Chapter 17: A Slimy Situation!

-----

Veronica quickly reached the next floor and found that, unlike the previous floors, this one was simpler, as it was made entirely out of a single corridor that reached upstairs…

"I wonder if that Slime went up or did it hide somewhere? But where? Could this place be filled with more secret rooms and traps…?"

Veronica inspected her surroundings by using her mana waves and the 'Special Five Senses' Skill, evading the traps that came to her view with ease. They were traps that activated upon contact, some would send her into a secret room, while others would throw poisoned arrows at her. Some rare traps were said to be able to teleport the one that stepped on it to a random area inside the dungeon.

Veronica finally reached the stairs towards the next floor and felt as if things were kind of off… she has not encountered any monster and her journey there seemed swift. But she did not ponder in her paranoiac thoughts as she continued through her adventure towards the surface.

However, as Veronica reached the next floor, her feet were suddenly trapped into a sticky and slimy substance, which had been completely still up until now, she was not capable of detecting it in the dampness of the floor.

"Blob!"

"Hm?! You!"

A medium-sized blue slime appeared ahead of Veronica's sight; it was the one that had escaped.

Veronica had spared its life because she saw no worth in following it, but if it tried to kill her, she had to fight for her life.

However, instead of attacking Veronica, it felt frightened as it ran away faster than Veronica could catch it with her hands.

"Ah, you rascal!"

Veronica quickly scouted the new floor and found that this time there were four corridors, with several traps scattered around. She felt the breeze coming from the corridor to her right and assumed that it could be the way up.

As she advanced forwards, she felt the slight presence of a formless mass of liquid sticking to the ceiling. By using 'Appraisal', on it, she inspected its stats.

[Name: Nameless.

[Race: Toxic Green Slime

[Titles: None.

[Type: Slime/Poison

[Rank: 2

[Level: 046/100

[Health Points: 73/73

[Mana Points: 55/55

[Strength: 43

[Defense: 50

[Magic: 40

[Resistance: 80

[Agility: 90

[Passive Skills]

[Dark Vision; Level 2]

[Abnormal Status Resistance; Level 4]

[Strengthened Flexibility; Level 2]

[Physical Damage Resistance: Level 2]

[Body Form Manipulation: Level 1]

[Active Skills]

[Charge; Level 2]

[Projectile Fire; Level 2]

[Corrosive Venom Secretion; Slime; Level 3]

[Absorption Healing; Materials; Level 2]

"It's rather weak, but its entire body is made out of corrosive venom! How I hate this dungeon! Why is it made out of monsters that can easily damage me?"

Veronica had to complain a bit, this was getting out of hand. However, she quickly figured out that it was a way for the ecosystem to adapt to the large number of armored creatures living in here, by creating beings capable of eating them and dissolving their heavy and sturdy armors.

Veronica was aware that the slime was not the one from before, and it seemed to be still in the ceiling. It probably had already detected her and waited for her to get on its range, but she decided to not be so careless.

"Shadow Sphere!" she said, conjuring a sphere of shadows with the help of Shade, hitting the patient slime with slight force. It had a decent Resistance stat, so it was capable of tanking it with ease. However, the pain that it felt was there, and it seemed enraged, moving through the ceiling while trying to attack Veronica with its projectiles made out of its own body.

"Blob! Blob!" it roared, fiercely.

Veronica used her generous Mana pool to cast Charge once again, while swiftly recalling her memories of learning evasion moves to evade the attacks and receive others with her shield. Her new shield seemed capable of receiving more than one hit of corrosive poison, unlike her previous one.

The Slime closed in as it expanded its body, while extending tentacles around Veronica, trying to devour her whole as it has done with all of its prey.

Veronica quickly found the Slime's Core as she braced her fist, coating them with her mana and releasing a powerful Unarmed Fighting Technique.

"Spear Attack!" she said.

"Blob?!"

Clash!

The red-colored Slime Core was pierced by her attack, but it seemed to not be enough, this Slime had it sturdier than the Blood Slimes!

"Blob!"

The Slime roared as it expanded its entire body and entangled itself around Veronica's arms, slowly dissolving them while pressuring them with unexpected strength.

She had enough defense to withstand the slime's strength, but not enough resistance to withstand its corrosive acid. Her arm began to melt off as it did her shoulders!

"Shade! Shadow Sphere!"

Veronica mentally called upon Shade's assistance as she conjured a Shadow Sphere that made the slime retaliate for a second, giving her an opening.

"My arms are trapped; I need to use my own Soul then! Soul Materialization!"

Flash!

From within the armor, a dark claw seemingly made out of her soul appeared, its presence was eerie and intimidating, making the slime quiver.

"Hammer Blow!"

Clash!

Using her own Soul shaped into a claw and materialized, she released an Unarmed Fighting Technique towards the Slime's Core, finally smashing the crystal into pieces. The corrosive poison suddenly became motionless.

[Experience Points have reached the required level!]

[Individual 'Rank' has increased from level 12 to level 16!]

[Furthermore, the Individual's 'Job' has increased from level 12 to level 16!]

"That was a bit dangerous… I better heal myself by 'eating' its core"

Veronica quickly used her Soul Claw to clean her entire body from the poison and then absorbed the shattered slime core to regain some Health Points.

"Absorption Healing…!"

[Toxic Green Slime Core] Material Successfully Absorbed; Health Points Restored]

[Please choose equipment to discard or synthesize into]

The amount restored was not as generous as she thought, and she had compensated for the damage with her own Mana, infusing it around her body while using 'Armory' to repair her body.

Then, as she moved upstairs, Veronica decided to use the Toxic Green Slime Core into her Armor again, hopefully increasing its corrosion resistance.

[The material [Toxic Green Slime Core] and the [Cursed Blood Living Armor] equipment have been synthesized into the [Toxic Cursed Crimson Living Armor] equipment!]

Veronica felt some slight changes in her armor once again, some pigments became green, and she gained a tiny green jewel in the middle of her chest armor.

Certainly, 'Armory' was an amazing skill that let her use the materials dropped by her enemy to strengthen herself beyond her race capabilities.

Reaching the next floor, Veronica quickly scouted the area as she quickly became still, while shrouded in shadows.

Within the moist mist, three Slimes were eating the corpse of an Armored Crab…

"It seems that this place is where Slimes reign…" thought Veronica.

As Veronica tried to lay low and think about a strategy, the blue slime from before appeared, it was actually following her from behind!

"Hm?! You again?"

"Blob! Blob!" it shouted, alerting the other slimes about Veronica's position.

"Blob…?"

"Glob…"

"…"

The three slimes, a Toxic Green Slime, a Blood Slime, and a strange, Dark Slime rushed towards Veronica with the intention of another easy meal.

"Shadow Sphere! Shadow Sphere!"

Veronica conjured two spheres of shadows towards the Slimes, two of them seemed to have stopped in dizziness due to her attack, but the Dark Slime swiftly evaded her magic and expanded its body like a sharp needle.

"Oh no, you won't!" shouted Veronica, bracing her shield as she used the Shield Technique 'Iron Wall'.

Clash!

The needle-like Dark Slime was surprised as it saw Veronica's shield intercept its attack and even resist it! It was rather confident in its offensive power.

"This is a Dark Slime… Shadow Sphere won't do much damage! Shade, can we cast 'Light Ray'? You're a Light Spirit after all!"

"Hmm…? So you're not so foolish to think that there are spirits for both Light and Darkness…" muttered Shade, feeding on Veronica's mana to cast 'Light Ray' against the Dark Slime.

Flash!

A flash of piercing yellow light pierced the Dark Slime, as it shrieked in pain, it seemed to be super effective!

"Bugyaaa!"

The light pierced its dark insides as it fried it completely, sending the boiling dark and purple liquids away with a 'Splash!' sound.

[Experience Points have reached the required level!]

[Individual 'Rank' has increased from level 16 to level 19!]

[Furthermore, the Individual's 'Job' has increased from level 16 to level 19!]

However, Veronica had no time to celebrate, two Slimes came from each of her sides, already recovered from the dizziness of her Shadow Sphere!

-----