Syl: Chapter 303

Chapter 303 : Restoration

While Vee and Paeris talked business, Llewel was interested in discovering the capabilities of my pink slime. He was a top-tier alchemist, so he would naturally be the best one to help me. Loreleia eventually departed, as she had many preparations to make to line everything up for her political maneuvering.

Naturally, we started with just a simple test of the basic [Heal Slime], and Llewel even went as far as to injure himself to witness the process firsthand. Cuts, bruises, and even burns were nothing when the slime was applied as a salve to the affected areas, miraculously disappearing as if they had never existed before.

"This is raw slime… and yet it's beating some of the most potent potions and remedies I've concocted," Llewel admitted.

"I guess being uncapped has really exponentially increased its capabilities," I replied.

"That's usually the case, but still… I don't think I would have ever expected this. It's a pity you cannot use your slime to heal yourself, from what I've understood about pink slimes."

That definitely seemed to be the case. Just like how I couldn't drink my own blue slime to recover my Mana, I couldn't heal myself with pink slime. Considering I'd gained massive amounts of Mana from the former, though, I hoped I'd gained vitality or something similar from the latter.

I had [Soul Sight], but it was hard to evaluate myself, and so later on I asked Loreleia for a thorough assessment. This led to a brief confusion, as she offered me the [Life Sight] trait and emphasized its importance, until I stopped her and explained that I already had it and had advanced it.

Once the confusion was settled, she did as I asked and examined me, and it seemed my previous theory was correct, as I'd gained "an abundance of lifeforce as if I were in the prime of my life," according to her. For comparison, she even used herself as a freshly ascended High Elf. She noted my lifeforce was currently surpassing even her own, which was definitely not the case before my evolution.

I briefly regretted not asking her to examine me before I ate the pink slime core, but it was only a minor inconvenience. I was just happy to know I'd gained some more life and would be harder to kill if anything struck my core, although I didn't know if it applied defensively either.

In that regard, [Healing Magic] would be very beneficial in the future when I get through its lackluster early levels. I could heal myself through spells, as I'd witnessed Evan do it for himself, and I could use my healing slime on allies.

Going back to my experiments with Llewel, he was being quite thorough with his testing. Naturally, we moved on to trying it as an ingestible potion, and while it was a lesser effect than as a salve, it still produced terrific results. He looked somewhat torn as this raw ingredient was already performing better than some of his best alchemical triumphs.

However, he wasn't discouraged, as he appeared confident that he could achieve even greater accomplishments with such prime ingredients. I was somewhat happy for him, as if he had discovered something amazing with my slime; then I would be the one to benefit when I finally cashed in on my alchemy lessons at a later date.

After completing sufficient testing of the [Heal Slime] on its own, we naturally began experimenting to see if combining it with my existing slime types would yield any unusual benefits. Naturally, the first one we tried was [Mana Slime], and while it didn't produce an unexpected effect, it did recover both health and Mana.

"To think an elixir of restoration is possible…" Llewel murmured in awe.

According to Llewel, it was a theoretical elixir that many alchemists had sought to achieve, something that would fully restore a person to their full capacity. The dream was to take someone dying and drained, and the miraculous elixir would undo all of that. By combining my two slime types, I had solved most of that equation, and if he could refine it further, then the results would be astounding.

Although none of my slimes can help recover fatigue. I'd need to find something similar to the legendary fruits and somehow reproduce it in slime form since those recovered stamina and vigor.

Of course, many had tried combining the two slime types, but this approach would dilute the effects of each other. My [Primordial Slime] negated this downside, allowing them to exist in perfect harmony.

"I don't use this term lightly, but you're effectively a walking national treasure," Llewel whispered.

"Good to know. Maybe I can use it as an excuse if anyone is trying to kill me."

"Hey, remember your dungeon idea?" Vee suddenly interjected. "Last time you didn't want to spend resources on treasures, but now you could give these impossible slime mixtures as rewards."

"If you were to do that, then I dare say it might be one of the most sought-after dungeons in the world," Llewel replied in all seriousness.

"It's on the list," I replied. "I still have more pressing matters first, and I'd need to find a location to set up."

"What about a roaming dungeon? You just set up wherever you feel like," Vee suggested.

"Dungeon's can't do that…" Llewel pointed out the obvious.

"Syl wants to build the entire dungeon out of slime."

"Oh… that changes things."

"Maybe?" I replied. "Although I don't know how people would find it if I kept moving it around."

"We'd need plenty of advertising, but just think of the unique appeal of it being able to pop up anywhere!" Vee said excitedly.

"I see you've got quite the entrepreneurial mindset," Llewel replied. "I hope you didn't fleece Paeris too hard in your discussions about potential trade."

"Haha, we will have to see. But I have to make sure Syl gets the best deals," Vee said in response.

"Glad to have you aboard, partner," I said, giving a thumbs-up.

After that brief intermission, we went back to trying to find any unique interactions. Next up was my favorite [Nitro Slime], but there wasn't anything too special about it. Primed healing slime would not heal anything, but once detonated, it could. I could make tiny bombs of healing slime that could be triggered to heal someone when they needed it.

Naturally, I suggested it to Vee, but instead of glee, she expressed outright terror.

"I am not swallowing bomb capsules! No matter what they do!"

I was sad to see her so vehemently opposed to the idea. I even demonstrated how perfect my control over them was, creating such small detonations that it wouldn't even disturb a blade of grass. But evidently this was Vee's bottom line, as she still outright refused.

We blasted through the other slimes, but none of them had any noteworthy manifestation until we came to [Poison Slime]. I would have thought mixing the two together would have been impossible, but it went off without a hitch.

After the strange concoction was created, Llewel spent what felt like hours studying the substance. Vee and I even had a full meal while we waited, and still he wasn't finished.

To pass the time, we began doing some magical wrestling practice, something Vee had been slacking on, and her rust was apparent when my weakened [Sub-Cores] were defeating her quite handily.

Eventually, when Vee started gaining the upper hand, Llewel returned to us with his findings. The results were surprising, as he noted a reduced healing efficacy in terms of wounds, and in return, it had become a powerful antitoxin.

"It's remarkable, pink slime and healing potions overall have always helped keep a patient alive and fight off the poisons or diseases, but it has never cured them. What's even more unbelievable is that I struggled to find a poison or venom it couldn't cure."

"I bet it's related to the ones you can produce," Vee quickly pointed out.

"Seems reasonable," I agreed. "I guess if I eventually collect them all, I'll be able to cure them all in return. It's good to know we won't have a repeat of the petrification incident."

"I feel sorry for Aimon; he was researching a universal antidote to petrification and you've beaten him to the punch by simply existing," Vee replied.

"I can just not spread it… I wouldn't want to destroy his accomplishments. Plus, it's not like I want to announce to the world that I'm a slime that can do all of this. Suppose it becomes one of my dungeon rewards. In that case, I can hide it behind the fact that it's 'dungeon created,' which is already a known factor behind some undiscovered and seemingly impossible magic items."

"You could potentially create the legendary panacea," Llewel suddenly pointed out. "I don't know whether to call your existence the greatest blessing to the alchemical world, or its biggest curse. Your raw slime is enough to put a large portion of alchemists, apothecaries, and herbalists out of business. On the other hand, it can be used to reach new unexplored boundaries, where we were previously limited by the quality of our materials on hand."

"Yes! We can establish financial domination over the world!" Vee cheered.

"Uh… I don't know about all that, but I'm glad it's useful. I look forward to when I can start learning some alchemy myself. I should also find a smithing teacher at some point to take advantage of my [Metal Slime]. I wonder if I could get Thessa to teach me."

"Throw her a stick of obsidianite and she'd beg to teach you," Vee chuckled.

"It sounds like you've got plenty of things to keep yourself busy. I guess it's a good thing slimes can't die of old age?" Llewel added.

"Adventurer, enchanter, alchemist, dungeon master, and now blacksmith. What's next?" Vee asked.

"You forgot slime," I teased. "I still want to become the ultimate slime and collect all the cores."

"Oh right… I guess we should add master of Magic to that list, too, then? That's assuming you actually remember to practice your spells for once, and not get distracted by whatever new shiny skill or trait you pick up."

"I'm getting there…"

We tried out a few other things, but it seemed like we'd reached the end of [Heal Slime] related experiments for now.

"Is that all you wish to test?" Llewel asked.

I paused to think; there was one thing I knew about, and I was extremely hesitant about it.

But it might be better to try it with Llewel around, after all, he is a Chronomancer.

"I want to see if we can create regeneration elixirs," I eventually replied.

It was now Llewel's turn to ponder; he scratched his head and flicked his left ear repeatedly as he seemed to be thinking up a storm. I could almost picture steam coming from his head.

"Even with the extreme capabilities of your pink slime, I don't think it is enough. Although there is a chance if we refine it through alchemy that it might be able to do so, that will take weeks, if not months, of research on my part."

"Ah, no… I didn't mean with slime," I quickly replied.

"Hmm?" he replied, his curiosity piqued.

I raised my hand and revealed a [Sub-Core] emerging from my slimy depths. It was Nu who was tied with Xi for the lowest level ones I'd had.

Kappa the Second is safe from my experiments this time.

"A slime core?" Llewel asked.

"One of mine… I think it should behave exactly like a pink slime core," I explained.

"That's…" he paused, looking quite surprised.

Thanks to [Core Collective], my [Sub-Cores] might as well be prime cores. If I had every slime core, then so did they. I exerted my will and watched Nu shift into the same rose-gold color of the one I had recently eaten, and this wasn't just using [Chroma Shift].

"Wait, what's stopping you from just eating those?" Vee suddenly asked.

"That would be like me asking why can't you just eat your legs," I quickly replied.

"But have you tried?" Vee asked.

"I haven't because I wouldn't want to waste the resources. But I usually get a system prompt if there's a compatible core, and I definitely don't get that from these."

"They're expensive? Are you sure you wish to waste one on just an analysis?" Llewel asked, staring at the core in my hand.

I knew he wasn't right, but I didn't want to correct him on that. If anything, they were pretty cheap thanks to [Core Collective] granting a discount and Nu being at a low level. Of course, I still hated wasting slime, but I felt like this would be a valuable thing to know beforehand.

"I think it's worth the test. I'd like to know if it's possible ahead of time in case of an emergency. Also, I figured you'd be able to reverse the effects if it fails."

Llewel nodded. "I can indeed return to a prior state moments ago. I could cut off an arm and return to it being precut if the regeneration fails."

"Oh bloody hell, are you seriously talking about cutting off your arm!?" Vee screeched. "This is even worse than your Pyromancer friend setting himself on fire!"

"I mean, I wouldn't enjoy it at all, but I have the mental fortitude and traits to endure it," Llewel replied honestly. "And in terms of alchemical science, I'd be more than happy to do so. It's one of the primary reasons I've had such success in alchemy, as I can potentially always undo any fatal mistakes I may make."

"You're both crazy…" Vee muttered. "I'm leaving the room. I do not want to see you dismember yourself."

Before either of us could say anything, Vee poofed out of the room using [Warp]. I could sense her waiting just outside for us to finish and call her.

"Would you need to prepare the potion, or anything like that?" I asked.

Llewel shook his head. "That is one of the reasons they are so valuable. You merely crush the slime core while it's submerged in its own slime, and that is enough to create the 'elixir'."

"Huh… okay, sounds simple enough," I replied and began exerting force on the core in my hand.

I'd obviously had previous experience doing this with Kappa, but to my surprise, I was actually struggling a little. I'd expected to shatter it with ease, but it looked like my new evolution had indeed given my cores some newfound robustness. I hid my delighted glee and finished the job, crushing Nu.

I ignored the system prompts and began recreating it. Meanwhile, I poured the shards and an ample amount of [Heal Slime] into a beaker that Llewel quickly provided.

Just as he had described, the shards of the core were rapidly merging with the slime, causing the pink sludge to take on a slight golden sheen.

"Well… just from the appearance alone, I would wager that it was a success," Llewel said confidently.

He picked up the beaker and then proceeded to cast a spell on himself. I tried observing it as much as possible, but it might as well have been written in an entirely different language, as I couldn't make heads or tails of anything within the construct. The spell settled on him, and he seemed prepared as he held out his one arm for me.

"Care to do the honors? I'd rather not try to cut off my own arm."

"Oh… right, I'll make sure it's as quick and painless as possible," I replied.

I formed a sword of mythril slime using only the best, as it had both the combined might of [Acid Slime] and [Metal Slime]. Llewel nodded his head, and I swung the blade down, slicing through his unguarded arm with shocking ease. Even Llewel blinked a few times in surprise as he saw his limb fall to the ground.

"Chug it!" I cried out.

Llewel fell out of his stupor, quickly drank the potion, and almost immediately it took effect. His body began to take on a soft glow vaguely matching the coloration of the elixir.

I'd experienced rapid regeneration before, thanks to my fight with the troll, and this seemed to also be the case. From the clean cut on his arm, a new limb sprouted outwards as if pushing out. It honestly was not a pretty sight, and I could understand Vee's squeamishness around it.

In only a minute or two, a whole new arm had sprouted from the wound and grown to its full size. Llewel even flexed it a few times in astonishment as he stared at it.

"Success?"

"More than a success, I reckon," he replied with a cheerful smile. "I haven't felt this good in decades!"