^^ Sleep Slime ^^
Eating 30 different corpses was enough to finally Level Up my Slimes, which I was very, very excited about, as they all lined up in front of me in the Goblin Camp and showed their new Skills.
Acid Slime Lvl 2, Improved Dissolve: Slime can now secrete an Acid so powerful that it eats through Diamonds instantly, and grows proportionally to the amount of Dissolved Material it Feasts on.
Acid Slime Lvl 2, Improved Fabricate: Slime can reproduce any item it has Dissolved, losing Mass equal to the amount of Material Required. The level of Complexity it is capable of is decided by its Intelligence. (Minimum 10+Int)
Healing Slime Lvl 2, Novice Healing: Creature can secrete a low-tier healing Aura, healing 1hp per second in a radius of 10ft. Requires one Red Willow Herb every 28 Days. (28/28)
Sleep Slime Lvl 2, Improved Sleep: Slime can secrete a liquid that sends Creatures/Characters to sleep. If Target has a Con of 7 or higher, gain 50% Chance to Resist. Time Asleep = 12 Hours/Con. Slime can spit this Liquid up to 15ft.
Poison Slime Lvl 2, Improved Poison: Slime secretes a highly Poisonous liquid that incapacitated and damages creatures and Characters. Dmg=Con x (Lvl+5). Once affected, there is a 25% chance of Paralysis, which lasts for 10/(Con) minutes.
Catalyst Slime Lvl 2, Improved Catalyst: Dilute/Activate Solution;
—Dilute: Lower Efficiency of Solution by 3/4.
—Activate: Cause a Violent Reaction within Solution, (i.e. combustion/electrolysis/freezing.)
Antidote Slime Lvl 2, Improved Antidote: slime secretes a liquid which relieves the effect of any poison beneath its level instantly, and has a 75% chance of relieving poison above its level by 1; chance decreases by 1/4 for every level higher.
Smoking Slime Lvl 2, Improved Smoke Screen: Smoking Slime emits a toxic cloud of carbon smoke, choking and suffocating all creatures within the 30ft Radius, as well as totally obscuring the location of anything inside from view. Targets inside are automatically subjected to the Potent Miasma Skill.
Smoking Slime Lvl 2, Potent Miasma: Creature exudes an Invisible, Odorless Gas that slowly does increasing amounts of damage to all within the Miasma, as well as removing Stealth Abilities and Healing Abilities, and Severely Disorienting the Target. Can be Resisted if Target's Con is more than 3/4's the Creatures. (Dmg = Lvl x Con x Seconds inside Miasma.)
"Alright, I can work with this... Acid Slime, start devouring the entire Village, piece by piece, and keep a catalogue of everything you can Replicate. Healing Slime, Antidote Slime, Catalyst Slime, Poison Slime, gather any medicinal herbs you can find in the Dungeon, including mushrooms, roots, reeds, grass, and just literally any living plant or fungus you can find. When you can't carry anymore, let me know and I'll summon you back. Tranquilizer Slime, gather any Glow-Stone you can find, or alert Acid Slime to its location if it's too big to carry, so Acid Slime can Dissolve and Feast on it. Smoking Slime, go Feast on all the Peat you can; if it works right, it'll make your Miasma detectable, but also even more potent." I gave swift orders to the slimes, scattering them to the four corners of the dungeon instantly.
'They can act Independently?' -Jenny. Gerson tilted his head, watching the Acid Slime begin to eat the Chieftain's Tent, one piece at a time.
"Yes, they can. They have an intelligence of 5, right now, so they're pretty reliable." I nodded, and looked up at Hellen as she approached with Kenny and Uric, who both looked as clean as when they'd started. I pointed at the 'Mask of Air' to Kenny as he approached, indicating the borrowed item. "This, my friend, is a very useful item in the middle of a Fen and a Goblin Village; the lack of horrible smells is quite welcome."
He laughed, nodding and sitting on a log next to the tent. "Don't I know it! Usually it's me and Gerson who use them, while Hellen and Uric stay at the back of the group; it also gives you immunity to poison attacks, so it's very useful in dungeons with Poisonous creatures. Still, Gerson, you were supposed to wait and let us all fight the Boss, not Tank it yourself!"
'I did no such thing; Sam One-Shotted it with a Potion she calls 'Catalyst', which turned its Acid Blood into Flames. Very, very wicked graphics in its death; you would be proud.' -Jenny.
Uric grinned, shaking his head. "So you turned the acid into a Base? Or combusted the acid?"
"Combusted the Acid... I'm surprised you knew that, most kids these days don't know the first thing about chemistry!" I grinned at the Archer, who blushed slightly, muttering darkly to himself about 'twenty isn't a Kid' while Hellen sat down next to me.
"Well, good work! Now we get to loot a Swamp... yay..." she sighed, shaking her head sadly.
"A Fen, actually, and no you don't; my little monsters are gathering anything useful." I summoned back the Poison Slime, feeling a tiny tug on my mind, and grinned when it puked up a pile of herbs and mushrooms, then rolled off to continue its work.
Loot Obtained: Red-Cap Mushroom (25), Red Willow Herbs (30), White Willow Herbs (10), Green Willow Herbs (10), Blue Willow Herbs (20), Spotted Mushroom (10), Acid Shroom (25).
"Blue Willow Herb... what do you do, I wonder?" I picked it up, sending the Loot into a Bag; that way it wasn't in my Inventory, and it didn't mix with my herbs, to accommodate the sharing of loot later. I also placed the money we'd gotten in there (5.60$), minus my Five Gold from the Boss.
"Okay... that definitely makes this easier... but why is your Acid Slime eating the Boss Room?" Hellen glanced at the halfway-eaten structure, and the waist-high slime that was steadily munching away on everything, growing bigger and bigger every moment.
"For Fuel. That slime can create weapons, and I intend to sell them. It will also be able to give me all the Loot from this Village, without searching through a whole bunch of Goblin Laundry." I shrugged, summoning the Healing slime back and storing its pile of Loot into the Bag.
Loot Obtained: Red-Cap Mushroom (30), Red Willow Herbs (10), White Willow Herbs (10), Green Willow Herbs (10), Blue Willow Herbs (10), Spotted Mushroom (10), Acid Shroom (50).
"Ooooh yeah, this is gonna be rent for another month once I'm done making potions from these bad boys!" I laughed gleefully as I organized the Loot in the Bag into sections for each Potion I could make with them.
"Speaking of, you said something about using the Herbs to make Potions, then selling those and giving us a share of the new Profit?" Uric sat down across from me, asking the question bluntly and stubbornly refusing to acknowledge Hellen's intense glare at his lack of Tact.
"I did, and I do plan to do that; if I can get enough Glow-Stone, I can make 50 healing potions as well as 20 Catalysts and 20 Poisons or 20 Antidotes, or 20 Sleeping Potions. Healing potions sell for 20$ a piece, so that's 1,000$, and sleeping potions are 60$, so that's 1,200$, or 100$ a piece for Antidotes, 100$ for Poisons, and 150$ for Catalysts, so for Maximum Profit I sell Catalysts and Poisons, for 6,000$. 8,200$ five ways is 1,640$ each!" I nodded seriously, doing the math for the Glow-Stone I'd need. "I could buy all of the Glow-Stone I need for the 5$ I got from the Boss plus 5$ of my own money, or I could just go back to that dungeon from the other day and crack it out of the wall for free?" I glanced up at the aghast faces of the others, confused. "What?"
"I did not expect that high of a number, honestly... I expected maybe 50$? But 1640$?!?" Uric leaned back slowly, looking mystified.
"Well, yeah? Potions are expensive, and selling them in bulk is lucrative; why do you think I chose this class?" I chuckled, summoning back the next slimes, the Antidote and Catalyst Slimes, who both puked up a decent sized pile of herbs and fungus.
Loot Obtained: Red-Cap Mushroom (40), Red Willow Herbs (20), White Willow Herbs (20), Green Willow Herbs (20), Blue Willow Herbs (20), Spotted Mushroom (20), Acid Shroom (40).
"Yeah, actually, double that number... or just stop counting; the slimes are still finding massive amounts of Herbs out in the Fen." I hummed happily, pulling out my alchemy set and cooking up a Sleeping Potion, handing it to Hellen. "The Potion I promised you for the Boss Loot. I'm only 120XP away from Lvl 4, and I'm sure to get bigger and better potions then, so maybe I'll hold off on any decisions until then..." I frowned, looking at the Chat and searching the tags for 'Lvl 4 Alchemy Potions'.
'Level 4 potions?!?'
'What Potions do Level 4 Alchemists get?!?'
'Why didn't I get any new Formulae at Lvl 4?!? This 'Improved Tinkering' is Bulls$)t!!!'
"Improved Tinkering, instead of new potions? I can live with that, I suppose..." I hummed, closing the chat screen.
"Do you think you'll be able to make a musket or something?" Kenny asked, grinning wildly at the notion and relaxing next to Hellen.
"Honestly? I think that's a Ranged Weapon, and I'm not able to use Ranged Weapons, only Thrown... also I don't want to ruin the High Fantasy with Guns; that would break immersion so hard that I would literally destroy anyone who did it. Also, the Damage a Musket could do would be ridiculous, and probably Agility-Based, not Strength-Based." I shook my head at his enthusiasm, and summoned back the Poison Slime once more.
A new Chat appeared under the Party Chat, and then a line appeared. 'No more Herbs. All Gone.' -Slime Servant.
"Oh! So that's how they Communicate..." I nodded and sent it back into my belt Inventory, looking over at the Acid Slime, which was now about five feet tall and now munching away on another Hut. "That's going to be a b$&@h and a half to get back to town." I sighed.
"It seems to move pretty quickly for a slime, actually, so we'll just walk back; it's only a few miles, and along the way we'll get you that 120XP you need for Lvl 4!" Uric grinned, tapping his fingers and typing furiously, frantically looking for something in the Chat.
"I agree... what are you looking for, Uric?" Hellen raised an eyebrow at him.
"The price of the newest Gilded Ranger's Bow!!! There's a few of them floating around, but they're usually like 1,000 bucks, so I've never even considered them, but having a x6 to Sneak Attack instead of a x3 will be a Game Changer!!!" He laughed ominously, still typing and manipulating the screen.
"I'm unfamiliar, is that a Legendary Item or something?" I murmured to Hellen.
"It's actually a Unique; there's only Seven of them, and you have to be a Nephilim Archer of at least Lvl 10 to Equip it. Each one gives a x2 bonus to Sneak Attack, a 10% Buff to Defense, and a +5% Damage Modifier, as well as changing the Damage Type of the arrows to different Damage Types. It's a pretty wicked item at low/mid-level play, but waaaay above our Pay-Grade. He should probably spend the money more wisely, like, oh, I dunno, buying himself a newer VR Pod to increase his honestly sad Frame Rate?" Kenny answered the question sarcastically, nudging the younger man's leg.
"Hey!!! I've wanted that Bow since we started!!! I made my entire Character around it!!!" Uric defended his enthusiasm stubbornly, and then grinned. "Aha!!! 1,200$, Verified by the GMs of the Market as Authentic! #4 in the Series, the Silver Wood Bow that does Holy Damage! Mark me as Interested!!!" He laughed triumphantly, sticking his tongue out at Kenny childishly.
Kenny sighed, shaking his head. "You're going to regret buying such a Low-Level Item, man... it's only a Lvl 10 Unique!"
"One that Scales with the Player, though!" Uric fired back.
They argued back and forth for a bit while I paid attention to my Acid Slime, who had eaten all of the Huts and was now the size of a house, but still moving at about the walking pace for a humanoid. It began to eat the Wall that surrounded the village, carving a path through the wood and stone structure without slowing down at all.
"Well, I guess I have all the Glow-Stone I need, now..." I chuckled, and looked at Gerson. "Oh! Right, your Tag! I'll handle that now, considering we're just sitting here!" I nodded to the suddenly attentive Warrior, and opened a portion of the Chat, typing away and creating a Query that would allow me to access his Chat Settings. Not a Hack at all, as it essentially just let me see his Screen, and therefore not something that the GM's would get angry about.
'What do you need me to do?' -Jenny.
"Nothing, just sit still, I'll be done in a few minutes at most... Hmm, alright, Jenny Gerson, Age 22... oh, it's your Sister's account, that's cool. What should I change the Tag to?" I asked, already having the screen pulled up.
'Uhm... Jack?' -Jenny.
"Hmph; your parents did not have the best naming sense, my silent friend, no offense meant, but Jack and Jen? Really? I feel bad for your School Years... my favorite taunt was 'Try some Green Eggs and Ham, Sam-I-Am?!?' Punk Kids... how about Gerson, so when your sister uses the account she doesn't have the same problem as you do?" I offered.
'My... Sister doesn't use the Account anymore. She works IRL and plays Online, not Virtual.' -Jenny.
"Oh, gotcha; Jack it is!" I changed the setting easily, sending the screen back to him for perusal. "Anything else need changing?"
'No, that's more than anyone else has been able to do! Thanks!!!' -Jack. He gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up, and I imagined he was grinning inside the helmet.
"It's no problem, really; my IRL job when I was in college was a Code Monkey for the GM's on games like this, so it's an easy fix." I shrugged and looked at the Slime as it finished off the Wall, and now towered over us at about twenty feet tall. "Aaaaand that's gonna be a problem... how are you gonna get out of the Gate, buddy?"
"The Gates actually allow Huge monsters out, so I don't think it'll be an issue there, but it's true that people would attack it if you got too close to the City..."
"True, but my house is just outside the city, so hopefully we'll get there without incident, and I can put it in my Moat until further notice..." I sighed, standing up and calling back the other slimes.
Loot Obtained: Red-Cap Mushroom (10), Red Willow Herbs (10), White Willow Herbs (10), Green Willow Herbs (10), Spotted Mushroom (30), Acid Shroom (30).
"Oh? I guess there was a little left..." I shrugged and called back all of my slimes, storing them inside my Belt, before I saw the massive smoking slime that was approaching, the same size or bigger than my Acid Slime. "Son of a B$&@h... you ate all of the Peat in the Swamp, didn't you?"
'Yes, the top 5ft.' -Slime Servant.
"Alrighty then... I've got everything I need, how about you guys?" I asked, looking at the others.
Hellen stood, clapping once to get Uric and Kenny's attention and halt their argument. "Boys, boys, you're both right, now let's go!"
They grumbled at her, but followed as we exited the dungeon; now that the Fog and Peat was gone, it was actually very easy to traverse, as a simple Marsh about 2,000ft by 2,000ft with a clear set of walkways that weekend above the water. We had walked in circles because of the Fog, it seemed. The Gate shimmered in front of us as we exited, one by one, and the two huge Slimes went last, because I was sure they'd attract monsters, but they had the Hit Points of a Lvl 2 creature, and I didn't want them to die and waste all my hard work... and spill all their Loot. That would be irritating.
Almost immediately after the two slimes appeared, Hellen blasted a spell off to our left, and I jumped at the unexpected sound and bright light.
100 XP Gained by Party: 20 XP Gained!
20 XP Gained from Ice Wisp Lvl 5 (x2)!
(Progress Lvl 3: 1900/2000-> Lvl 4!)
"Alrighty then..." I straightened my jacket and checked my watch. "We've spent 4 hours in this dungeon, and it's six miles back to town, so at a medium 15-minute mile pace, we'll be back in an hour and a half no sweat!"
Uric chuckled and led the way, while Kenny and 'Jack' moved to flank the back of the slimes, and Hellen and I flanked the front.
'I've never Escorted a Monster before; Something new every day, right Kenny?' -Jack.
'I've never been paid nearly 1000$ to escort anything, so I'll take it!' -YouKilledKenny!!!.
I glanced at his Tag again to make sure, and then laughed. 'Your Tag... brings me so much Joy. So much.' -Samantha.
'He's had that Tag ever since he was like 12.' -Ureka!.
'Yours is also pretty inspired. Mine's a Professional Tag, so I couldn't be anything Snarky...' -Samantha.
'Don't feel bad; Mine's even worse.' -MyDarlingHellen.
'... oh Honey... Why?' -Samantha.
'My parents made me this Account; I didn't get to choose the Tag.' -MyDarlingHellen. Hellen blushed, clearing her throat and moving forward again as Uric shot an arrow, killing a monster off in the distance in front of us.
50 XP Gained by Party: 10 XP Gained!
10 XP Gained from Wild Boar Lvl 5!
(Progress Lvl 3: 1910/2000-> Lvl 4!)