[Slimy Slime] Chapter 44: We're cooking with gas now!

This was a truly monstrous stat. Spirit. I felt so utterly different now. Not in my personality but like… connection. Like before, I was just a voice and now I had become a conversation. I was really starting to feel why these ‘trials’ were necessary. I had a weird conceptual element stuck into my brain from the moment I accepted the crown system, but now I had a little more grounding.

For example, what would it be like to have a million spirit? 1,000,000? I’d probably just explode and die from my new connection with myself and the universe as a whole. And yet… the gods above almost absolutely could just put an infinity sign next to their ‘stats’. They could probably put an infinity sign to a million different stats that didn’t even exist in this world or in this system.

My soul was just not ready to be a God.

My mind? Even less so.

My body? I’m a slime.

I took a moment, just smiling, relaxing. Yeah, there were issues and problems on the horizon. Yes, there’d be killing and bloodshed and more. I had died not thirty minutes ago. I’d died more times in the past three(?) months then any normal person should.

My smile turned vicious and pointed in my slimy mouth.

But I was still here.

I was still here! A bullet from the sky? I died and only got more from it. More than anyone would have believed possible. A wolf ripping me apart? I beat it to death. A wolf eating me? I torn myself out of its stomach. A Massive Bird crushing me and a part of the forest into paste?

Still here! Still whole! Stronger than ever!

World you’ve fucked with the wrong slime one too many times. I felt like a veil had been lifted and I knew exactly what I was going to do next, for once. I’d been playing it by ear and panic and anxiety, mixed with genuine excitement, but now I felt calm. I had a massive army coming at my gates, sooner or later. Already, fifty had been sent, directly for my base. How many next time? A hundred? Two hundred?

With Krrrgg and her small army, they might even be able to absorb that many.

Then what? Escalation? 4x the amount didn’t work, so how many next time? A thousand? Five thousand? More?

And how long would that take? A few weeks? A few months?

Not a lot of time, no matter what. It was still an absolute mystery how that many goblins could just exist and part of me doubted Krrrgg at first, praying and hoping her numbers were off… but they weren’t. It’s not like Krrrgg had counted, The [Goblin Chief] had a skill and he liked to boast at times to Krrrgg after they were… indisposed. Those few talks we had were paying off in spades.

I was on a timer, an unknown one. Before there were too many goblins coming. Advancing myself my magic, astra, and skills were all well and good, but I needed extreme short term gains immediately.

It was time to go find that demonic wolf. I’d break my stat limit and then somehow get to the maximum as fast as possible. I hopped up once, landing on my floating hand. Now, where on earth would that damn wolf be?

****

Surprisingly, finding an ambush predator in a thirty mile radius is hard. I wasn’t too concerned though. After all, I had an advantage.

WHACK

As everyone knows, there is an absolute, sure fire way to find any ambush predator.

BOOM

Make a lot of noise!

CRACK

Or was that to scare them off? Honestly, I can’t remember. Well, I don’t think it matters anyway. No way that horrific thing isn’t looking for a second shot at me.

SHLAMDUNK

Plus, this was the area I saw it in before. Even if it moved on… how far though? Realistically, it could have just walked on, left this whole area of the forest behind but… I doubted it.

KABLOOIE

I mean, seriously, a [Goblin Chief], an Alpha [Wolf], dozens and dozens of monsters, are all trying to get my damn [Dungeon Core]. Hell, even Sandra said she had ‘started to feel its aura’ three days into her stay. It’d be insane for that wolf to just up and leave.

WAKWAKAWAKA

Man, it’s really fun surprisingly to just go to town a whole forest of trees with my fists. They’re like twigs! They break so easily. Not to mention, if there was one gain from my recent near death experience, it was that I can now wield my ten hands even easier. It’s still a bit straining, but nothing crazy. Not to mention, I can now kinda ‘feel’ my hands. Like, their actual location in space, more than I used to. Part of the whole ‘connected’ package.

Well…. There was one other benefit.

[Physical resistance (Crushing) T1]

It was… disturbing that no notification for this skill popped up. I only knew I had it because I remembered halfway through flying here that it was strange I didn’t get one. I don’t know what that said about me, about dying, or about the system, but I’d have to check my whole status at least once every few days to make sure I don’t miss anything.

Anyway, back to smacking and beating the absolute hell out of poor defenseless trees. I’ll send them crying into the afterlife!

CRY

Yes, exactly like- wait.

I know that cry…

A cryie cry. Very… cryie.

It’s the wolf! Ahah! I knew that I would fin-

Smack!

I felt it, as one of my hands nearly collapsed then and there. Claws were embedded deep into the knuckles and fuck it hurt. But I’d gotten used to it by now. Despite the cry coming from far away in the distance, the attack came from behind me. No warning from [Danger Sense], not till the very last moment. And attached to those claws… was an abyss eyed wolf, staring at me.

Slimy self made eyes and a wide smile looked back at it.

You think I came here to play?

No.

I came out here to hunt.

I’d been on guard since the moment I flew out here you bastard. And now I’d caught you. There’d be no fleeing this time.

One of us is going to die today. Let’s see if it’s you or me.

A fist came flying out the side at a breakneck pace, only for the wolf to dodge away, trying to claw at it. Already, my dexterity was showing why it wasn’t a dump stat. I flexed and what was once a simple fist now became a homing missile, easily floating right over the claws and smashing its way full fury into the [Black-Eyed Wolf]’s nose. It reeled back in pain and begin to let out disturbing cries, shouts, and screams from people. People it almost certainly killed or tore apart to make those noises.

It moved quick though, my other hands all meeting nothing but air, but I wasn’t deterred. In fact, I was overjoyed as it leapt straight for me from where I was floating. It neared, coming feet away from me, bypassing all my fists on the way when-

It stopped, in midair. It was so close I could feel its hot breath on me, could see its claws still trying to push forward, to bury themselves into me. Except… two hands were grabbing it, holding it back. Spirit… was paying dividends already. As was my combat experience. It was stupid to have so many hands… and not leave any to defend myself with. Not only that though…

My [Spirit Hands] could go ethereal. Phase right through reality. But… since when were ghosts and spirits and souls visible?

I didn’t summon these hands, they were already there, waiting. Ethereal and invisible, till the moment they became physical all at once. And now the wolf was stuck. My other hands were already waiting, ready, and I grabbed onto its limbs. It almost looked funny, as it struggled and fought, floating there in mid air. It was annoying to hold. Worse, it pissed me off for a different reason.

I couldn’t punch this thing to death.

I was not an idiot. I had learned from our first fight. If I started doing any actual damage, it would run away. If I locked it down and trapped it so I could beat it to death, it would still take forever. Even if it hadn’t specced into strength or endurance, it was still incredibly tough. Even now, I can only hold it because of how many hands I have and it’s still a pain.

I floated over it, hovering above it. The first time we fought, I had a plan. I never got to use it, because apparently, it can see in the dark. That’s the only reason I could figure out for why my Dark magic had no effect on it. A simple, two minute conversation with Sandra, proved it.

Their village had been normal, idyllic, boring and casual. Till an earthquake had happened. These happened sometimes, no big deal per se. It was a big one, but I hadn’t even felt it from where I was at. It’s almost horrifying to think about, but when I was still here… that village was alive and safe.

But after the earthquake… the ground had split beneath their village, revealing a path.

A path straight down into the earth.

And out of it? Came this thing. Of all the things to come out, of course it was a damn wolf. It slaughtered everyone, taking their cries and pain, taking their screams and yells. And do you know what Sandra said? Had the gall to say about it all?

‘Well, we were lucky, in a way. At least it was only Tier 2.’

Lucky. Lucky that it was a ‘weak’ monster, that only destroyed their whole village. And she meant it, too. And now, I get it. I saw that Bird. Anything stronger, they’d be dead for sure, unless it was particularly weak. Humans, no, [Humans], got the short end of the stick in this world.

Anyway, I had a plan when we first fought… and now I was going to use it.

I summoned my crown. It’s struggling seemed to triple as it felt my aura wash over it.

“Mass summon [Acid Slimes].”

A rain of yellow fell down onto the [Black-Eyed Wolf].

Soon… its cries were entirely its own.