dangerous than the fire ants or a Caerbanning.”
“The biggest issue with them is that their bodies are incredibly resistant to mundane damage. We should have that covered with our sword. They can be caustic, though that’s just for digesting their food. It shouldn’t be an immediate concern when fighting.”
“What is then?”
“Engulfment or drowning. Keep it from surrounding us and we’ll come out just fine. They’re actually quite useful in small numbers, help keep the sewers disinfected.”
“Not so useful when they plug up the sewers.”
“That’s the other odd thing. Usually they keep the flow open. I wager something got stuck and the slimes are being blamed for it.”
“Sounds like you have a soft spot for them?”
“I kept one as a kid, okay? Kept it in a terrarium and fed it kitchen scraps. It’s name was Gloop.”
“Gloop the slime?” I started to chuckle.
“Hey! I was like eight at the time. Gloop is a fine name.”
“Of course it is. Let’s go see if we can find some of Gloop’s great-great-great grandglooplings.”
“Whatever,” I said, rolling my eyes.
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The sewer entrance we’d been directed towards was surrounded by a wrought iron fence. A disinterested Ursan guard leaned against the gate, scratching his back.
“Fabius Dansin, reporting for the slime quest,” I introduced myself to the guard who stood upright at my approach.
“Venetos, you’re the fresh meat going down there?” He asked.
I nodded my head.
“Good luck, I’ll let you through but the gate’s getting locked behind you. Not unlocking it if you try to kite them out here either. Not my job to deal with adventurers,” the burly guard grumbled as he unlocked the heavy gate.
“We’ll be careful to not bring anything up with us when we return,” I said.
“See to it that you don’t. The blockage should be around four or six hundred meters to the northwest. Take the main channel to the second intersection then turn left. That should get you in the right neighborhood. Oh and don’t get lost. I don’t want to get ordered to try and find you down there.”
The gate swung forward with a creaking groan, disused hinges squealing in protest. I walked through and opened a wooden hatch to descend. As I climbed down the ladder, the protesting gate squealed again as the guard shut it once more.
When I reached the bottom, the first thing that hit me was the smell. Not of raw sewage as I’d feared, but something crisp and sharp burned at my nose.
“Ozone, definitely slimes around here. And methane’s fairly strong too.”
The second thing I noticed was the walls. From wall to ceiling a thin coating on the concrete glowed gently. As my eyes adjusted, I could easily see a hundred meters ahead without difficulty.
“What is this?” I asked.
“Bioluminescent algae. It’s a lichen actually. Genetically engineered species. Did some undergrad work sequencing RNA divergences between cities.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“They’re seeded in every city’s sewers. Helps keep the slime byproducts from reaching critical levels and exploding. Can’t kill all the slimes off, they are great decomposers after all. So might as well mitigate the downsides and put these bad boys up. Consume methane and ozone to produce light and breathable oxygen. The inventor retired a very wealthy man.”
“I would like to see these in the sewers back home.”
“And that’s how he made his fortune. Without the slimes though they fail to thrive, so a careful balance must be maintained. A self contained ecosystem of sorts.”
Off in the distance, I saw a glint of movement. Something was moving, about the size of a small melon. Making my way over to it, I caught a better view of the baby slime.
Contrary to what its name suggested, the slime actually wasn’t all that slimy aside from an outer layer of mucus. The main body looked like a deflated ball, undulating along the floor in a series of flops and scrunches.
“Aww isn’t he just adorable! I’d pick you up if you weren’t going to try to eat me. Yes I would!”
“Samara, that thing has been swimming in the sewers it’s entire life.”
“Well it’s not her fault nobody thought to adopt her! What do you think we should name her?”
“We aren’t adopting the first slime we see. Also, I have no idea how you find this thing cute,” the sensations I was feeling would have belonged if I were looking at a fine hunting dog, or maybe a falcon. Not this... blob.
“Just look at it! How can you be so heartless? You’re going to hurt poor Esmarelda’s feelings.”
“We are not naming it, and it doesn’t have feelings,” I said as the pitiful monster glommed onto my boot. Pulling it away, I saw where days of grime had already started peeling off.
“See, she likes us! But we’ll leave her here. All alone and unloved. Forever.”
“I’m assuming this isn’t the slime we are looking for?”
“No, these are the good ones that help keep the city clean.”
Leaving the questionably cute slime behind, we continued to walk along the wide channels. So long as we stayed to one side of the other our feet remained mostly clean.
A number of slimes even smaller than the one Samara tried to pick up bounced along the channel, happily pouncing whenever a ’snack’ passed by in the flow. I tried to not think about it in detail. The fruit sized orbs of fleshy leather were actually right on the borderline of so ugly they became cute again.
I still thought they were strange at the very least. Samara quietly hummed as we skipped around the feeding packs, letting them continue their scavenging in peace. The main branch intersected another two hundred meters in, this side channel only a meter and a half in width as compared to the five meter span I was currently on.
We continued to the second branch, larger than the first at three meters, but with a much lower flow rate into the main channel. The effluent coming in was almost crystal clear as well. Our quarry was definitely down this path.
Taking my blade, I ignited it for a brief second to score evidence of my direction into the concrete beneath. Though the effect wasn’t as pronounced as it had been on the table, it would do. The etching would be covered by the lichens in time, but for the next few days it would show a clear pathway to where I had been. No sense in getting lost down here even if it was well lit.
Reading myself for the battle to come, I crouched down to listen for movement. The smooth sound of trickling waters was all I heard at first, but beneath that I was able to hear the low squelching noises I’d learned to associate with the larger slime specimens.
Cautiously making my approach, I saw a cross channel off to my right. The noises intensified. In the gloomy light of the lichens, I saw a pulsating mass blocking the way forward.
“Think we’ve found the target,” I announced.
Approaching the wall of slimes, the sharp burn of ozone stung at my nostrils. They didn’t seem to notice or care about my approach, content to mill about where they were.
It almost felt criminal to disturb the peaceful scavengers, until I caught a glimpse of bleached bone beneath them.
I pushed my SP into the rune work of the blade, swathing it in a blue light that glowed like a beacon compared to the omnipresent lichen.
The slimes barely noticed the difference as I approached for the slaughter. I pierced one of them through with my strike.
Then the beast screamed.
I saw no mouthparts on it that I could identify, but the ragged hole my blade had carved ignited and began to shriek.
“We need to run!”
Stupor broken, I turned about and retreated the way I came in. Back turned, I heard and then felt a wave of concussive force as the first slime detonated.
Activating my armor in the spur of the moment, I felt the wash of heat blow over me, acrid air burning my lungs.
223/250 HP
The teakettle whistling renewed itself as I continued to run further forward. A salvo of booms quickly followed.
“Whew. That was a close one there. Looks like we had the weapon for the job though!”
“If the job is running away, at least we avoided the worst of the mess,” I said, noting that only my back had been significantly hit by the first exploding slime. The others had luckily been out of range. I probably didn’t need to activate my armor but SP returned quicker than HP. Hurt less too.
Obstruction cleared in cleansing fire, I made a return to see what unfortunate soul they had been feasting on.
“Fabius?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t we always see a notification when we’re done with combat?”
“Yes, but... oh,” my eyes scanned the surrounding area. Flow in the channel had returned to normal levels, the obvious blockage cleared, “I don’t see anything.”
The burnt out shells of the deceased slimes smoldered with low crackling heat, but no other challenger appeared. I approached the skeleton the slimes had been feasting on. Not much of it was left, especially after the blast. A few fragments of its armor had been scattered to the edges of the hallway.
Then I saw it, a piece of the white armor I’d seen the day of the raid. A scale from a breastplate. This was a piece of gear that could only have came from one of them. How had the slimes brought down one of them?
On closer examination, scorch marks could be seen on the edge of it. The same sort of damage my own blade might have inflicted.
“This kin was killed their own,” I observed, “then they disposed of the evidence down here.”
“How did you make that conclusion? It’s just a scorch mark. Whatever caused this didn’t even make it through the armor.”
“I know, but the slimes ate everything else. Where’s the rest of their armor?”
Looking around, I saw no traces of the remainder of the distinctive white armor.
“How long would it take to dissolve all the rest of their armor?”
“Weeks, maybe a couple months? There’s not much left here, even the bones are nearly gone.”
“Armor is almost untouched though.”
“Inert ceramic. Not surprised it survived. Nothing to reach with the slime... do you see what I’m seeing?”
“We share the same eyes, so yes. The wall is moving.”
“Monstrous size alone has no intrinsic merit, unless inordinate exsanguination be considered a virtue.”
“You expect to bleed that thing to death?” I watched as a dead end In the hall slowly creeped forward. The explosion had reduced the amount of food for the lichens to process, but they still let off a dim glow. The approaching bulk was only noticeable due to the absence of light as it approached. The slime nearly reached the ceiling, squeezing its bulk between the tight walls.
I stashed the shard of armor in my pack and readied my pilum. Even if the small slimes were resistant to physical damage, one this size wasn’t something I wanted to explode near me if I could help it. Even with my armor’s defense against heat, this one might easily cook me alive.
Winding up, I launched the first pila with [Piercing Strike]. It hit true, shaft disappearing into the beast. As it approached, I could see the hide had taken the appearance of tanned leather. A far cry from the thin membrane of its kin. A viscous ooze began to pour out slowly from the new hole, before it stopped just as suddenly as it started.
In a desperate attempt to buy time, I threw the other pila. Without the benefit of [Piercing Strike] I watched as it nearly buried itself in the beast and stay where it landed. Steam began rising up from the haft, leading bubbles to sputter out of the entry wound.
“Damn it, I only have two of those!”
The slime barely noticed the pinprick as it continued inexorably down the hallway, heading towards me with the certainty of an ocean wave. I watched as the wooden haft burnt off and fell to the ground. A short moment later it was reabsorbed into the main mass.
“Don’t think we’re going to have any other choices here!”
I lit my blade and slashed across the body of the encroaching slime beast.
*vráu*
A gash in its side opened up as the contents began to spill out, loose splatter spraying over me. The monster shuddered, as if waking up for the first time on a cold morning. Then it moved.
The damaged membrane was rotated to the beast’s protected belly as it lunged forward, nearly engulfing me. The scattered acid burned my arms where it had landed, my armor wasn’t faring much better.
I let out another slash, deeper this time. [Siphon] restores a fraction of the energy spent and I began to feel the acid lose its bite.
Wheeling around, the slime charged forward. The first cut was coming back around. I could see the scarred tissue where it had been unable to counteract the cauterization effect.
Aiming for the previously damaged section, I drove my blade deep as I could and activated the enchantment once more. A gout of fire erupted from the body and the mass writhed.
Again rolling onto it’s damaged side, the slime managed to extinguish the burning flames and resumed its slow but steady pursuit.
“Options here Samara?”
“I don’t know! The first ones went down so easily. We must be hurting it!”
“I hope you have a better idea than that because we’re going to run out of SP before this guy drops.”
“[Conversion Matrix] might do it. Overload it with burning wounds then hightail it out of here.”
“That... might possibly work. But we’re already at half SP! Using that skill would leave us with enough energy for one or two seconds of activating the sword.”
“Then we bait it. Take potshots at it till we’re full. Then burst it down.”
“Anyone ever tell you you’re damn crazy? Taking potshots at that thing,” I brandished my sword at the approaching wall of flesh, “is just going to piss it off further. Not that I have any better ideas. Here goes nothing!”
I made a slight incision on the slime, ever backpedaling. It barely noticed the difference. The activated sword rune was my only hope of doing significant damage to it. [Siphon] still worked its magic, restoring health and SP to me.
Waiting another 8 seconds, I lunged in again. Taunting the monstrosity further as I drew it back towards the main sewer tunnel.
I continued the dance of death all the way back. If Samara’s plan failed here... it wouldn’t fail. If it did, I wouldn’t be around to complain about it.
My HP was still trickling down slowly from the acid spray, but my SP was maxed out once more. Hopefully the 5% leech from my upgraded [Conversion Matrix] would let me last longer. Otherwise I’d be limited to just short of 7 seconds. Maybe 9 if I got a lucky couple surges with [Siphon]. After that I’d be spent.
Everything set up as well as it could be, the massive blob made its way out into the main sewer, crushing and absorbing likely countless numbers of its smaller kin. I activated [Conversion Matrix], and my veins burned as the world slowed to a crawl.
I charged into the slime, activating the rune on my blade. A solid stab right into the core of this thing, but it wouldn’t be enough. I withdrew the blade, shimmering in blue light. Fire started to creep slowly from the incision.
My dance partner began to withdraw from the injury, but again I drove the blade home. Withdraw and circle. I perforated it’s membrane in a half dozen places as my SP reserves face out and the blade sputtered to lifelessness.
The world began to rumble as I recognized the telltale sound from the other slimes.
Quickly as I could, I dashed into the side tunnel. The monstrous beast too occupied to follow as I sought shelter.
The world returned to normal speed as the sounds of screaming teakettles and flopping flesh reached my ears. It soon reached a dull roar, nearly deafening me in its intensity. Then, silence reigned once more in the sewer. After a moment, I snuck a careful look around the corner.