Chapter 15: Slimes
It was past noon and the cliffs cast long shadows in the valley the group was traveling through. The only evidence of the presence of monsters was a corridor they had to pick their way through covered in rotting corpses. Splashes of blood decorated the walls of the canyon, and a foul odor blanketed the area. The bodies were unrecognizable beyond a vague humanoid shape.
After that the cavern walls took on a more ominous hue. The long shadows hiding any number of enemies waiting to ambush them. Their eyes kept darting above them looking for attacks from above but the uneven cavern walls and fading light made that a difficult task.
As part of her skill Casey was able to get a general sense of the shadows in the area to help her with choosing her destination. This allowed the group to easily check the deep shadows for any caves which did a lot to settle the group’s nerves.
Their journey forward was occasionally met with forks in the path. The group arbitrarily decided to follow the left path each time so that they would be able to trace their path back through the twisting maze. Occasionally they had to double back as a landslide blocked their path forward. In those instances, Casey would teleport to the top of the path to make sure they didn’t miss anything important beyond the blockage. The long shadows of the cliffs made it trivial for her to activate her teleport ability though they were using it sparingly to conserve her mana.
It was at the top of one of these blockages that Casey spotted a small cave halfway up the cliff face. There was an overhang which hid the cave from the group below. While the group was debating whether it was safe for her to explore the cave alone Casey lost her patience and teleported to the cave before anyone could stop her. She came back quickly after carrying a hand-sized wooden chest.
The chest was locked and after some debate Casey used her points to purchase a basic lock picking kit as it fit into her character archetype. It was a simple lock and Casey’s deft fingers quickly opened it. She remarked that it was refreshing that she didn’t have to play a mini game to open the lock and could actually use her hard-earned skill to do so. The group agreed and then devolved the conversation to which game had the best lock-picking mini game. Riley’s vote was for the Burgle-Larry series which followed a bumbling thief as they failed their way through every heist. He got a hearty round of boos for the admission.
The chest held a single ring with a single violet gem set in it. Small lines were carved into the metal band of the ring and connected seamlessly to etched lines within the gem.
Ring of Minor Stats: +2 to each main stat when worn
As Casey had both been the one to find the chest and open it, it was decided she should have the item. She also held the group’s highest level, capped out at level 20 until she attuned her Furious Strikes ability.
It was late in the day when the group came across another dead end that showed them their first monsters of the cliffs. The chasm opened up into a natural cul-de-sac, the smell of fresh blood with a tinge of bile hit the group first. A large group of slimes were actively dissolving several pig-headed creatures. There were more bodies lying scattered around the area wearing leather armor, swords and shields still at hand.
Partway up the cliff was a remarkably familiar cat. It seemed indifferent to the carnage below, the slimes happy to ignore the wily creature in favor of the fresh meat they already had to digest.
“How did that thing even get here? Wasn’t it just with the angel like a few hours ago?”
“So were we,” Nermit said.
“Is it trapped?” Scott asked. The cat was gazing down upon the world, its eyes half closed as if it didn’t have a care in the world. It looked nothing more like royal peering at the unwashed masses.
“I don’t think so…” Riley trailed off as he saw Heather’s doe eyes blinking at him. “We’re going to save that cat, aren’t we?” Riley asked, sighing.
The group prepared for battle, the slimes happily digesting their latest meal unaware of the doom about to descend upon them.
There were 13 brown slimes in total ranging from levels 15 to level 30. Twelve of them about knee height with seven of those currently with an arm or a leg suspended in them. The other five slimes were already done with their limb and were down to just digesting the bones.
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The final slime was three times the size of the others, able to fit a whole corpse inside of it. The pig creature’s expression locked into one of surprise despite the missing skin and open eye sockets.
Riley and Casey posted up at the opening of the cul-de-sac. Side by side they were able to block the whole passage giving Heather and Scott free reign to attack at will. Nermit wielded his mace behind the line, ready to step in if Casey teleported away.
Scott and Heather opened fire, arrows and mana bolts flying at the unsuspecting slimes. Scott chose accuracy over using his rain of arrows ability though prior to the fight he had cast the spore breath into his quiver, coating his physical arrows with the spores. Every arrow he shot that missed the core bloomed a cloud of the purple spores into the slimes, the creature visibly shrinking as their acidic body struggled to fight off the poison.
The slimes didn’t take this assault lightly. A collar of stone spikes appeared hovering in a ring around each of the smaller slimes, spinning slowly around them. Every few seconds one of the spikes launched themselves at the group, a new spike appearing shortly after.
A golden shield covered the group but broke after blocking half a dozen of the spikes. Riley intercepted the rest of the shots as best as he could on his shield. What was more worrying were the slimes which were hopping forward slowly charging at the group like an inevitable tide. The two closest slimes had stopped firing, their stone spike rings spinning in a blur. Riley did not want to test his shield on one of those.
Heather and Scott continued to kill their way through the approaching slimes. Casey’s daggers proved ineffectual against the creatures, their short range not letting her pierce far enough to hit the core. She switched places with Nermit to help parry the attacks that got through Riley. As a group they were forced to retreat from the hopping slimes up the corridor. Riley’s sword thrusting out when he got an opportunity to attack around the whirling ring of stone. His higher Body score doing wonders for his aim compared to the last time he had to fight some slimes. The pressure of the stone attacks not giving Riley the space to use his Spore Breath ability.
A shout from Heather drew Riley’s attention toward the large slime. The boss hadn’t been idle during the battle. It had conjured a layer of spiked stone armor. It looked like the end of a flail and it was picking up speed towards the group. The smaller slimes hopped to the sides of the canyon out of the way.
The group had nowhere to dodge to so Riley stepped forward, bracing himself behind the shield. Golden shields appeared in front of the giant slime disappearing just as quickly but helping bleed off some of the speed. Nermit cried out in pain and the golden shields stopped appearing. Scott was using Rain of Arrows as fast as he was able, it was unclear if his volleys of wind arrows were also helping but as the one to face the incoming mob Riley appreciated the gesture. It wasn’t enough.
The slime slammed into Riley’s shield, the force causing him to slide backwards, his heels digging into the ground. He screamed as one of the spikes pierced his forward leg and another cut into his shoulder. He felt himself slam into Casey who was prepared and ready to brace him. With the both of them they had stopped the slime.
Riley screamed as fire lit up his pierced shoulder, but he swung his sword at the slime. It bounced off, completely unable to affect the stone armor encasing the slime. The slime rolled backwards down the tunnel toward the cul-de-sac, the smaller slimes moving to continue their attack. The boss was making for a second pass.
Healing light flowed over Riley and some of the pain disappeared. He still wasn’t able to put any weight on his right leg and a second healing spell soon followed allowing Riley to retreat with the group.
“We can’t take another one of those, we’re going to have to run,” Riley shouted to the group. He kept his eyes forward looking for any opportunity to end the approaching slimes. Seeing an opportunity, he cycled his mana and unleashed his Spore Breath for the first time this fight. The attack devastating the two lead slimes.
“We can’t run, in the long corridors we’ll be sitting ducks against this thing. If it’s able to pick up enough momentum we’re done for.” Scott said, his arrows still flying at the smaller slimes.
“I’ve got something,” Heather said. “When I give the signal retreat behind me.”
Riley felt a wave of mana building up behind him. He wanted to look to see what Heather was doing but he didn’t dare to take his eyes away from the fight. The boss had finally reached the end of the cul-de-sac and was begging its second charge. “Heather, we need that something now,” Riley called out. He braced himself, ready to take a second hit on his dented shield, when Heather gave the signal. Immediately Riley retreated leaving Heather to face down the slime.
He finally got to see what she had been doing. In front of her was a torso-sized rune visibly glowing with the amount of mana flowing through it. With a final yell Heather unleashed the spell and the world turned white.
For a moment Riley was blinded by the spell. When his vision returned, he saw the crumbling form of the giant slime in front of the group. A giant hole bore directly through the slime. The edges of the rock were flowing down as the stone had been turned into glowing lava. The rest of the small slimes had been disintegrated with the boss. The canyon walls working to funnel all the enemies into a single line which Heather’s spell had carved through like butter.