Chapter 29 – Dungeon, Evolution and Success (3)
“That! Give it back to me!”
“You can’t take back what you gave me.”
“Ooh-gooooo.”
The two of them now knew the value of the gem. They still didn’t know what kind of gem it was, but at the very least, they knew that it was the main reason why men had desperately tracked them down when they ran away from the palace.
However, Artpe stuck out his red tongue as he teased them. He continued to pour Mana into the Demite’s Gemstone.
“Can you hear me? No , I don’t think it can communicate yet.”
The Demite’s Gemstone won’t show its true worth until it was refined.
However, it was such an amazing gem that it could amplify one’s Mana, and it had the ability to remember magic spells. Even at its current form, it was a remarkable item. Artpe was satisfied with it until now.
“What are you trying to do with that! Are you perhaps going to feed it to the Slime like the rocks from before?”
“You are mad. If you do that, the Slime would most definitely evolve a step forward….”
“That is what I want.”
The Giant Slime was desperately looking for a power that would allow it to overpower Maetel.
Again, the Dungeon’s 10th floor acted in concert with the Giant Slime’s struggle. Large changes occurred once again. The walls that divided the rooms melted away. All the secret pa.s.sageways were revealed. The Dungeon allowed the Giant Slime to encounter the rest of the remaining Slimes.
[Keeeeeeee!]
[Gee-geek! Gee-gee-gee!]
The floor abruptly became a large plaza, and all the Slimes thrown away by the Dungeon knew what the Giant Slime intended. They didn’t want to die in vain, so they did their best to oppose the Giant Slime.
The party was watching mere Slimes. It would theoretically be ridiculous for them to feel any emotions for the Slimes. However, they were faced with an impressive and overwhelming sight.
“Even such simple organisms fight hard to live…”
“They are no different than humans.”
“What kind of…. Humans are….!”
“Quiet.”
He didn’t want to talk have a discourse about life with a brat. Artpe let out a deep sigh, then for the last time, he injected his Mana into the Demite’s Gemstone.
His preparation was at an end.
“How’s your Mana reserve, Maetel?”
“If it is just maintaining Berserk, I have enough. If I use the Option…. I think I can use it about three times.”
“All right. You should be on standby.”
Artpe didn’t hesitate as he threw the purple colored gemstone held by his hand. Coincidentally, one of the Slime, who had been opposing the Giant Slime, swallowed it.
[Gee-eeee-eeee]
“It really ate it!”
Of course, it didn’t matter how high the Slime’s level was. The Demite’s Gemstone wasn’t an item that would be dissolved so easily. The Slime, who possessed the gem, knew it had become stronger. It coordinated with the other Slimes to attack the Giant Slime.
[Goo-ohhhhhhhhhhhh!]
The Giant Slime ate all of them. The Giant Slime’s wound healed easily from just eating its brethrens.
The Giant Slime’s anatomy was simple, so it was easy for it to heal itself. By eating its brethrens, it was able to grow immediately, and it was leveling up at a fast pace. This was why the Giant Slime had targeted them.
“The number of Slimes is decreasing.”
“In the beginning, there were around 5,000 of them.”
“I don’t know how this Dungeon was made, but the effects of Mana becomes stronger as one travels deeper into the Dungeon. This is why this floor has stronger Slimes, and they are more numerous here.”
It was easier for strong monsters to sp.a.w.n at location with high density of Mana. Even if it was Maetel and Artpe, it would have taken them several days to kill all the Slimes that came out all at once from the secret pa.s.sageways. However, the Giant Slime was killing all of them instead.
“This really is like the Record Link!”
“It isn’t a completely closed system, so it won’t be efficient like the Record Link. However, if one wants to see an organism ‘evolve’, this might be a better method than the Record Link.”
“I look forward to it!”
It was very rare to come across such a high ranked Slime, so they would be able to look forward to the reward. Artpe and Maetel was still conversing in a calm manner in front of such an overwhelming spectacle. Silpennon and Leseti was taken aback by this fact, but they reached a point where they decided not to think about it any further.
“Ah. It went in.”
The Delmite’s Gemstone was inside the Giant Slime’s body. At that moment, the numerous mana-infused stone that was within all over its body reacted to the Delmite’s Gemstone. A small resonance started to occur. Of course, this was what Artpe had been aiming for.
“I see the end to the Slimes.”
“We really don’t have much time left. Be ready, Maetel.”
“Yes, I’m ready.”
There really was a lot of variety of Slimes nesting here. Dungeons were something that was rare on the continent. Maybe they were worth researching.
However, he was watching a single Slime consolidating all the Slimes it had eaten.
[Geeeeeeeeeeeeee!]
In the end, all the structures on the 10th floor was gone, and the whole floor had been turned into a wide open plaza. If one discounted the living and breathing members of Artpe’s party, there was only one Giant Slime on the floor.
It had eaten everything within the Dungeon. Everything that possessed Mana was within its body. This was an unprecedented feat. This being was pushing itself towards a higher Cla.s.s.
[Goo-ohhhhhhhhhhhhng!]
“My G.o.d. It is letting out light…. This is…”
“The Slime must be evolving!”
“There is a higher Cla.s.s that can be reached!?”
Artpe’s eyes let out a strange light as he looked at the Slime letting out light from all over its body. This was something that had never been seen before on this continent. This moment was sweet and exciting!
Artpe had a smile on his lips before he knew it. He had come here in an attempt to educate Silpennon, so he had never expected to hit a jackpot here. As expected, a Demon…. A human should be good to other people in one’s life!
[Giant Slime]
[Level : 199]
When it went past level 100, it was given the name of Giant Slime.
At some point, a much bigger body appeared from within the light.
[Huge Slime]
[Level : 200]
The body of the Slime was letting out a rainbow light. Its body possessed enormous amount of Mana, and its intelligence increased by another tier.
Its body was much bigger than before, but when it moved, it was more efficient in its use of energy. Artpe immediately checked it with his Read All Creation ability, and he found out the Slime had several new skills. These skills helped the Slime efficiently capture and digest its prey. These needed skills were gathered in one place to strengthen the Slime.
The part that gave Artpe most joy was its name of Huge Slime. It sounded extremely simple, but the name of this ent.i.ty never existed on this continent before. If he ranked how rare it was, it would probably be considered to be ultra rare.
“There we go.”
[There we go.]
It was as if Artpe and Slime had made a promise to speak at the same time.
As expected, it gained enough intelligence to be able decipher the human’s intention!
[I can eat you all!]
When its body was trembling from delight, Artpe raised his voice to yell out loudly.
“You can attack it now, Maetel!”
“Understood!”
[I can now eat you all!]
The Slime was large enough to fill the plaza. The evolved Slime attacked the party. However, before it could use its skills, the Sword Energy gathered at the tip of the long sword was let loose. The golden energy traveled in a straight line to impact on the Slime!
[This isn’t enough…..!]
The Huge Slime was strengthened so much that Maetel’s Mana-infused attack pierced its body once before it healed its wound. Maetel’s attack stalled the Slime for only 3 seconds!
“Hyper Rubbing!”
However, Artpe had completed all his preparations beforehand, so he had plenty of time to pull the trigger.
[Ggoo-ooooo-ooohk!?]
The Huge Slime let out a terrible scream as its body started to writhe. The preys it had wanted to eat was right in front of it, yet it started to hit its body against the blameless Dungeon floor and walls. It threw a fit.
It had gained higher intelligence, so the pain it perceived had increased dramatically. The fact that it had been sure of its victory made the defeat a bitter pill to swallow.
“I never knew magic could be used this way….”
“Magicians are a scary existence!”
The target of Artpe’s Hyper Rubbing were the rocks and the Delmite’s Gemstone swallowed by the Slime.
It had a.s.sumed that these objects were part of its body, but they started rubbing crazily against its body as if they had a mind of its own. There was no way it could endure the spell without losing its mind!
[Goo-oooooooh······!]
Still, it refused to give up. It had broken through from the 1st floor to the 10th floor, and it had greedily eaten all the members of its race. Mere pain wouldn’t make it give up on its objective. Its greed was too strong for that to happen.
“Tsk. As expected, this level of attack won’t cut it.”
The Delmite’s Gemstone boosted the power of Hyper Rubbing by a ridiculous amount, so he had hoped this attack would be able to bring down the Slime. However, he had underestimated its willpower.
[Goo-ooohhhhhh! I’ll eat! I’ll eat! I’ll eat! I’ll eat!]
Even as its body was breaking apart from within, it moved its body to attack the party. When Silpennon and Leseti saw the enormous body of the Slime move slowly towards them, they didn’t offer any resistance. They just trembled in fear.
At that moment, Artpe put one hand atop Maetel’s hand, which was gripping the longsword.
“Let’s attack it for the second time, Maetel.”
“Y…yes..”
This was physical contact initiated by Artpe. Maetel’s heart felt as if it was on cloud nine. She was so happy that it was difficult to maintain her Berserk skill. If the skill was canceled, they would lose to the Slime.
She was having a hard time controlling her emotions, so her eyes started to spin.
Artpe didn’t realize what she was feeling. He gave her an order with a calm voice.
“You just have to attack like before. You should gather your energy and shoot it towards the Slime. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Yes, I’ll try……”
Maetel worked desperately to control her heart, and she gathered her Mana at the tip of her sword. At that moment, he used the Mana Link to provide Mana to her. When she realized what was happening, Maetel used Record Divide, so Artpe could share more Mana with her.
Even if it was the same skill, its power would be amplified by a lot.
“Shoot it. Mana String.”
Moreover, it was possible for the two of them to share each other’s skills and options! It was possible to combine all of them into one attack!
Maetel felt the energy gathered inside the longsword change through magic, but she used her instinct to shoot it.
There were black stripes mixed in with the golden light as background. This strange energy impacted on the Huge Slime’s body, and it pierced through….
[Koo-ahhhhhhhhhng!]
Artpe’s will took hold of the attack. The trajectory changed sharply as the attack drilled deeper into its body once again!
“Hyper Rubbing!”
The attack wasn’t at an end yet. The Mana Strings that had manifested around the beam of light was imbued with the option of Hyper Rubbing. The energy within him manifested as friction within, and it was being delivered right into the Slime!
It was a ridiculous composite spell. The method Artpe had used possessed such a high degree of difficulty that it would have made all the other magicians on the continent feel disheartened!
“As expected, a mage is amazing!”
“Artpe was always amazing!”
“C…cool……”
Of course, everyone gathered in this place were idiots, so the only feedback he received was the fact that it was cool and amazing!
[Koo-ohhhhhhhhhhhhhng!]
The Huge Slime let out a roar that contained its rage and pain. It finally acquired the power that would enable it to eat all of its enemies. It had been so sure, yet an unexpected attack had been used against it!
It couldn’t use its power, because the stones within its body was constantly vibrating. On top of that, an additional attack had been used against it. It was so painful that it was driving it nuts!
[I’ll kill you at all cost! I’ll kill and eat you! I’ll kill you!]
“Are you going to ask the Dungeon for help again? Well, the Dungeon no longer has anything hidden away that it can give you. So what can you do?”
There was a cruel light in Artpe’s eyes as he looked at his struggling enemy. The Slime extended its body to hit the wall, and it attempted to eat the weaker members of Artpe’s party. However, all of its attempts were thwarted by the Hyper Rubbing.
It was as he said. The Dungeon had given everything it had hidden to the Huge Slime. There were no methods available to the Huge Slime that would allow it to strengthen itself again. Its struggle was wasted. It was all in vain.
“Uh. The purple gem…..”
Leseti found herself to be pathetic, since she was trembling in front of the enemy without putting up any resistance. She tried to right herself when she caught sight of the change that was occuring to the gem within the struggling Huge Slime. The purple light was getting stronger as time pa.s.sed.
“Ah. As that b.a.s.t.a.r.d reached the high rank Cla.s.s, its ability to dissolve substance also increased by a lot. The Demite’s Gemstone is probably providing it with more power as it become more refined as time pa.s.ses.”
When Artpe kindly gave an explanation, Leseti’s expression turned more peculiar.
“You… you planned on refining the gem, while attacking your enemy….!?”
“Isn’t it obvious? If I wanted to kill it, I could have killed it with my modified Mana.”
“You……!”
Artpe had an impudent smile on his face as he replied to her. Leseti grinded her teeth when she saw the annoying smile of the brat. However, she couldn’t deny she was slightly in love with that smile.
After three minutes, the Huge Slime stopped its fruitless struggles. It meekly faced its death.
A new piece of history was recorded on the continent, and it was quietly buried at that moment.