CH 17

As expected, the boss’s sporangium raises the levels of both Tamiko and me, letting them learn new Fungal Skills.

Now I am at level 66 with 17 Fungal Skills, and Tamiko is at level 41 with 6 Fungal Skills.

The acidic taste of the slime’s sporangium does not dampen our joy. Now that my strength had been restored, the tension between the two of us was at its highest.

“So, let’s find the exit.” (Shuu)

There was a smooth stone slab on a rugged rock face. It was about two meters wide and four meters high. This seemed to be the doorway.

There was no sign of it opening, no matter whether I pushed or pulled. I tried hitting it with my [Hypha Hammer] covered with [Spore Light], but it only got a crack on the surface. If I hit it again and again, it might eventually crumble, but it would be easier to find the switch.

“Abeshuu, there is, squeak! Here, squeak!” (Tamiko)

After a few minutes of rummaging around in the surrounding walls, Tamiko finally found what looked like a switch. It was a small button secretly embedded in the rock face. The entire rock surface around it was cratered and blackened as if the slime had pressed it with its tentacles. It was a little devilishly hard to find.

When I pushed the button with trepidation, the wall shook and the stone slab was sucked into the rock wall.

“…It’s open…” (Shuu)

“…Squeak…” (Tamiko)

At last, at long, long last.

The door leading to the road ahead opened.

I spent five years working for this moment.

I clenched my fist tightly.

“…Let’s go, Tamiko. We’ll head straight to the surface.” (Shuu)

“Squeak-yeah!” (Tamiko)

As soon as you pass through and leave, the stone door closes on its own and opens again as you approach. It seems that from the outside, the door is opened and closed by some kind of sensor.

Now that we have overcome the biggest obstacle, there is nothing to stop us from returning to the surface.

(There was a time when I thought like this.) (Shuu)

(I still had it in me.) (Shuu)

“Pigya! Another slime, squeak!” (Tamiko)

“Damn it! I’m already sick eating this sour sh*t!” (Shuu)

The 49th floor is almost a den of slime. The Intermediate Slimes are not strong, but my [Beast Repellent Spores] are ineffective. The sporangium is also very, very bad tasting.

Other metro beasts are also caught by the spores here and there, but they hide in the shadows and don’t come out. It was as if they were hiding from the slimes that were flooding the place.

“I wonder if that slime was as only just big as the Intermediate Slime at first?” (Shuu)

“Do you squeak so?” (Tamiko)

The bosses that lurk in the Metro are basically either evolved or mutated individuals. They survive for a long time, grow up through repeated battles and predation, and finally become bosses. Or they are born as special individuals from the beginning, lived long enough, and become bosses. I don’t know which one that boss slime is, but if it is the former, it may have been an ordinary slime at first.

“I wonder how slimes reproduce. The boss seems to have given birth to Intermediate Slimes all by itself. I don’t think it’s like they simply increase by fission since they have very solid internal organs and sporangia.” (Shuu)

“I don’t know, squeak.” (Tamiko)

“So, you also don’t know.” (Shuu)

“At the very least, now that the boss is squeaked, the slimes will probably decrease little by little, squeak.” (Tamiko)

“Maybe I could be of some help to Oldman Uni and the guys on the 50th floor.” (Shuu)

Will another Slime Boss be born again on this floor? Or will it follow the gradual decline as a country now that they have lost their king? I have no idea what would happen.

“Either way, I don’t want to have to deal with that kind of monster again.” (Shuu)

“Don’t squeak a flag, squeak!” (Tamiko)

We got lost many times as we traveled. We got into a fierce battle with a swarm of Intermediate Slimes and so I scatter [Smoke Screen Balls] to escape.

While searching for the stairs to the 48th floor, night falls. The area is tinged with the blue glow of the [Firefly Moss]. Thinking that it would be dangerous to camp on this floor, we gathered our remaining strength and continue on our way. We managed to reach the stairs before morning comes.

“…I’m as tired that time during the boss battle…” (Shuu)

“…Squeak…” (Tamiko)

The staircase to the 49th floor is almost the same as before. The two of us decide to spend the night on a landing in the middle.

So, we took turns taking naps because of the possibility of an Intermediate Slime or other Metro Beasts passing by. When I woke up a few hours later, Tamiko’s eyes are fluttering so fast they are leaving afterimages.

The next day, we reached the forty-sixth floor, and then the day after, the forty-fourth floor.

After passing the 48th floor, the number of slimes drastically decreased, and mammalian and reptilian species begin to appear. Giant insects and legged fish also appear, but they are all low ranked compared to the top group on the 50th floor. After the slime-free life, the two of us finally had a more comfortable journey.

On the 41st floor, we had a series of battles with reasonably tough Metro Beasts. They were the same as the gargoyle I had fought before.

Although they are not as tough as the Boss-like beast on the 50th floor, their attacks are varied, from claws, trident spears, and other Hypha Weapons. They are not simple opponents.

I fought back with my [Hypha Arms] and [Spore Light] without a second thought. After the second and third battles, I became able to adapt to their movements, and the one I bumped into in front of the staircase took less than a minute.

“These guys are pretty strong too.” (Shuu)

“About level 40, squeak.” (Tamiko)

After taking the sporangia, I decided to also take the fur and bring it back with me. I felt that they would be great materials for a hunter. I made a sharp cut with my Hypha Sword and Tamiko used her front teeth, and the skinning went surprisingly smoothly. We kept at it on the way, but I had become accustomed to it over the past five years.

“It’s time to start collecting that might be worth money on our way to the surface.” (Shuu)

In order to keep myself light, I have so far left most of the stuff alone except for the sporangia and some meat. From now on, we have to think about what happens after we go above ground. I don’t know what kind of society we will find on the ground, so I can’t be picky, and I will have to make my choices appropriately.

“It’s okay, I can carry some squeak.” (Tamiko)

“If you carry the luggage while riding my shoulder, it’s the same if I just carried it myself.” (Shuu)

I then stuffed the gargoyle pelts and wings into my bag and resumed our travel.

We lost our way many times and fought with many Metro Beasts.

We suffered almost succumbed to thirst because it was difficult to get drinking water.

We were almost flattened by traps of falling rocks.

Sometimes, I quarrel with Tamiko over trivial things.

I found a pod of peas that contained pearly white gems.

A giant clam rolls down the slope.

We can spend hours idling by the edge of an underground lake, or traversing a swamp of boiling mud.

While touched by the rapidly changing scenery across the Metro,

The two of us finally get to the 30th floor and reach the 29th floor. It’s been ten days since the life and death battle with Boss Slime.

Metro beasts usually do not have the ability to analyze enemy forces as accurately as Tamiko. So, despite the difference in strength, they attack on instinct and appetite alone.

Even so, if I scatter [Beast Repellent Spores], most of them thankfully back off, sensing the difference in rank. This is clear evidence that the level of Metro Beasts is dropping. This power does not seem to be very fuel-efficient, and it is tiring and hungry to keep spraying, but it is much better than wasting time dealing with the small fries.

“Well, Tamiko the repellent doesn’t work against them.” (Shuu)

“Don’t you squeak mess with me you beasts! *Hiss*!” (Tamiko)

Tamiko is not the only one who has been unable to get along with insects and the other creepy crawlies. Perhaps because their predatory instincts are stronger than their intelligence, they boldly attack when they see potential prey. Having dealt with slimes so many times, I have developed a tolerance to the creepy crawlies, and I only have to wince every time I take out their sporangium.

The area of the floors seems to be shrinking as we go up the stairs. The journey from one stairway to another stairway must have taken around three hours on the 40th floor, but now I can see the next floor in a little more than half that time, partly because I have fewer chances to get tangled up with Metro Beasts.

From the twenty-ninth floor, it takes one day to reach the twenty-fifth floor at the staircase, and just a single day to reach the twenty-first floor.

Finally, the goal is visible, and Tamiko and I begin to become more and more elated.

“Wow… I’m feeling a little nervous…” (Shuu)

The moment that I have been dreaming about for the past five years while living side by side with death, is approaching. At this rate, I might start crying once we reach the single-digit floors.

“That’s right squeak, I’m squeaking excited.” (Tamiko)

“I wonder what is left after a hundred years?” (Shuu)

“Just a squeak more. We’ve already squeak this far, the goal is near, squeak.” (Tamiko)

“…no, we have to be careful at such times. It would be a shame to get carried away, slip up just before the finish line, and get seriously injured.” (Shuu)

“You’ve learned something, thank squeak!” (Tamiko)

“Well, it’s because I’m Abeshuu… You tell me when I’ve goofed.” (Shuu)

And on the 20th floor where they set foot.

There is something waiting for the two of them.

Summary of Shuu’s Fungal Skills (level 66)

01: Regenerative Mycelium

02: Hypha Sword

03: Burning Ball

04: Hypha Shield

05: Healing Ball

06: Hypha Hammer

07: Electric Ball

08: Hypha Great Shield

09: Enhanced Leaping Ability

10: Sensory Spores

11: Mysterious Mycelial Ball

12: Smoke Screen Ball

13: Beast Repellent Spores

14: ?????

15: Spore Light

16: Hypha Arms

17: ?????

Summary of Tamiko’s Fungal Skills (level 41)

01: Enhanced Hearing

02: Hypha Shell

03: Risk Counter

04: Hardened Front Teeth

05: Camouflage

06: ?????