34. Slime King’s Servant’s Nephew’s Neighbour’s Necklace goes WWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I fiddled with the Slime King’s Servant’s Nephew’s Neighbour’s Necklace, curious to see how it worked. There was a small circular pendant attached to the item that seemed like it was filled with green liquid. Actually, it kind of looked like a slime, now that I looked at it closely. Unfortunately, slipping it around my neck didn’t activate any sort of function or infuse me with power comparable to a god’s, so I was stuck with figuring out its use on my own.

I took the stairs two at a time, quickly reaching the top of one of our guard towers. I looked around and spotted Burt and Jean a few towers over. I ducked back into the base, navigating the maze-like interior and emerging next to my cousin and the Warfare Specialist. There, I explained to them my situation and that I was testing to see what the Slime King’s Servant’s Nephew’s Neighbour’s Necklace did. Burt rolled his eyes at the name, but Jean guffawed, then they both stepped to the side as I tried to figure out my necklace again.

This time, I pushed mana into the necklace, just like I did with my shield. Instantly, I felt a foreign energy envelop my entire body. I was tingling all over, like goosebumps or a seventh sense. I crouched down, then pushed mightily, but only jumped upwards a totally normal couple of feet. I punched the railing, then swore, shaking out my hand. Nope, not super strength.

“Jean, poke my arm, see if you feel anything.”

“Oh, mon p’tit fucker, goddarn. ‘Poke me and see if you die, Jean.’ Ok, Théo, but you know da rule. If I go kaput, I’m goin’ revnant on your ass so fucken hard you’ll… Awww, regret it… A lot…” With that, Jean tentatively reached out and poked my arm. Nothing happened.

“Fiou!” My cousin breathed out.

I frowned. Sure, it was great that the Slime King’s Servant’s Nephew’s Neighbour’s Necklace… Ahem. It was great that - the necklace - didn’t vaporize my friends, but, then, what in the hells did it do?

“You said it was the slime whatever’s dumb relative whatever,” Burt said, unimpressed at the Tower’s sense of humor. “So, punch a slime?”

My lips drew downwards as I thought on it, but ultimately decided that it was probably the best option we had. When I nodded, Jean leaned over the railing and stuck his hand out, forming a shimmering blue barrier just above the swarming mass of slimes. Three slimes jumped onto his barrier, then jumped again, trying to attack the portion of Jean’s body that was visible from below. The Barrier Master dismissed his first barrier and conjured a second, catching two of the slimes at the apex of their jumps. They then used their new stepping stone to launch up and over the railing, barely missing Jean as he backed away and dismissed his barrier.

As the two slimes rocketed past, Burt materialized a crackling dark blue beam of energy in his hand, swinging it like a sword. One of the slimes was instantly vaporized as the humming midnight blue blade bisected it effortlessly.

I approached the second slime, reached over and slapped it. The monster staggered back, looking at me as if affronted. Heheh, oops. But, there it was. My hand wasn’t tingling, it wasn’t burning, my skin wasn’t red or bleeding or sloughing off. The slime scrunched up, then shot at me. I met it midair with my fist, punching it square in the face. As I made contact with its green gooey flesh, my hand sank into its body. It stretched down my arm until it couldn’t stretch anymore, my fist almost popping out of its tautly stretched business district. Then, it slowly retracted like an elastic, slurping as I shook it off of my arm. Amazingly, I didn’t take any damage. A smile bloomed on my face as I played with the slime, stretching it out like putty and scrunching up its cute little face as it burbled at me angrily.

After a few minutes of playing around, I let Burt end its misery with a streak of dark blue light. I took off my necklace and examined it. The medallion, originally completely slime green, was now about a sixth blue. Green and blue liquid sloshed about as I turned it over to examine it. Over the next few minutes, we discussed possible uses for the necklace while I stared at it, the blue liquid slowly turning back to green.

Plan in mind, I waved to my two friends and slunk back to my room. I still wasn’t feeling 100% after summoning Sunder, so I decided to take a nap before conducting my next big experiment.

After resting for a couple of hours, I got up and stretched. If it worked like I thought it would… Shit-eating grin plastered to my face, I made my way back up to where I had last seen Burt and Jean. Both men were still there, contentedly watching Burt’s turret rip through slimes. When it disappeared, they looked at me expectantly.

“So?” Burt asked. “Any new ideas?”

I nodded, slipping the necklace on and theatrically sticking my arm out to the side.

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“Behold, the extent of my power!” I summoned Slimey next to me as I yelled out. I sent a pulse of mana to my necklace, causing the field of energy to envelop my skin again. Then, I (oh so carefully) poked Slimey. Nothing happened. I eased my fingers into his dark green goop. Still nothing.

“Come here, boy!” Smiling wickedly, I cannonballed into my familiar. The latter rushed forwards and swallowed me in the weirdest, grossest hug I had ever experienced. My slime’s body was uncomfortably warm, like hot pee in your shorts on a cold day. Well… Uh… So I figured… I sucked in a breath as I was completely submerged, the whole world taking on a green tint. Soon, I had to resurface. I was sure that others could hold their breaths for minutes at a time, but thirty seconds was my upper limit… Slimey didn’t open. I started panicking, flailing my arms around. Slimey mimicked my movements, reshaping into a gigantic humanoid form that swung its arms about as I did. I opened my mouth to burble out a scream, but the slime didn’t invade my body like I feared it would. Whatever magical energy was coming from the necklace was stopping any goo from rushing into my mouth. I cut my scream off short as I realized that there seemed to be no resistance. I sucked in a hesitant breath. Somehow, I could still breathe normally under over twenty feet of slime.

I looked down, checking the pendant. Still mostly green. With a joyful hoot, I directed Slimey to throw us off of the tower. We cascaded downwards, smashing into the gathered piles of slimes, barely missing the protruding knives. I brushed up against other slimes as Slimey filled with extra passengers. It was a surreal experience.

“Ok, Slimey. Look, when I do thiiiis, move forwards. When I lean back like this, go backwards.” We played around, trying to get a hang on my signals and Slimey’s capabilities while I was wearing him like a suit. I could make him stand like a slime golem, stomping and smashing into slimes, but the reduced area was less efficient in clearing slimes. If I telegraphed my movements enough, Slimey seemed to understand, but sudden movements still needed to be called out verbally. Still, I relished in the feeling of power as we stomped around the towers. I checked my pendant constantly, noticing the green liquid turn blue at a steady rate. I assumed I’d only be able to be fully submerged inside of my summon for around five minutes before needing to exit.

I made Slimey flatten out low to the ground before spinning in a few circles, then spreading out to deposit me onto the ground, completely surrounded by my monster’s slime wall. Curious, I sent a tiny pulse of mana back into the necklace. No response. Good. I almost tried while inside of Slimey, but I was afraid that a second pulse of mana would stop the necklace from working. I focused, sending more and more mana into the necklace. As I was hoping, the blue liquid visibly started shifting green.

“Slime on!” Slimey enveloped me once again. Now that I could guarantee that I wasn’t going to run out of necklace juice in the middle of the floor, I decided on going for a road trip. I directed Slimey to surge at full speed towards the unexplored portal directly to the east. We raced along faster than I could sprint as I experimented with my necklace, trying to figure out exactly how much mana I needed to sink into it for the pendant to stabilize.

We hurtled over hills and through rivers, even catching some air time a few times when we overzealously zoomed up and over hills. It was exhilarating. I laughed and hooted as we raced along, without a doubt the most fun I’d ever had. I was almost disappointed when we reached the portal within minutes. It really was an incredible feeling, speeding through the floor like we were invincible. I made Slimey screech to a halt as the portal came into sight. There was a group farming slimes. I backed up until we were barely peeking over a hill and peered across at the portal.

It was just like the group that Thwain had described. A party of five, one of the members staying well back and healing injuries as they appeared. Curiously, though, a second member had obviously gained a class. A woman with golden hair was whirling around, sending bolts of multicolored lights at the slimes. Even from over a hundred feet away, I could tell that she was absolutely gorgeous. There was just something about her… She moved with effortless grace, even throwing herself in the paths of slimes to protect her unclassed party members. She was a few paces out from the safety of the portal circle, fending off enemies with devastating efficiency. The rough state of her clothing was evidence enough to support the fact that she had been at it a while. Her skill was beautiful to watch, too. Bolts of every color flew from her hands, vaporizing slimes. After a few normal bolts, a bolt would strike a slime and scatter, sending a rainbow of lights in a cone behind the slime and decimating large swaths of monsters. My mouth dropped open. It was like watching rainbows shoot out in every direction.

I sat on the hill like a creeper, watching the party fight while hoping not to be spotted. Honestly, it might have been easier to approach if they spotted me lurking, giving me the excuse to approach instead of chickening out. I knew that I should race down and introduce myself. If these people were resourceful enough to slowly gain classes one way or another, they would surely be of great help. Plus, if we could ferry more of their people to Floor 2… Then again, showing up as a slime golem probably wouldn’t make the best first impression. I thought that maybe I could double back and get Thwain, but he was probably off scouting. I could probably flag him down if he passed this way, but I wasn’t sure what his route was or where he was planning on flying today.

Time was ticking and I had to make a decision. Sure, my mana could probably sustain my necklace for at least twenty more minutes, but I didn’t want to push it in case an emergency cropped up. I inched forwards a few times before chickening out again and again. What if the woman mistook me for an enemy and blasted me with her skill? Were it only the healer, I wouldn’t be as intimidated, but the golden haired beauty’s skill… Ok, ew, no. The blond woman’s skill was ripping through more slimes than Thwain’s bullets and she was firing an almost constant barrage of them into the surrounding monsters. If Slimey was hit with a refracting beam, I’d probably be instantly shredded by the dozens of offshoots. I bit my lip, afraid to move but also afraid to miss my chance.

Then, it happened. My cue to move manifested. The woman shot off an array of bolts into the slimes. Four of her six shots refracted, killing almost every slime within sixty feet. Unfortunately, though, that also meant that there was an enormous wave of aggroed slimes that started rushing towards her. At a panicked shout from the healer, she started retreating towards the portal. The three unclassed party members stepped forwards to help keep the slimes off of her as she retreated towards safety when disaster struck. I was too far away to see what she tripped on, but whatever it was sent her crashing to the ground, smashing the back of her head hard on the dark stones circling the portal archway.

I ordered Slimey to move.