Chapter 37: Breach

Chapter 37: Breach

"Okay, this is a really stupid idea..." I muttered to myself.

I was currently holding a slime sword with all the bells and whistles directly in front of my exposed core. Logically, it made sense, as the only way to improve the trait was to use it, but my emotional side was not happy even if I was trying to shut it up with [Enhanced Willpower]. I had become very unaccustomed to pain due to my unique biology, and to say I was terrified would be an understatement.

"On the positive side, I think this will also help [Core Refinement]..." I said with a sigh.

I swung the sword at my core, almost immediately regretting my decision while it was in motion, and then the pain came. It hurt like hell, and that was an understatement. My [Shapeshifting Mimicry] actually struggled to maintain my form, causing me to half-revert to a puddle of inert slime. The worst part... One swing wasn't enough. It took two more swings before it finally happened.

I collapsed into a lifeless puddle at the relief of it finally being over, as the self-inflicted torture had taken a great mental toll. I considered using a healing potion to end my suffering, but I found my core already injecting and consuming slime to fill its cracks. I crawled into my hole and went to bed.

The first thing I did when I woke up was inspect my core, and to my relief, the scarlet red orb was back to its flawlessly smooth perfection. Although this recovery was significantly costly in slime mass, eating into most of what I had earned yesterday.

"Perhaps I should consider [Slime Conversion] soon, or I'm going to run into a daily deficit."

When it looked like Garz wasn't coming this morning, I decided to head out myself. I used my bear cloak to cover the gap in the armor to retain some modesty before leaving. My destination was Yuzz's home, and during the trip, I received a lot of praise for dealing with the humans from the goblins going about their work. I still wasn't happy that everyone thought I was Tarz, and I was grateful that at least Yuzz was one of the few who did.

"Morning Yuzz."

"Morning Syl, what can I-" She stopped and stared at the gaping hole in my armor, "Dammit, your new armor! Wait, how the hell did you survive something like this?"

"I was lucky." I lied because even if we were friendly, I would never reveal that any damage not to my core was superficial at best.

I managed to hide my shock of suddenly gaining a new skill, helped by Yuzz being too busy examining the damage.

"I can fix it, but it'll be patchy, unfortunately."

"Thanks. I was also hoping you'd make a new outfit for me."

"Oh? More rare materials?" Yuzz said with sparkles in her eyes.

I pulled out the intact bear pelt along with my remaining boar hide. Yuzz was practically drooling already.

When I got closer, I heard the echoes of battle and goblins shouting. The farm was being invaded. Those badger monsters were emerging from a large hole in the cavern wall, and the goblins were scrambling to hold them back. Cursing, I formed a spear and charged into the fray.

I joined a group of goblins in a pincer maneuver against one of the creatures. My spear stabbed through its defense with an audible fizzing noise. It roared in anger as it ignored the goblins and directed its fury on me. I was thankful for all the training as I dodged its threatening claws and entered a flow of counterattacks.

I thought it had finally died when it collapsed, only for it to suddenly burst with renewed vigor, thrashing wildly and, unfortunately, taking out one of the goblins. I thrust my spear deep within the creature and activated [Slime Burst] on the tip of my spear; the spearhead swelled with slime and then exploded deep within the monster.

"[Defy Death]..." I muttered to myself, remembering they were the source of my recent purchase.

I left behind the corpse to join another battle, as I knew it would be my job to harvest them later. This one went down without too much trouble, and unfortunately, I wasn't the one to land the killing blow after it triggered [Defy Death]. I kept hopping from battle to battle, getting a full workout of my combat skills.

It was far too effective using [Slime Burst] to detonate my spear point inside a creature, easily worth the slime mass expenditure. The bigger problem was it ruined the meat the goblins needed for food, and while I would be fine eating melted innards, I assumed even [Robust Stomach] wasn't good enough to eat acid.

During the encounters, I claimed two more kills myself, and eventually, the farm finally became free of any badgers. I joined a group of warriors for what looked like a debriefing. I was thanked for my swift participation and praised for my effective fighting style. Although internally, I knew I only looked untouched thanks to lacking flesh and blood.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Cave breach. Too much dead. Too much essence. Monsters attracted." One of them explained and pointed to the hole.

"We should go in. Find nest. Kill all!" Another enthused goblin suggested.

"I don't mind going to explore the hole. I'm good at sneaking." I offered. If I went in alone, I could stop holding back and earn valuable experience for my neglected traits like [Pseudopod].

"Tarz strong. Killed even humans. Good idea." One of the goblins agreed.

There was a bit of back and forth, but eventually, I got the go-ahead from the warriors. I got told to scout and retreat if things became too dangerous. I wasn't sure where the usual leadership of Garz and Krutz was during all of this, but it could wait since there was a cave to explore.

I approached the breach and looked down the long, roughly dug-out tunnel.

"Time to explore," I said with an excited grin.