Syl: Chapter 240

Chapter 240: Epilogue

Trixie sighed as she headed towards Thern's place. She didn't feel like being an errand pixie but made an exception this time. She really didn't want to deal with the elves, potentially be dragged into some official business for the Fairy Queen, and then be obligated to follow through.

I'm not shirking my duty if I didn't receive a request in the first place! Flawless logic!

While she was casually fluttering about, obscured from a casual observer, the sudden sound of a siren blaring interrupted her relaxed demeanor.

Did those kobolds attack again so soon? Trixie wondered.

Guards were hastily forming, including some that had to be very high-level. Unlike her slimy companion, she couldn't just use something as simple as [Identify] to get the result; instead, she could see how much essence a person was worth.

"Someone attacked the noble's quarter!" one of the dwarf guards shouted his explanation to his coworkers.

"The kobolds?" another dwarf asked.

"That's the theory. But the elf embassy was attacked directly, from what I heard."

The elf embassy was attacked? Trixie pondered before coming to a reasonable conclusion. Syl!

Trixie began flying hastily after the dwarves, heading toward the location. At the same time, she began focusing on the enchanted coin she had given the slime. There was no signal.

What? Unless the coin is destroyed or half a continent away, I should be able to sense it. Trixie panicked.

As she got closer to the noble's quarter, she could overhear plenty of screams and shouting.

"Stay back!"

"Don't touch it, whatever you do!"

"Bloody beards, what caused this!?"

"We need to keep it contained!"

"It's eating through my [Rampart], we need something stronger!"

Then Trixie saw the scene and gasped. A vast section of the nobles' quarter was flooded with a strange blue substance leaking out into the streets. If that wasn't bad enough, the substance seemed to be melting rapidly through anything it came into contact with. Even worse, portions of the mass were radiating either extreme heat or extreme cold, and when the two opposing forces met, they violently popped and scattered further.

Slime! Is Syl attacking? Was Syl attacked? Is she going on a rampage? What's going on!? Trixie's panicked thoughts danced around from one idea to the other.

Syl had often mentioned having almost a sea of slime stored away, and at the time, Trixie thought it was a joking exaggeration. But seeing this scene before her, she knew that it hadn't been in jest.

Trixie fluttered to an elevated position and proceeded to fly inside the district to scope out the situation and try to locate her slimy friend. With all the slime below her, the pixie had to shake her head and refocus, feeling an almost woozy pleasure from the high ambient Mana in the area.

Definitely Syl's slime, then... What made her attack? Did the elves discover her secret? Or did she just have enough time to deal with them? Or was it those human assassins again?

Trixie did not like the looks of what she saw. The slime was entirely unguided and uncontrolled as if Syl had just thrown it all out in a blind rage rather than the usual control and precision. The other possibility was that the slime mass was uncontrolled because there was no longer a core to control them... Like a dead slime.

No!

"My friend xxx is a xxxx!" Trixie tried to shout out loud. Golden chains apparated around her throat and choked her, halting her attempted revelation.

After her coughing fit stopped from the magical choking, Trixie grinned happily. If she was still held to her oath of secrecy, then Syl was still alive!

But where are you then? No way you'd just dump out all this slime and flee? I know Vee can teleport, but she's nowhere near powerful enough to teleport a long distance. I don't think she even has the Mana capacity to do so, not with Syl as a passenger.

Trixie began digging through some surface thoughts of individuals in the area, trying to understand where the elven embassy was. Most of it was pure chaos of concern and pain, understandable given the circumstances. After a few attempts, she caught wind of a rescue team trying to save the life of the elven ambassador.

Found it! Trixie cheered and hastily flew that way.

What should have been a fabulous building looked like it had exploded from the inside out. It was a ruined wasteland of melted soil, plants, walls, and furniture. A once proud beacon of the elves had turned into a melted wasteland of slime.

The fact that it's melting makes me think that Syl intended to attack. I thought she said she was a [Mana Slime] and only temporarily borrowed the other slime powers? But then why's it acidic, burning, and freezing?

Trixie tried drawing in the area's essence, but the overwhelming amount of Mana was both intoxicating and partially blinding her.

I'm not sensing life... Did Syl really abandon all this slime? I always took her as quite neurotic about saving and not wasting. It's very out of character.

"We have to treat it like a lava leak!" one of the nearby dwarves shouted.

Trixie paused her thoughts and began listening in to the conversation. It was a squad of dwarves well-suited to hostile environments. They were decked out in full-plate armor and waded through the hazardous slime with barely a care in the world.

Evidently, they were looking for survivors and pulled something akin to a raft that floated behind them. It brimmed to life with enchantments, and Trixie noted that it was likely operating at optimal conditions thanks to the Mana-rich environment.

"Bah! If it was lava, we'd be having an easier time; what the bloody beards could have caused this?"

One of the dwarves was clearly a geomancer, casting [Earth Magic] to funnel or divert some of the flowing slime. Unfortunately, the slime kept melting through the rock.

"A crazy alchemist is my guess," one dwarf postulated. "It reminds me of a powerful green slime, but it's blue and at both ends of the extreme temperature spectrum."

"Definitely sounds like something a crazy alchemist would do; green slimes don't usually live long enough to become this powerful unless they spawned in the dungeon."

"Did the kobolds take over the dungeon?"

"Dungeon is confirmed secure. This attack was isolated on the elven embassy..."

"How's the ambassador looking?"

At this point, Trixie fluttered closer and noticed that one of the dwarves was on the raft, attending to an elf's unconscious form.

"He'll live. It looks like he had several enchanted artifacts to save his life. Even his clothes survived the acid bath. On the other hand, his flesh isn't looking good; patches of frostbite and scalding all over. He needs a better healer to regrow the dead skin; otherwise, he's in remarkably stable condition."

"Good, I don't think the Grove would be too happy if the ambassador bit the dust."

"Captain, look over there!" one of the dwarves shouted, pointing towards a black mass floating in the slime.

"Is that..."

"It can't be? Floating in the slime?"

"Obsidianite? Did an evolved worm attack this location?"

"Gods, that is a lot of it. No doubt the city will confiscate it for repairs and death benefits."

"This mystery gets crazier and crazier..."

Well, I'm not getting any answers from an unconscious elf. Let's explore the mansion if it isn't entirely submerged in slime. That obsidianite is no doubt Syl's. Did she dump her storage out or something?

Trixie spent some time investigating and trying to find something to explain what happened. As more time passed, the level of the slime dropped due to the combined effort of the dwarves getting rid of it or the slime spreading out.

Trixie was beginning to feel hopeless until she finally unmasked a hint. It was heavily obscured from all the damn slime. There was a singular spot, and Trixie could barely smell the hint of transmuted Dimensional Mana.

Someone used an artifact to teleport, and that's the only reason to explain this artificially created Dimension Mana! I also sense something a lot more obscure. Time?

Trixie paused and collected her thoughts to confirm her findings. An almost unbelievable revelation was reached.

Did Syl get slime-napped?

***

"I must say our two subjects have been working remarkably well together!" Mother spoke fondly.

"I must admit, things have been going surprisingly smoothly since their partnership," Gramps agreed with only minor reluctance. "While the whole magic bribe situation is admittedly tedious, I'm intrigued to see such a rare breed of spider in action."

"Well, you have only yourself to blame for that mistake. And then so clumsily locking it away. It's almost like you begged me to make a deal with the slime."

"Bah!" Gramps scoffed. "At least it looks like Syl will be focusing more on the next evolution. This whole class journey has delayed my expectations considerably."

"Hmm? Do you think Syl will actually follow through with that? Especially once the milestone skill is revealed for the twentieth level in Elementalist? The temptation to get to thirty would be big."

"I'll lock the racial experience distribution myself if I have to. I've been waiting too long and want to see the fruits of my labor. Besides, unless that spirit mentions something, I doubt Syl will focus on it."

Mother sighed, "I guess you're right in that regard. Quite the scatterbrain. But what makes you sure Syl will pick the evolution you want?"

"It's the clearly best choice. Only an idiot would not pick it."

Mother stared at Gramps before giving a smug smirk.

"I know what you're thinking, but even Syl will see reason," Gramps said. "Besides, Syl picked my Chimeric evolution over the clearly flawed Doppelganger evolution. I trust in my candidate. And even if that wasn't the case, your candidate has certainly planted seeds in my favor."

Mother hummed in thought. "So what do you make of these attacks against them?"

"The humans from that one kingdom?" Gramps asked rhetorically. "I couldn't care less, to be honest. I don't involve myself in the world of politics and puppetry - it's beneath me."

"I just thought you might have an idea since it was your subject they were after."

"The humans are boring. And outside of my jurisdiction."

"Which is ironic considering one of their main complaints is that they lack good traits. Something you're in charge of."

Gramps guffawed and shook his head, "Not my problem. I was overruled and told to stick to playing with my monsters. I'm sure even you proposed some changes to the various civilized species to foster more magic?"

Mother nodded somewhat somberly, "Indeed, and I was ignored. Strange that."

"Th-they like the drama and politics!" Unc interjected.

Gramps and Mother flinched, not realizing he had snuck into their room.

"What do you mean?" Mother asked, seeking clarification.

"They like the underdog, overcoming adversity and p-persevering!" Unc explained. "It's why they asked me to give certain areas d-droughts or dangerous ocean currents."

"Interesting..." Mother responded.

"Bah! Hogwash," Gramps dismissed it. "How mundane and boring."

Then, the unfolding event caught all of their eyes. The two monsters were confronted by an Elven Chronomancer. Mother even recognized him. He was ancient and powerful and one of only a handful of the remaining elves with access to the scarce [Time Magic].

"I hope they don't kill him..." Mother muttered.

"Who's side are you on!?" Gramps muttered angrily. "This is disastrous. Why have the elves sent such a powerhouse to attack my subject?"

"W-well, she is going around as one of the elf p-princesses," Unc answered.

"What!?" Gramps and Mother replied in sync.

Syl and Vee were both frozen in the [Stasis] spell. Mother noted that the magical restraint might have been resisted without Syl's current soul damage. But in the current condition? A fool's hope. Vee didn't fair any better, lacking any good magic resistance skills.

Syl should really share [Magic Resistance] with Vee, Mother thought. At least no harm can come to them while they are trapped like that.

Then, the elves began setting up a teleportation platform. While Mother admired the craftsmanship of such a long-lost artifact, Gramps was starting to fret.

"Are they abducting my subject!?" Gramps snarled.

"Our subjects. And it appears so," Mother replied somberly.

"S-something's going wrong?" Unc asked.

It looked like the teleportation had stopped.

"Ha! There's too much slime for him to teleport!" Gramps shouted joyfully.

"You weren't kidding about Syl's size... My word," Mother said as she looked over the numerical value of Mana required for the action to be complete.

Then, the elf activated the spell override, and the results instantly became apparent to the three present.

"That shouldn't be happening," Mother stated.

Gramps sighed and shook his head, "The slime isn't considered living. It's a valid target for the teleport to eject."

"But it's in [Core Storage], isn't it?" Mother asked.

"Which uses the existing template of the most advanced storage enchantment," Gramps answered.

Mother gasped, "Not [Pocket Space]? Why?"

"I wanted it upgradable, and I wanted features to prevent degradation. [Pocket Space] lacks those benefits, and I didn't want it tied to the magic system. Syl couldn't cast spells at the time."

Syl's core cracked. Unc flinched, but Gramps remained steadfast.

"Good thing for [Core Collective], but almost everything in Syl's storage will be dumped out," Gramps explained.

"Well, if death was the alternative, I suppose that wouldn't be so bad," Mother reasoned.

"Those poor dwarves..." Unc replied moments before the red core shattered, and a tsunami of slime burst from the location where Syl, Vee, and Llewel once were.

Gramps pulled up a screen quickly and started making a few adjustments.

"What are you doing?" Mother probed as she looked over. "Are you adjusting Syl's experience distribution?"

Gramps nodded, "Syl already spoke of changing the distribution once the Elementalist class hit level twenty. There's going to be quite a few deaths as a result of this catastrophe, and I don't want the experience to be wasted."

Mother sighed and ignored the apparent tampering. Pulling up her own interface, she noted the teleportation destination.

"Looks like they are teleporting to The Grove," Mother informed the two.

"No! That's even further away from Leon!" Unc cried.

Gramps sighed and slammed his fist down hard, evidently done with his tampering.

"I don't know why I even bothered changing the distribution. This is disastrous. They will no doubt learn the slimy truth and execute Syl. What a waste of so much potential..." Gramps lamented.

"I-I don't think the elves will kill Syl," Unc interjected. "Unlike the other humanoid races, they seem to get along with monsters. A lot of effort is put into preventing them from succumbing to the evolution craziness. I'm sure if Syl tells the truth, things will go s-swimmingly!"

Gramps and Mother shared a glance at one another.

"Syl? Reasonable?" Gramps bitterly chuckled.

"They're doomed..." Mother sighed.

***

Name: Syl [Apex Hunter]
Race: Chimeric Cluster Slime (Blue) LV 16
Class: Elementalist LV 19
Status: Healthy
Mana: Overflowing

Emblems:
[Experiment]
[Apex Hunter]*
[Elven Legacy]
[Dungeoneer]
[Nature's Bane]
[Manhunter]
[Banisher]

Traits:
Slime:
[Mana Slime LV 13]
[Acid Slime LV 7]
[Poison Slime LV 7]
[Blaze Slime LV 7]
[Cryo Slime LV 8]
[Voltaic Slime LV 7]
[Nitro Slime LV 7]
[Metal Slime LV 8]
[Luminous Slime]
[Morph Slime LV 8]
[Pseudopod LV 8]
[Slime Shot LV 8]
[Vaporize Slime]

Core:
[Core Collective LV 8]
[Core Storage LV 6]
[Sub-Core Alpha LV 6] [Sub-Core Beta LV 6]
[Sub-Core Gamma LV 6] [Sub-Core Eta LV 6]
[Sub-Core Delta LV 6] [Sub-Core Theta LV 6]
[Sub-Core Epsilon LV 6] [Sub-Core Iota LV 6]
[Sub-Core Zeta LV 6] [Sub-Core Kappa LV 6]
[Sub-Core Lambda LV 1] [Sub-Core Mu LV 1]
[Sub-Core Nu LV 1] [Sub-Core Xi LV 1]

Mimic:
[Chimeric Mimicry LV 7]
[Chroma Shift LV MAX]
[Consuming Osmosis LV MAX]

Mana:
[Mana Circulation LV 8]
[Mana Reinforcement LV 8]
[Derived Element (Air) LV 8]
[Mana Infusion]

Attributes/Other:
[Soul Mastery LV 8]
[Enhanced Vitality LV 5]
[Magic Resistance (Greater) LV 1]
[Curse Resistance LV 4]
[Illusion Resistance LV 3]
[Sonic Resistance LV 1]
[Prodigy]

Senses:
[Soul Sight LV 8]
[Dark Vision LV MAX]
[Thermal Vision LV MAX]
[Eagle Vision LV 4]
[Electro-Magnetic Sense LV 5]
[Tremor Sense LV 5]
[Olfactory Sense]

Trait Points remaining: 13

Skills:
General:
[Universal Language]
[Equipment Swap]
[Dissection LV 7]
[Mapping LV 5]
[Tracking LV 3]
[Identify LV 6]
[Multitasking LV 6]
[Perception LV 5]
[Aerial Finesse LV 4]
[Thunder Step LV 5]
[Wind Step LV 4]

Tamer:
[Companion Bond]
[Companion Training LV 6]

Combat:
[Tranquil Flow LV 5]
[Attack Mastery (Greater) LV 1]
[Affliction Mastery LV 6]
[Exploit Weakness LV 6]

Magic:
[Water Magic LV 5]
[Fire Magic LV 6]
[Corrosion Magic LV 6]
[Ice Magic LV 5]
[Arcane Magic LV 5]
[Lightning Magic LV 5]
[Earth Magic LV 5]
[Air Magic LV 5]
[Light Magic LV 3]
[Mana Manipulation LV 7]
[Magic Efficiency LV 6]
[Magical Overcharge LV 2]
[Counter Magic LV 5]
[Elemental Shift LV 6]
[Elemental Adaptation]
[Ritual Casting]
[Mana Suppression]
[Elemental Harmony]

Sneaky:
[Vanish LV 6]
[Assassinate LV 6]
[Identity Fabrication LV 7]
[Acting LV 6]
[Rogue Expertise LV 4]
[Magical Subterfuge LV 5]
[Trap Mastery LV 5]
[Subtle Afflictions]

Skill Points remaining: 20

Profession:
Enchanting:
[Rune Reading LV 6]
[Rune Engraving LV 2]
[Rune Framework LV 7]
[Rune Tracing LV 5]
[Rune Design LV 3]
[Runecrafting LV 2]
[Rune Inspection LV 5]
[Rune Filigree LV 3]
[Rune Repair LV 2]
[Brand]

Profession Points Remaining: 0