“Wh-What’s with this slime?! I’ve never seen this species before!” wailed Gimul, thoroughly flustered by the monster that had suddenly appeared before him. It was an understandable reaction. Using Analyze Eye, he’d found himself looking at a species he had never heard of, with stats that were almost double his own despite the low level, plus a unique skill...and above all, the buffs from Summoning. His mind didn’t even know how to begin processing what he was seeing, and he fell into a state of sheer panic.
“Hey, Gimul, what’s wrong?! What is that thing?!”
“Gimul, back up! You’re too close to it!”
Cashel stopped in his tracks, and even Raji called out while continuing his struggle with the bog. None of it helped to calm Gimul down, though.
“Clotho, finish him,” I ordered, keeping my eyes on Cashel.
Clotho produced a whip-like tentacle and cracked it towards Gimul. Naturally, the bandit was unable to react in time.
“Oof! Ugh...”
Receiving the full force of Clotho’s attack, Gimul was sent flying into a wall. It was enough to leave him at death’s doorstep.
“Well, can’t expect much more from someone with 81 Endurance, I suppose.”
“Wait, you have Analyze Eye too?!”
Cashel turned back towards me and brought his sword up.
“What’s happened to your kind and gentlemanly act, Cashel-senpai?”
“You bastard...”
Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out. It was Raji.
“Raaaahhh! Fist of the Enraged Demon!”
Raji’s fist became enveloped in a red aura, which he then slammed into the bog that had swallowed him up to his knees, causing it to instantly disperse. By now, the madman was fully fixated on Clotho, and he was grinning ear to ear like a kid with a new toy.
“Cashel! I’ll take on this slime! You do something about him!”
“Good decision for a musclehead. Leave this guy to me.”
Damn, so Cashel’s regained his cool. That battle junkie Raji seems like the type to say and do things without regard for his surroundings, but this time it’s actually worked in their favor.
::You dropped the ball there, honey. You should have finished Raji while he was stuck in the bog.::
You’re right, that was my bad. If I mean to disable someone, I need to disable them fully. If I mean to kill someone, I need to ensure that they’re dead. I thought I would be fine after taking the Nerves of Steel skill, but I guess I’m still conflicted inside. This is something that I’ll need to work on.
“All right, time for me to redeem myself.”
“What’re you talking about? Sorry, newcomer, but I’m going to crush you with everything that I have.”
“I’m counting on it. Let’s get this party started!”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Take this! Kick of the Enraged Demooonnn!”
Raji’s right leg took on a red aura as he slammed it into Clotho with every ounce of force he could muster. Just like Cashel, Raji also possessed power on par with a Rank B adventurer. His Enraged Demon attacks were a series of ultimate moves that he had developed before his mercenary days, born from his Pugilism skill and a massive amount of training. These attacks were powerful enough to open up a large hole in a castle wall, and were how he had destroyed Kelvin’s Mud Bind with a single punch. Even an adventurer with a fair bit of ability would die instantly upon taking one such attack head-on.
Boing...
When unleashed against Clotho, however, Raji’s ultimate merely produced a funny sound as the entire force of it was absorbed straight into the enormous slime’s body. This was possible thanks to the Blunt Damage Resistance that Clotho possessed, which essentially made it the worst possible opponent for Raji.
“Shit! What’s with this slime’s body?! My attacks aren’t doing any damage at all!”
If Gimul had managed to warn his companions about Clotho’s stats beforehand, Raji might not have been so confused. Unfortunately for him, that knowledge was forever beyond his reach now. Besides, Raji wasn’t one to know all that much about skills in the first place...
“Goddammit, well, there’s more where that came from!”
Just as it had done with Gimul moments before, Clotho sprouted tentacles and brandished them at Raji. This time, there were four tentacles protruding, assaulting the thug from every direction. By blocking and parrying, the Berserker somehow managed to hang on, but total evasion was not an option. While the two were more or less matched in Strength and Endurance, there was a significant disparity when it came to Agility. Because of this, Raji had no choice but to remain on the defensive.
In the middle of the frenzied exchange, Raji noticed another tentacle of Clotho’s snaking along the ground. He immediately jumped in the opposite direction from where it was heading.
“The hell you doin’?!”
Glancing over, Raji realized that the tentacle was reaching for the remains of the bog where he had been trapped just a few minutes earlier. He watched as the tentacle proceeded to suck up the leftover magic on the ground.
✦ ✦ ✦
If the target manages to break free from my Mud Bind, feel free to Absorb that magic for yourself...
✦ ✦ ✦
True to Kelvin’s orders, Clotho obediently consumed the remaining residue of the Mud Bind spell. The insignificant amount of damage that the slime had taken was instantly healed. The rest of the acquired magic went towards its Storage skill, which enabled Clotho to store and produce both magic and items, in effect turning the creature into a walking repository. Clotho could even place parts of its own body into Storage, and in so doing, freely adjust its own size.
“What — it’s gotten even stronger than before?!”
The whip-like attacks rained down harder than ever, slowly but steadily driving Raji to his limits. Adeptly taking advantage of a split second of vulnerability, Clotho managed to wrap all of its tentacles around Raji’s limbs, rendering him completely immobile. Then it took a huge jump...
“No, no, don’t come heeere!!!”
Clotho’s gigantic body slammed into Raji, completely emptying his HP bar. The monstrous slime then wasted no time in Absorbing the body of its prey...